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The Guardian
20 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Such a violent confrontation': Love Decade, the Leeds rave that prompted 836 arrests
As the booming sub-bass of LFO rattled around an old Sony warehouse on the outskirts of Leeds in July 1990, the reverberating sound was enough to mute the buzz of police helicopters circling above. However, when their lights began to pierce through the glass windows, the 800-plus ravers at Love Decade knew something wasn't right. 'There was a dark, intense atmosphere,' recalls Jane Winterbottom. 'I felt trapped, claustrophobic, and a wave of nausea came over me. I wanted to escape but I couldn't. All the doors were shut and we were locked in.' As word had spread that the building was surrounded by police, a young DJ who was on the decks at the time, Rob Tissera, decided to take action. 'I got on the microphone, and very stupidly and regrettably, said: 'If you want to keep the party going, we're gonna have to fight the bastards.'' People did just that. 'Everybody turned into bloody hooligans,' he says. 'It ended in a three-hour siege and got pretty nasty.' A van was moved against the shutters to block police from coming in, and objects were thrown at them out of the windows, as the authorities even tried using a forklift truck to pry open the steel shutters. 'It was a full-on riot,' says Winterbottom. Eventually the police got in and grabbed every single person, all 836 of them, resulting in one of the biggest mass arrests in UK history. That day, 35 years ago, was a pivotal moment in UK dance music, and one that had perhaps been brewing for some time. This was the era after 1988's 'second summer of love': house and techno were powering a grassroots rave scene that was outraging the tabloids and facing a crackdown from police. Winterbottom had been part of a crew in Blackburn throwing illegal warehouse parties but, she says, 'We couldn't get one going there any more, the police were too heavy.' So they found a spot in Gildersome on an industrial estate. Tissera had been DJing a wedding earlier that evening in Manchester, where the father of the groom had given him a stern telling off for playing too much rave, and then he headed over. 'There were hundreds of cars going from the north-west to Leeds, so I followed the convoy,' he recalls. Things had become so clandestine by this point that sound systems had to be built on-site to avoid detection, and decks were brought in covertly in ski holdalls. Things began normally enough but soon there was a feeling something was off. It's estimated there were about 2-3,000 ravers outside trying to get in but they had been stopped by a police operation involving roadblocks, dogs, searchlights and helicopters. Around 5am, after the hours-long standoff, police got in. 'The crowd were running around the warehouse in sheer terror,' says Winterbottom, who also says she witnessed her female friend knocked unconscious by a police truncheon (West Yorkshire police did not offer comment for this piece). 'The whole thing was so scary. It was such a violent confrontation. You couldn't escape.' The police pulled people outside in groups of about 20, put them into vans and sent them off to various stations to book them. Most were later sent home and back to their normal lives with just a caution, but not Tissera. 'They did a dawn raid on my house and scooped me up,' he says. 'They took me to Halifax police station and said, 'We've got a video nasty that we want to play you.'' It turns out there was video footage that had captured his incendiary words to the crowd. 'When I saw what it was: hands up, guilty as charged, there was no way around it.' He thought he was going to get off. 'My barrister said I was going to get a fine and a suspended sentence,' he says. 'I was due to go to Corfu to DJ the following day. When the judge made me stand up for my punishment it was completely unexpected and it changed the course of my life. The verdict made my eyeballs shake. I almost fell over.' Tissera was sentenced to three months in prison for inciting a riot and the dishonest abstraction of electricity. A new law had very recently been put into place by the MP Graham Bright. The Entertainment (Increased Penalties) Act of 1990 meant that organisers of unlicensed events could now be jailed for up to six months or fined heavily. With Bright himself present in court, Tissera feels he was made an example of. 'And so it was off to Armley jail [now HMP Leeds],' he says. 'It was proper Victorian: two bunk beds and a bucket. It was quite unpleasant – I saw people getting slashed in there.' Thankfully, an experienced and avuncular cellmate looked after him and he came out unscathed. If anything, it did his reputation the world of good and the DJ bookings came flying in. 'It definitely helped,' he says. 'It became a bit of a folklore thing that you were the guy who went to jail for acid house. It gave me credibility. However, I should never have said something so stupid.' It was a line-in-the-sand moment for many when it came to illegal warehouse parties. 'It was a sure sign that this was the end,' says Winterbottom. 'You couldn't get anything off the ground. Even a little party in the woods for 50 people would get busted.' Many people left that world altogether: some went legit as dance music moved into a new era of commercialism, while others joined forces with the traveller community and moved the free party scene outdoors. 'That was the turning point,' says Tissera, who has become a career DJ. 'That incident really shaped what came next.' However, despite the fear, chaos and violence of that day, it has done nothing to taint the memories of that era and those wild, uninhabited raves when they were in full swing. 'It was such an experience to live through all of it,' says Winterbottom, who is writing a book about Blackburn raves. 'The parties were amazing, [they outweighed] the violence we suffered. I could never regret a moment of it.'
