Over 8,000 people in Glasgow have signed a petition calling for the sacking of Sheriff Middleton after his racist insults in a recent sex case. Sheriff Middleton was presiding in a case where a 27 year old white male was charged with having unlawful sex with a Vietnamese girl aged 13. Middleton described this as merely an:
‘indiscretion’ because ‘girls mature much earlier in the East’ where ‘in the form of marriage that takes place there, intercourse occurs before the marriage’.
Sheriff Middleton admitted that under normal circumstances (if the girt, had been white) he would have sent the man to jail but in this case he imposed a fine instead.
This blatant racist judgment, which has left all black and Asian women open to sexual attack, has exposed the whole racist legal system.
The police, after charging the man involved, then went on to hold the 13 year old girl, in custody. They insisted that she be taken into care. When the Social Work Department refused on the grounds that she should remain in the family home where she could have the support of people she knew, the police threatened to keep her in a police cell. In the end she was held for 6 days until a Children’s Hearing issued an order for her release. The child then had her passport withdrawn as a further act of racist harassment.
The Scottish Asian Action Committee was set up to fight on this case and organised a petition, public meeting and a picket of the Secretary of State in Edinburgh around the slogans: Protect honour of Asian women – sack Sheriff Middleton. This public campaign was highly successful and forced the Secretary of State to make a statement in Parliament. Naturally this imperialist defended Sheriff Middleton, declaring that Middleton meant no racist intent with his comments.
The Scottish Asian Action Committee, recognising that this case is only the tip of the iceberg, are continuing to campaign for the Sacking of Middleton and are calling for a full public enquiry into the racist police and courts in Scotland.
Messages of support and donations can be sent to:
Scottish Asian Action Committee,
Trade Union Centre,
81 Carlton Place,
Glasgow G5.
Mike Gibbs
FRFI 11 July/August 1981
