David Jones

David Jones died during violence on a picket line at Ollerton Colliery.

He died in hospital after collapsing near a picket line at the colliery. He collapsed a few hundred yards from the colliery gates where he had been picketing. When he was initially found the police initially said that they believed he had had a heart attack and that his death had nothing to do with the violence. However, other picketing miners said they didn't accept that, with some miners stating they saw a brick thrown at him.

At the time there had been a ban on flying pickets, however, many of the miners that had left the area returned, their feelings inflamed, and it was heard that shouts of 'scab', where relaced with 'murderers'. In consequence, the night shift were withdrawn at 3.30am and the day shift was told not to report for work because the local NUM feared for their safety.

It was stated that it was only when the NUM president, Arthur Scargill, and others addressed the pickets that the situation was diffused. Arthur Scargill said:

However, hundreds of angry pickets were said to have later clashed with police in violent scuffles.

Flying pickets that had arrived screamed out, 'scab' and 'blackleg' and spat at the few Ollerton miners who crossed the line.

However, a strong police force, three deep in places, kept the pickets away from the miners. It was noted however that police reinforcements were also the target of abuse from the pickets.

Ollerton miners parked their cars away from the pits gates and walked to work, some of them armed with wooden sticks and bricks.

Groups of pickets broke away and fights broke out in side streets with several people seriously injured by flying bricks and bottles.

It was reported that amongst the crowd gathered at the pit gates were many locals and that their mood was mixed, with some supporting the pickets, and others wanting them to go back to their own coal fields. Local wives were also heard shouting support for their husbands as they crossed the picket line to work.

Several times the mob of angry pickets poured across the road, stopping traffic from passing, and even thought the police tried to keep them away from the road, the mass ranks of pickets pushed them aside.

Ten people were arrested and a middle aged man was knocked unconscious and taken by ambulance to Mansfield General Hospital.

David Jones had lived in Saxon Avenue in South Kirby and had had six children. He had celebrated his 24th birthday three days earlier. One of his friends said:

The coroner stated that there was no evidence that he had been unlawfully killed. He added:

One witness said that they saw a brick hit David Jones, however, the medical evidence stated that his death could not have been caused by either a brick, or a policeman's truncheon.

It was noted that later on the same day he died that hundreds of police officers and NUM pickets stood in silence for two minutes in tribute to his death.

Following his death the police said they were anxious to trace people who went past the pit that night. They said:

They said that they had determined that David Jones had been picketing at the pit and that when he heard that his car was being vandalised he began running several hundred yards to Forest Road where he had parked it.

A Home Office pathologist said that his cause of death was due to a ruptured blood vessel in his chest that had been caused by a crushing impact, such as a collision with a wall or vehicle. He said that it was the type of injury received by drivers when their chests hit steering wheels in a crash.

He said that his injury could have happened up to an hour before his death.

The inquest heard that the mystery of how David Jones met his death centred on a lost 20 minutes, between 10.40pm and 11pm, on 14 March 1984.

He had been seen by friends on the picket line outside the colliery ay 10.40pm. Then at about 11pm he was recognised as being among a group of pickets who were being chased by local youths and pelted with bricks. However, no one saw him in the intervening 20 minutes when it was thought that he had received his fatal injury.

A fellow miner who had lived in Armthorpe, near Doncaster, said that he saw a half-brick bounce off David Jones's chest during clashes with villagers. He said:

Pickets then flagged down an ambulance, but David Jones died shortly after midnight in hospital.

The Vice President of the Yorkshire miners said that there were at least six eye witnesses who had confirmed that David Jones had been hit in the chest by a brick thrown by local 'yobs'.

Another witness said that David Jones had thrown a vacuum flask at the locals, and chased one man across some gardens. The man said:

Other witnesses told of:

On the picket lines earlier. A witness said that it had been worse than a Rugby League scrum. He said:

An open verdict was returned at his inquest.

After the verdict was delivered, David Jones's father said:

However, he refused to say whether the family was considering any further action.

A NUM executive member said that the union was happy with the verdict if the David Jones's family were satisfied with it.

However, it was noted that David Jones's father appealed to the NUM not to turn his son into a martyr.

It was later revealed that David Jones had been due to stand trial on charges of soccer hooliganism. Only 48 hours before he died, David Jones had appeared before magistrates at Whitby, where he elected to go for trial at a Crown Court on charges of possessing an offensive weapon, a piece of wood, and conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace.