the mangrove nine

what was the restaurant called and what happened there

the mangrove restaurant owned by frank crichlow

popular with celebrities

the british black panthers regularly met there

crichlow had a lawyer there to give advice

crichlow sponsored the mangrove steel band

what happened with the police at the restaurant

regularly raided by police who claimed to be searching for drugs which were never found

raided 9 times between january 1969 and 1970

how did activists respond to police harassment

the british black panthers helped to organise a march on the 9th august 1970

the action group for the defence of the mangrove sent an open letter to the home office, the pm and the high commissioners in the carribean announcing the march

over 150 people took part in the march

what happened at the protest

the police arrested people with connections to the restaurant

the charges included a claim under the race relations act that they had been trying to incite racial violence

who were the mangrove nine

nine of the marchers who the director of public prosecutions pressed charges against and accused them of starting a riot

this included frank crichlow

what happened during the case?

tried at the old bailey

the final jury only had two black people on it

howe and jones represented themselves

police evidence was shown to be false or exaggerated

the trial attracted lots of public and media attention

what was the verdict

all the defendants were acquitted of the most serious charges

4/9 were given suspended sentences for minor charges

the judge stated that “this trial has shown us that there is clearly evidence of racial hatred on both sides”