Des Wilson, one of the 'Shrewsbury Two who were jailed in the 70,s for oragnising 'violent picketing' has died
Des along with Rikki Tomlinson, (yes, that one) were jailed in the seventies for three and two years respectively. The campaign to release them became a a massive cause celeb and resulted in huge trade union demos, walkouts etc. We are losing too many old w/class fighters: Brian Wilson the Sheffield Housing Activist, many with illnesses brought on by the job/campaigning or living environments
we should remember them with pride and keep on keeping on
His words at the trial
''The jury in this trial were asked to look upon the word ‘intimidation’ as having the ordinary everyday meaning. My interpretation is ‘to make timid’, or ‘to dispirit’ and when the pickets came to this town to speak to the building workers it was not with the intention of intimidating them. We came here with the intention of instilling the trade union spirit into them and not to make them timid, but to give them the courage to fight the intimidation of the employers in this area.”
From Labournet
Des Warren
Report by Dot Gibson
Published: 26/04/04
Dear all,
Des Warren, the Shrewsbury picket, jailed in 1974 for three years, died on Saturday evening. He had pneumonia. Rikki Tomlinson (imprisoned at the same time as Des) and his wife were with him. Des’s experiences were published in his book “The key to my cell”, published by New Park Publications. He had Parkinsons Disease and got an out-of-court settlement from the Home Office arising from his legal case that the cocktail of drugs administered to him in prison had brought this on.
Des Warren and Rikki Tomlinson were at the Construction Safety Campaign’s AGM in Liverpool earlier this year - the 30th anniversary of the Shrewsbury Pickets.
Des’s historic speech from the dock ended with the words:
“The jury in this trial were asked to look upon the word ‘intimidation’ as having the ordinary everyday meaning. My interpretation is ‘to make timid’, or ‘to dispirit’ and when the pickets came to this town to speak to the building workers it was not with the intention of intimidating them. We came here with the intention of instilling the trade union spirit into them and not to make them timid, but to give them the courage to fight the intimidation of the employers in this area.”
The first public event at which he will be remembered will be International Workers Memorial Day on Wednesday 28th April.
Meet 11. 30 a. m. opposite Wembley Park Tube Station (Olympic Way) and march to Wembley Football Stadium construction site, where Patrick O’Sullivan was killed on 15th January this year after falling 100 feet.
Perhaps you can come along?
Comradely, Dot Gibson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Striker jailed with Ricky Tomlinson dies
By Chris Corrigan
The Independent
26 April 2004
source
Des Warren, whose jailing along with Ricky Tomlinson after the 1972 national building workers’ strike became the focus of mass protests by trade unionists, died at the weekend.
Tomlinson, now a successful actor, was imprisoned for two years and Warren for three, after being found guilty of conspiracy charges. They were arrested at Shrewsbury, at the height of the strike, and accused of organising violent picketing.
There were demonstrations outside the court in Mold, north Wales. Inside, Warren and Tomlinson denied the charges and argued that it was a “show trial” resulting from connections between the Tory government and the big construction firms.
An appeal heard at the High Court in London was rejected. There were major demonstrations in London and Manchester. With the election of the Labour in 1974, there were calls from the trade union movement for their release. But the home secretary, Roy Jenkins, refused.
Warren and Tomlinson wore only blankets for long periods of their imprisonment because they refused to wear prison uniform, as part of their campaign to prove their innocence.
Warren spent most of his three years in solitary confinement and developed symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease. He claimed his illness had been caused by the “liquid cosh”, a prison description for tranquillising drugs administered to difficult inmates. He suffered from these symptoms for the rest of his life.
Earlier this year, Tomlinson published an autobiography in which he called for a campaign to reopen the case of the “Shrewsbury pickets”. He said last night that a London firm of lawyers was looking at the prosecution of the pickets and the 1973 trial.
.
we should remember them with pride and keep on keeping on
His words at the trial
''The jury in this trial were asked to look upon the word ‘intimidation’ as having the ordinary everyday meaning. My interpretation is ‘to make timid’, or ‘to dispirit’ and when the pickets came to this town to speak to the building workers it was not with the intention of intimidating them. We came here with the intention of instilling the trade union spirit into them and not to make them timid, but to give them the courage to fight the intimidation of the employers in this area.”
From Labournet
Des Warren
Report by Dot Gibson
Published: 26/04/04
Dear all,
Des Warren, the Shrewsbury picket, jailed in 1974 for three years, died on Saturday evening. He had pneumonia. Rikki Tomlinson (imprisoned at the same time as Des) and his wife were with him. Des’s experiences were published in his book “The key to my cell”, published by New Park Publications. He had Parkinsons Disease and got an out-of-court settlement from the Home Office arising from his legal case that the cocktail of drugs administered to him in prison had brought this on.
Des Warren and Rikki Tomlinson were at the Construction Safety Campaign’s AGM in Liverpool earlier this year - the 30th anniversary of the Shrewsbury Pickets.
Des’s historic speech from the dock ended with the words:
“The jury in this trial were asked to look upon the word ‘intimidation’ as having the ordinary everyday meaning. My interpretation is ‘to make timid’, or ‘to dispirit’ and when the pickets came to this town to speak to the building workers it was not with the intention of intimidating them. We came here with the intention of instilling the trade union spirit into them and not to make them timid, but to give them the courage to fight the intimidation of the employers in this area.”
The first public event at which he will be remembered will be International Workers Memorial Day on Wednesday 28th April.
Meet 11. 30 a. m. opposite Wembley Park Tube Station (Olympic Way) and march to Wembley Football Stadium construction site, where Patrick O’Sullivan was killed on 15th January this year after falling 100 feet.
Perhaps you can come along?
Comradely, Dot Gibson
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Striker jailed with Ricky Tomlinson dies
By Chris Corrigan
The Independent
26 April 2004
source
Des Warren, whose jailing along with Ricky Tomlinson after the 1972 national building workers’ strike became the focus of mass protests by trade unionists, died at the weekend.
Tomlinson, now a successful actor, was imprisoned for two years and Warren for three, after being found guilty of conspiracy charges. They were arrested at Shrewsbury, at the height of the strike, and accused of organising violent picketing.
There were demonstrations outside the court in Mold, north Wales. Inside, Warren and Tomlinson denied the charges and argued that it was a “show trial” resulting from connections between the Tory government and the big construction firms.
An appeal heard at the High Court in London was rejected. There were major demonstrations in London and Manchester. With the election of the Labour in 1974, there were calls from the trade union movement for their release. But the home secretary, Roy Jenkins, refused.
Warren and Tomlinson wore only blankets for long periods of their imprisonment because they refused to wear prison uniform, as part of their campaign to prove their innocence.
Warren spent most of his three years in solitary confinement and developed symptoms similar to Parkinson’s disease. He claimed his illness had been caused by the “liquid cosh”, a prison description for tranquillising drugs administered to difficult inmates. He suffered from these symptoms for the rest of his life.
Earlier this year, Tomlinson published an autobiography in which he called for a campaign to reopen the case of the “Shrewsbury pickets”. He said last night that a London firm of lawyers was looking at the prosecution of the pickets and the 1973 trial.
.
