Condon accuses black newspaper over Brixton riot

One of the most widely read newspapers in Britain's black community has been accused of "dangerously irresponsible" coverage of the recent riot in Brixton, south London, by Sir Paul Condon, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police.

In a pre-recorded radio interview to be broadcast on London News 97.3fm today, Sir Paul launched an outspoken attack on the Voice for its stories about the death of Wayne Douglas in police custody and its coverage of the riot which followed last December.

He said: "Sadly, I believe they have been irresponsible, dangerously irresponsible. I think they have fuelled discontent. I think they have printed alleged eye-witness accounts that were never substantiated."

In the interview, Sir Paul is particularly critical of the way prior to the riot the newspaper covered the death of Mr Douglas, 26, who threatened police with a knife when he was arrested on suspicion of aggravated burglary.

The day before the demonstration about his death the Voice ran the headline "Tell us the truth" and suggested that he may have been beaten by the police before he died. Under a photo of four long-handled batons was the caption: "Did they play a role in Wayne's death?"

About 100 people gathered outside Brixton police station to protest about his death and the march which followed ended in violent clashes with police.

Sir Paul said: "They printed allegations which were, I think, unnecessarily inflammatory, that had no substance. I am not pre-judging the outcome of an independent inquiry but, to the best of my knowledge, the wild accusations that were made have not been substantiated in any way, shape of form at all."

"I think it is a missed opportunity ... it is a tragedy that one of the most important papers in that area chooses an editorial line which I think is dangerously confrontational."

The Voice, based in Brixton, has a weekly circulation of 47,000 and a readership of 250,000. In a statement yesterday it said: "We are standing by our story, the story was not inflammatory. We have a sworn affidavit from a witness to the events which took place surrounding the death of Wayne Douglas. Our witness is prepared to appear in court. We are a responsible newspaper and we look at the issues which affect the black community and our rights."

A spokesman for the Police Complaints Authority, which is supervising the investigation into the circumstances surrounding Mr Douglas's death, said it hoped that the man quoted in the Voice article would eventually make a statement to investigating officers.

A spokesman said: "We urge anybody who witnessed the incident to come forward. It's only fair on the family, the coroner, the police officers and the public interest that the inquiry should be as complete as possible."

Brutality claims, page 6