Orgreave papers destroyed by police thought to include report on notorious truncheon beating | The miners’ strike 1984-85
By: David Conn | Published: 2025-07-19 07:00:00 | Source: www.theguardian.com
Documents destroyed by police relating to operations at Orgreave during the miners’ strike in 1984 are believed to include a report on a notorious incident in which an officer beat a man over the head with a truncheon.
In the ITV News at 10 report on the violent scenes at Orgreave, the officer, PC Martin of Northumbria police, was seen hitting the miner, Russell Broomhead, several times with his truncheon.
Northumbria police have been widely criticised since confirming that in April last year they destroyed two boxes of documents relating to the strike and the Orgreave operation. That was just months before a general election that the Labour party, which had a longstanding pledge to hold an inquiry into what happened at Orgreave, was expected to win.
The timing led to accusations that…
