BEATEN UP FITTED UP LOCKED UP Mark Barnsley and 'The Pomona Incident' A Miscarriage of Justice

Softcover. On June 8, 1994 Mark Barnsley, a 33yr old writer from Sheffield, went out for a walk with his baby daughter and a friend, Jane Leathborough. A short distance from Mark's home, they decided to go for a quiet drink in the beer garden of The Pomona pub. Unfortunately they were soon joined by a group of about 15 drunken students who proceeded to verbally abuse them. Mark and Jane decided to leave but when he calmly questioned the students about their behaviour Mark was hit over the head from behind with a bottle or heavy glass and badly beaten up by several of them. Before managing to get away from his attackers, Mark was brought to the ground 3 times under a hail of kicks and punches for 150 yards. He ended up with injuries all over his body including several head wounds, broken ribs, a broken nose and a front tooth knocked out. Luckily Jane managed to escape unharmed with the baby. In the early stages of the attack, one of the students also produced a knife but dropped it on the floor. Fearing he may be stabbed, Mark managed to get hold of it and tried to get away. Due to the way the students continued to attack, punch, kick and jump on top of Mark, a number of them received knife injuries. Despite every single independent witness stating that Mark was the person being attacked, he was the only one arrested in relation to the incident and was charged with 5 counts of GBH. A year later, after a trial characterised by lies, perjury, the witholding and planting of evidence, judicial bias, accompanied by a hysterical local press campaign, Mark was convicted on 2 counts of GBH and 3 lesser wounding charges. When the court adjourned, the only definitive recommendation was probation. Incredibly, Mark received a prison sentence of 12 years. This booklet was published for fund-raising purposes by people committed to campaigning to support Mark Barnsley's struggle for justice. Illus. 44pp. card cover booklet. From the library of true crime writer, Wilfred Gregg, with his personal b/plate. Small crease across top right-hand corner of fr. cover o/w Vg+.