16 June 202222 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Thames Valley Police apologises over man’s heroin death in cell

source: BBC News
published: 15 June 2022

A police force has apologised to the family of a man who died in custody after taking heroin in his cell. Officers at a police station in Reading failed to find the drugs Leroy Junior Medford, 43, had hidden.

In a letter to his family, Thames Valley Police’s Deputy Chief Constable Jason Hogg described his death in April 2017 as tragic and avoidable. He also acknowledged the force breached Mr Medford’s human rights and those of his family.

Mr Hogg wrote that Thames Valley Police apologised both for this and the “grief and distress that this has caused Junior’s children and siblings”.

Mr Medford, who was known to his family as Junior, was arrested on suspicion of assault and taken to Loddon Valley police station in Berkshire.

13 June 202222 December 2022 4WardEverUK

The Grenfell tragedy in numbers on fifth anniversary of fire

source: Express & Star
published: 13 June 2022

In the five years since the Grenfell Tower fire, there have been four housing secretaries, three evacuated families are still awaiting permanent homes, and two phases of a public inquiry into the tragedy.

Grenfell survivors and bereaved family members will mark the fifth anniversary of the deaths of 72 people on June 14, 2017.

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13 June 202222 December 2022 4WardEverUK

Brick Lane 1978: Photographs reveal hidden anti-racist history

source: Socialist Worker
published: 11 June 2022

In this small but mighty exhibition, Paul Trevor’s collection of photographs capture a critical moment for the fight against racism in Britain. Brick Lane 1978: The Turning Point focuses on Bengalis living in the east end of London.

The fascist National Front casts a shadow over the area, and for Bengalis the threat of violence is ever-present. Smashed windows and swastikas can be seen throughout the pictures in the exhibition.