This Sunday 15th February marks the second anniversary of the death of white teenager, Gavin Hopley. Gavin was brutally murdered in an unprovoked racist attack by a gang of Asians after he unwittingly walked into the infamous “no-go for whites” zone of Glodwick, Oldham. He was repeatedly beaten for 20 minutes with the use of wooden staves and received a ‘kung-fu’ style kick to the head that put him in a coma, while he lay unconscious his attackers stole his jewellery and mobile phone. He died six days later aged just 19.

No one has ever been brought to account for Gavin’s murder. In 2003 eight Asian men were sentenced to between six and 9 months for violent disorder as a result of the attack. Then in December, the last suspect to stand trial was acquitted, after a ‘witness’ came forward at the last minute after having remembered that the “suspect” was working in his Indian restaurant that night. Now Greater Manchester Police have announced that the investigation into the murder of Gavin Hopley “is now closed.”

Police and media bias

Both the police and the media have shown nothing but utter contempt for Gavin and his family. Even though it is unheard of in English law to close a murder investigation the police have done just that. The media have totally ignored the whole affair, with Gavin’s murder receiving just two articles in the same national daily and a short commentary in the local press in Oldham.

The whole thing smacks of institutional racism. When black teenager Stephen Lawrence was killed in south-east London in 1993 there was a universal condemnation of the Metropolitan Police force for failing to secure a conviction. This led to the infamous MacPherson Report into the murder of Stephen Lawrence and “the lessons learned for the investigation and prosecution of racially motivated crimes”. (prelim to the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry)

Thousands of column inches of newspaper space has been dedicated to the Lawrence murder along with hundreds of hours of television and radio time. The murder of Gavin Hopley has hardly been mentioned, even though the circumstances fit hand in glove with those of the Stephen Lawrence murder. This is nothing other than a politically correct media blackout. Neither the police nor their bosses at the Home Office have learned anything other than how to “avoid raising tensions” by ignoring the majority of victims of racist attacks. This is a clear-cut case of blatant police institutional racism.

Public inquiry now

The British National Party has organised a demonstration for this Monday in London, outside the Commission for Racial Equality HQ and later outside the London HQ of the National Union of Journalists, to call on the government and the media to stop their self imposed silence and give white racial attack victims the attention they deserve.

WE ARE DEMANDING an official inquiry into the murder of Gavin Hopley and the circumstances surrounding the subsequent failure of the police to secure a conviction. We are also demanding that the media publicise the Gavin Hopley affair in the same way they do when the victim is non-White.

We are urging all people to join us in our campaign to achieve equality for the majority of racial attack victims in Britain. Remember, the next time this happens it could be one of your friends, your brother or your own son. Don’t let them get away with it!

Two demonstrations will be taking place in central London throughout the whole day. Meet at London Bridge Station at 9am outside “Boots”. If you would like more information or want to come along on to show your support for racial attack victims then please call 07743 699435 any time.