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THE SHEIL PARKBOMB.” 1-9Court Sequel To Panic At May Meeting.BALL CAUSES STAMPEDEGIVING THE COMMUNISTS A TASTE OF THEIR OWN.”Tho sequel to ft disturbance which occurred in Shoil Park, Liverpool, during the Labour demonstrations on May 5, took placo in tho City Polico Court, to-day, when threo young men appeared before tho stipendiary on charges embracing broach of the peaco and assault.It was alleged that a rubber ball, containing some inflammable and explosive substances, was thrown into the middle of a cxowd causing a panic in which several persons were injured.The accused, Alfred Crosier Micrs (26), 23, Wordsworth-street; Charles Mitchell (22), 314, Park-road north, Birkenhead, and Patrick Grceno (35), 10, Norton* street, pleaded not guilty.TWO FINED.Fines amounting to £12 were imposed on Mlers, while he was also ordered to pay £2 5s costs. Mitchell, who was convicted of disorderly conduct, was fined £2, and the cate against Greene was dismissed.Mien and Mitchell arc members of the British Fascist Association.Prosecuting, Mr. Dig by Seymour said that on Labour Day, 3lay 6, four or five platforms were engaged in Sheil Park. One of these was occupied by a Communist section, at which the speaker was a personnamed Gallacber.About 150 people surrounded the platform and a number of plain-clothes officer*mingled with the crowd.44 A si'aling noise was heard.” continued Mr. Seymour, '**nd some officers saw a missile coming from where the defendant*, Micrs and Mitchell, wero standing.SMOKE AND FLAMES. ,“That musile appeared to be a large rubber ball containing some gunpowder or tome specie* of fireworks. A cloud of white smoke and flames were coming fromit.”Various persons were injured, one man being struck in the eye, while an old woman was swept off her feet by thestampeding crowd.Constable Mackey was struck in the mouth by the prisoner Greene.Detectire-sergeant Hobson said: The meeting had been in progress for about ten minutes in quite an orderly manner, when suddenly I saw a missile coming over the heads of tbe crowd.“There wero blue flames and volumes of white smoke coming from it.”When the missile dropped among the crowd, witness saw Greene, who appeared to be very excited, strike Constable Mockay in the face.Witness, howercr, confined his attention to Mien and Mitchell, who were running away. Eventually they were captured anu witness and his fellow officers had a job to keep the crowd off tbe prisoner*. vA man named Michael Kennedy handed witness a Urge robber ball, saying, M This is what dropped. I thought it was a bomb and I Jumped on it.”Mien, added witness, pointed towards the Communist platform, and said Why don’t you go and pull down that damned red flag?”In reply to a question by Greene, witness staled, ** You, along with others, appearedto he come very excited and wanted to get after those men (Micrs and Mitchell). i saw you strike Mackey.Constable 3lackey stated that it was possible that Greene struck him on the presumption that he (Mackey) was one of those who had caused the disturbance.John Charles Smith, boilermaker’s labourer, of 3, Lnngtrcy-road, Kirkdalc, who was wearing « shade over his eye, said that while he was listening to the speaker something came through the air and exploded in his eye. He didn't know what it was.His eye was later attended to by a police doctor, and ho was still attending the hospital..Mitchell, in the witness-box, stated that he was a student at tbe School of Pharmacy, and he met 3!icrs and arranged to go with him to Sheil Park. He had an idea, he said, that something was going to happen, and when ho saw Micrs concealing something beneath his coat he tried to dissuade him from Isis action.IGNITED THE FUSE.Micrs. however,, ignited the fuse and threw the missile into the crowd. Mitchell (leuied having any hand in the composition of the tomb. He was, he said, a member of the British Fascist organisation.Miers took all the responsibility for the incident, explaining Lhat he himself had concocted the bomb-dilling an india-rubber ball with explosives which he had Liken from a 4s 6d rocket. Ho coated the boll with blncklead to make it appear like a bomb.Under examination, Miers admitted that it was a very foolish action, and expressed his regret that it had caused injury to certain people. ^ He had merely, lie said, desired to give the Communists a taste of theii own medicine.The Fascist organisation, he said, had nothing to do nith the disturbance^Greene, who had conducted his own de/enco throughout, denied that ho liad anything to do with the bomb throwing anil protested 'that ho had merely been wishing to assist the police in catching the perpetrators of the actHe had struck 31ackay on the face, not knowing that he was a police officer and under the impression (lint ho belonged to the party which was concerned io thebomb throwing.The sti|*mii.iry (Mr.- Stuart Deacon) characterised 3fier*’ action as reprehensible and wicked.
Newspaper Details
Liverpool Echo
Liverpool, Middlesex, GB
Mon, May 14, 1928
Page 9
Full Page
Clipped by
Dylan K.
CA 18 Nov 2022
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Liverpool Echo
