THE Hillsborough disaster verdict convinces me that we should never allow the police to believe that they are anything other than the servants of the public.

We pay their salaries! Politicians like Margaret Thatcher who encourage them to think otherwise are disgusting, and it’s no good Jack Straw making apologetic noises either. We paid him to have South Yorkshire’s police brutality investigated and he didn’t get it done. On two separate occasions, I have witnessed brutal behaviour by members of the South Yorkshire force. Once, when several burly officers were sent to break up a rock concert in which my son was the vocalist and played lead guitar. They forced youngsters down a steep, winding staircase, causing many of them to fall. I was able to stop them by taking their numbers and threatening to report them to their superiors and to the press. The second occasion was when a mounted force unjustifiably batten-charged a group of miners walking peacefully down a Barnsley street and were ambushed by the mounted force which was lying in wait for them. Twenty-three years it’s taken, but at last Liverpool has some justice. Now let’s see some real justice and see some criminal prosecutions take place.

Walt Jackson, Usk