Sixth attack on TNT
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• A sixth TNT depot came under siege last week as the company attempted to gain a High Court injunction against SOGAT to stop picket-line violence at its premises (CM, July 26).
At 2am last Friday, a mob of around 200 attacked the TNT depot at Thetford in Norfolk causing an estimated 0 0,(XX) worth of damage to vehicles and buildings.
Newspaper delivery vehicles, used in the distribution of News International papers, suffered the worst damage with broken windscreens and dents to their bodywork, while TNT Roadfreight trucks were also hit.
At one stage during the hour-long assault copies of News International papers were seized and set on fire. The speed of the attack appears to have caught local policy by surprise. At the height of the disturbance there were only four officers present to control the mob.
Norfolk Police Superintendent Peter Barnes says the attack was "well orchestrated", giving local police "absolutely no warning". Although no arrests were made during the incident, Barnes says that investigations are currently being carried out which could result in charges.
According to Barnes there is no evidence that print workers were involved. "This will only be established by investigations," he says.
Despite the assault, depot manager Andrew Turner says: "All distribution delivery points were delivered to with only minimal delays." Roadfreight deliveries were also uninterrupted, according to Turner: "All customers were served."
However, South West Norfolk MP Sir Paul Hawkins is to contact the Home Office and Norfolk Chief Constable. He wants to know why no one was arrested, and how 200 people could gather at the Thetford depot without being noticed.
Turner says he has "absolutely no criticism of the police officers who attended the attack, although it does make me anxious that their numbers were as few as they were. It's a very delicate issue".
This week TNT is applying for an injunction against SOGAT to stop attacks on its depots. If TNT is successful and SOGAT ignores the injunction the union could face sequestration of its funds and fines.