“To my mind that was the right verdict,” says Griffiths, who believes the trial was driven by the “politics of race”. “Questions have to be asked as to the propriety of bringing this prosecution based on the evidence they had. The officer in charge of the investigation said he couldn’t discontinue the case because it would have a damaging effect on the Met. That has to be a reference back to Stephen Lawrence: they couldn’t have another unexplained death of a black child in south London. This was their opportunity to redeem themselves.”
…”Whereas I was exposed to blatantly racist and discriminatory attitudes when I entered the profession, to claim that that has been the case in the last 15 years would be a lie. I wouldn’t be chairman of the Bar’s Public Affairs Committee if it were so. I feel part of it - and I’m very much pleased to be so.” If that sounds complacent, his absorption into the establishment remains partial. His comments on the recent furore over criminality among young black men, which erupted after the editor of the black newspaper The Voice urged the police to extend their use of stop and search, are carefully worded but caustic.
“There are issues to be addressed around crime within black communities, and I think those black communities are starting to throw up these questions themselves,” he says. “But throw into the equation David Blunkett’s plans for reforming the police and you can perceive why a police force which sees itself as being under attack sees an advantage in creating a moral panic to keep their political masters off their backs.”
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