Police watchdog considers publishing unredacted Orgreave report

Concerted push by the police against a section of the miners' picket force outside the Orgreave Coking Plant Credit: PA

The police watchdog is considering whether to publish an unredacted version of a report into events at the Orgreave coking plant during the 1984 miners' strike.

Friends and family of those involved in the so-called 'Battle of Orgreave' have campaigned for more than three decades to uncover the truth behind allegations of police mistreatment of striking miners.

A report into what happened was published in June 2015, said a spokeswoman for the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC), but it was "redacted as a result of legal issues, including some relating to the Hillsborough inquests."

The dispute at Orgreave in South Yorkshire resulted in dozens of injuries for both picketers and police, but picketers said police used excessive force.

In 1991, South Yorkshire Police paid £425,000 compensation to 39 miners who sued for assault, wrongful arrest, and malicious prosecution.

Police restrain picketers at Orgreave Coking Plant Credit: PA

The Yorkshire Post said it had seen some redacted sections of the report, which it says reveals that the same senior officers and lawyer were involved in the aftermath of both Orgreave and Hillsborough in 1989.

Shadow home secretary Andy Burnham said: "As I've always said, we won't have the truth about Hillsborough until we have the full truth about Orgreave.

"Finally, this report provides proof of what has long been suspected - that underhand tactics were used first against South Yorkshire miners before being deployed to much more deadly effect against Liverpool supporters."