The Guardian
21 hours ago
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
‘Such a violent confrontation': Love Decade, the Leeds rave that prompted 836 arrests
As the booming sub-bass of LFO rattled around an old Sony warehouse on the outskirts of Leeds in July 1990, the reverberating sound was enough to mute the buzz of police helicopters circling above. However, when their lights began to pierce through the glass windows, the 800-plus ravers at Love Decade knew something wasn't right. 'There was a dark, intense atmosphere,' recalls Jane Winterbottom. 'I felt trapped, claustrophobic, and a wave of nausea came over me. I wanted to escape but I couldn't. All the doors were shut and we were locked in.' As word had spread that the building was surrounded by police, a young DJ who was on the decks at the time, Rob Tissera, decided to take action. 'I got on the microphone, and very stupidly and regrettably, said: 'If you want to keep the party going, we're gonna have to fight the bastards.'' People did just that. 'Everybody turned into bloody hooligans,' he says. 'It ended in a three-hour siege and got pretty nasty.' A van was moved against the shutters to block police from coming in, and objects were thrown at them out of the windows, as the authorities even tried using a forklift truck to pry open the steel shutters. 'It was a full-on riot,' says Winterbottom. Eventually the police got in and grabbed every single person, all 836 of them, resulting in one of the biggest mass arrests in UK history. That day, 35 years ago, was a pivotal moment in UK dance music, and one that had perhaps been brewing for some time. This was the era after 1988's 'second summer of love': house and techno were powering a grassroots rave scene that was outraging the tabloids and facing a crackdown from police. Winterbottom had been part of a crew in Blackburn throwing illegal warehouse parties but, she says, 'We couldn't get one going there any more, the police were too heavy.' So they found a spot in Gildersome on an industrial estate. Tissera had been DJing a wedding earlier that evening in Manchester, where the father of the groom had given him a stern telling off for playing too much rave, and then he headed over. 'There were hundreds of cars going from the north-west to Leeds, so I followed the convoy,' he recalls. Things had become so clandestine by this point that sound systems had to be built on-site to avoid detection, and decks were brought in covertly in ski holdalls. Things began normally enough but soon there was a feeling something was off. It's estimated there were about 2-3,000 ravers outside trying to get in but they had been stopped by a police operation involving roadblocks, dogs, searchlights and helicopters. Around 5am, after the hours-long standoff, police got in. 'The crowd were running around the warehouse in sheer terror,' says Winterbottom, who also says she witnessed her female friend knocked unconscious by a police truncheon (West Yorkshire police did not offer comment for this piece). 'The whole thing was so scary. It was such a violent confrontation. You couldn't escape.' The police pulled people outside in groups of about 20, put them into vans and sent them off to various stations to book them. Most were later sent home and back to their normal lives with just a caution, but not Tissera. 'They did a dawn raid on my house and scooped me up,' he says. 'They took me to Halifax police station and said, 'We've got a video nasty that we want to play you.'' It turns out there was video footage that had captured his incendiary words to the crowd. 'When I saw what it was: hands up, guilty as charged, there was no way around it.' He thought he was going to get off. 'My barrister said I was going to get a fine and a suspended sentence,' he says. 'I was due to go to Corfu to DJ the following day. When the judge made me stand up for my punishment it was completely unexpected and it changed the course of my life. The verdict made my eyeballs shake. I almost fell over.' Tissera was sentenced to three months in prison for inciting a riot and the dishonest abstraction of electricity. A new law had very recently been put into place by the MP Graham Bright. The Entertainment (Increased Penalties) Act of 1990 meant that organisers of unlicensed events could now be jailed for up to six months or fined heavily. With Bright himself present in court, Tissera feels he was made an example of. 'And so it was off to Armley jail [now HMP Leeds],' he says. 'It was proper Victorian: two bunk beds and a bucket. It was quite unpleasant – I saw people getting slashed in there.' Thankfully, an experienced and avuncular cellmate looked after him and he came out unscathed. If anything, it did his reputation the world of good and the DJ bookings came flying in. 'It definitely helped,' he says. 'It became a bit of a folklore thing that you were the guy who went to jail for acid house. It gave me credibility. However, I should never have said something so stupid.' It was a line-in-the-sand moment for many when it came to illegal warehouse parties. 'It was a sure sign that this was the end,' says Winterbottom. 'You couldn't get anything off the ground. Even a little party in the woods for 50 people would get busted.' Many people left that world altogether: some went legit as dance music moved into a new era of commercialism, while others joined forces with the traveller community and moved the free party scene outdoors. 'That was the turning point,' says Tissera, who has become a career DJ. 'That incident really shaped what came next.' However, despite the fear, chaos and violence of that day, it has done nothing to taint the memories of that era and those wild, uninhabited raves when they were in full swing. 'It was such an experience to live through all of it,' says Winterbottom, who is writing a book about Blackburn raves. 'The parties were amazing, [they outweighed] the violence we suffered. I could never regret a moment of it.'
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Daily Mail
Protester who had 'teeth knocked out' at Epping migrant hotel demo is back - and reveals he has GLUED them back in
A protester whose teeth were knocked out when riot police smashed a shield into his face during the chaos outside the Epping migrant hotel is back on the scene after gluing the missing gnashers back in. Hundreds of furious locals gathered outside the Bell Hotel on Thursday after Ethiopian resident Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, was charged with sex attacks on schoolgirls. The protest started peacefully, but descended into frenzied violence when anti-migrant demonstrators clashed with counter protesters and police. Footage showed the man in a grey vest square up to an officer before he was hit with the shield at full force. The injured man then looked down at his hand in disbelief as he clasped his teeth and showed them eagerly to fellow protesters. As people continue to gather outside the hotel today, the man was spotted back on the scene - with all his teeth in tact. Asked what happened by a fellow protester filming him, he said: 'They're not teeth, they're implants. They've broke the implants, so I've literally Gorilla glued them in. 'There's no eating with them. I've got to have them put back in and it's going to cost a fortune. 'They're just glued in, so I hope no one flicks me in the mouth today because they'll come out again!' In the aftermath of Thursday's demonstration, the injured man spoke to a camera and relayed his account of events and explained the teeth were now in his 'pocket'. He claimed: 'I was trying to talk to him (the riot officer) and he smashed me in the face with his shield.' The protester was then be seen reaching into his pocket before he presents what resembles a yellow luminescent highlighter, a bottle top, and two teeth. Other footage shows the man furiously shouting at the riot police after his teeth have been knocked out as the man filming comments 'he's fuming mate'. At the protest residents stood side-by-side to call for the hotel to stop operating as refugee accommodation. More footage from the event appeared to show the moment a demonstrator was driven into by a police vehicle. The van could be seen knocking over the young man, who stood in Epping High Road, in what appeared to be an attempt to stop the vehicle leaving. Protesters had erected a make-shift barrier made up of pallets and plastic fencing in the road to prevent police driving away from the scene. Exclusive from Epping Protest: Teeth are back in — WesleyWinter (@WesleyWinterYT) July 20, 2025 Riot police smashed a shield into a protester's face and knocked his teeth out in a heated clash outside an Epping migrant hotel Other footage shows the man furiously shouting at the riot police after his teeth have been knocked out as the man filming comments 'he's fuming mate' In the aftermath of Thursday's protest incident the injured man spoke to camera where he relayed his account of events and explained the teeth were now in his 'pocket' The injured man shows his teeth eagerly to fellow protesters including a lady with the Flag of St. George draped over her shoulders A man was seen being struck by a police van following violent protests outside a migrant hotel in Essex on Thursday But the first of four vehicles crashed through the barrier, leading a protester to stand in the road, who was then knocked out of the way by the second van as people screamed: 'Oh my god' and 'what the f***'. The youth who was mowed down by the police van could then be seen getting up and brushing himself down as he shouted at the convoy. Thursday's demonstration ended with three arrests after clashes with counter protesters and police. Six arrests were made during the protest on Sunday evening which attracted more counter demonstrations and has spilled over into today.
ABC News
2 days ago
- ABC News
'Horrendous' staff shortage led to West Kimberley prison riot, union says
The West Australian Prison Officers' Union has blamed government inaction on staffing and overcrowding for a riot at a prison in the state's far north over the weekend. The union says three officers were injured when a group of medium-security inmates breached their accommodation units at West Kimberley Regional Prison (WKRP), near Derby, 2,300km north of Perth, about 10.20pm on Saturday. The Department of Justice said the incident was confined to the prison grounds and resolved in the early hours of Sunday morning due to "a rapid inter-agency response" from prison staff and local police, with no injuries to staff or inmates. However, union secretary Andy Smith said he was aware three officers were injured prior to and during the incident, and that 45 beds had been damaged. "While I don't have details on those, to dismiss them and say there weren't injuries is an absolute insult to the officers," Mr Smith said. Mr Smith said ongoing staffing concerns across the state's prison system had resulted in the incident. "This is a culmination of years of the department running all of our prisons across the state horrendously short of staff," he said. "We're hundreds of officers short. "It's an absolute nightmare what is happening in our system. It's taken us five years to get them to see it, and now it's too late to fix it." However, a spokesperson for the department rejected the union's claims. "There were no injuries to any person arising from the disturbance," they said. "The department is still investigating the circumstances surrounding the incident and at this time there is no indication it related to staffing or muster numbers. "A shade sail was set alight, but it smouldered out. There were no beds destroyed, some of the accommodation units are offline so repairs can be safely undertaken." The incident follows a foiled attempt by inmates to riot and escape from Greenough Regional Prison, in WA's Midwest, which the union said was triggered by similar staffing and overcrowding problems. Mr Smith said overcrowding in prisons across the state, including WKRP, had led to an increase in inmates lashing out at officers. "Prisoners are crammed into cells that were not designed to take so many prisoners, and therefore they stay angry all the time, and the only people they take it out on are our prison officers," he said. Earlier this month, data revealed there were 254 prisoners in WKRP, while the capacity for standard accommodation was 223 and eight for special purpose accommodation. Meanwhile, data showed that between April 1 and June 30, the average out-of-cell hours at the prison were 7.31 hours a day, while the state average was 9.22 hours. A Department of Justice spokesperson said Special Operations Group officers were deployed to WKRP to "support the site during the recovery phase and assist with prisoner relocations". "A damage assessment is being conducted and security footage reviewed to determine any criminal charges," the department said in a statement. Corrective Services Minister Paul Papalia declined to respond to the union's criticisms, but took aim at inmates involved in the disturbance. "Prisoners at West Kimberley are accommodated in a purpose-designed, open-plan, on-country facility," he said "Those involved in this disturbance should be condemned for squandering that privilege. "I commend prison staff and police who acted swiftly to resolve this incident safely." Shadow Corrective Services Minister Adam Hort said the incident was a sign the state's prison system was buckling under increasing pressure. "West Kimberley was supposed to give (local) prisoners a chance at rehabilitation on country. "Now it's overcrowded, crumbling, and on the verge of collapse."
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Yahoo
Man who nearly hit police officer with bottle in Bolton riot sentenced
A man who threw a bottle at a riot - nearly hitting a police officer - has been sentenced. Ali Afghan, 30, was involved in the riot in Bolton last August, which happened in the wake of the murders of three young girls in Southport. On July 29 last year, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, Bebe King, six, and Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, were stabbed to death, with eight other children and two adults also seriously wounded. Far right anti-immigration riots were organised around the country following the attack, fuelled by claims that the killer was a Muslim immigrant - though counter-riots were also set up. Bolton town centre was the site of one of the protests on Sunday, August 4 last year, with around 500 rioters and counter-rioters gathering in the town centre that day. Afghan, of Salisbury Street, Deane, was part of the counter group. He was sentenced at Bolton Crown Court on Thursday, July 17. The court heard how Afghan was first seen by police at around 2pm, before being seen as part of a group "actively chasing a rival group". At one point, a bottle was thrown at him, which he caught and threw back, "narrowly missing" a mounted police officer. He was later seen "at the front" of the counter protests. He said to police, "If we had batons it would be a different story", before apparently saying misogynistic comments to a female officer. Afghan pleaded guilty to violent disorder at an earlier date. He had four convictions for six offences. Afghan had previously been granted bail to attend his wedding, before the case was adjourned for medical evidence to be gathered in relation to his mother, who he cares for. Read more: Bolton protester is allowed out of prison to go to wedding Read more: Drug addict in 'wicked act' that kept victim prisoner for weeks in town centre flat Read more: Ex-Great Britain rugby league player 'used sheer size to rape woman', trial hears Defending, Rachel Shenton said: "He came here packed with all of his clothing, expecting to go back to prison, which he dreads particularly as he is living with his mother and his relatively heavily pregnant wife, he doesn't know how they would cope without him. "He is certainly somebody who is trying to do his best." She added that he has been caring for his mother, who suffered a seizure recently, helping her take her medication and looking after her. Concluding, Judge Jon Close said: "You were first seen by police just after 2pm, you would have been under no doubt at that point as to the potential for volatility and public disorder." As he delivered his sentence, Afghan had his head down and was sniffling while he was stood in the dock. Judge Close sentenced him to one year and 10 months, but said that it could just about be suspended due to time spent in prison on remand and time on a curfew, alongside his mitigation. He said: "You have been extremely fortunate. Your mother's ill health is one factor and you have already served a significant period of time in custody. "I want to make very clear, if I see you again within the next two years, your luck will be at an end." He was also ordered to do 200 hours of unpaid work, a curfew of six months from 9pm to 7am and 20 rehabilitation activity requirement days.
