THE case of 12 young Asian men put on trial when a stockpile of petrol bombs was found in Little Horton is featured in a new Channel 4 documentary series.

After the discovery of petrol bombs in July 1981, 12 men appeared before Bradford magistrates, charged with conspiring to cause damage or destruction by fire or explosion with intent to endanger life and with conspiring to cause grievous bodily harm.

The men pleaded not guilty, claiming they were acting in self defence, to protect their community against a feared skinhead fascist march. The petrol bombs weren’t used, as the march didn’t take place.

There followed a high profile campaign and a series of demonstrations to free the men, who became known as the ‘Bradford 12’. They were eventually acquitted, after what was called by some commentators ‘the trial of the decade’, in May 1982.

The Bradford 12 feature in Defiance: Fighting the Far Right, a series of documentaries about the British Asian fightback against a wave of racist attacks and murders between 1976-1981.

The series “lifts the lid on the events that led to the Southall protests, the killing of Blair Peach, the Battle for Brick Lane and on how ‘Self-defence is no offence’ became a rallying call in Bradford”. Made by Rogan Productions, GroupM Motion Entertainment and exec produced by Riz Ahmed’s Left Handed Films, the series starts on Channel 4 on Monday, April 8 at 9pm and continues on Tuesday, April 9 and Wednesday, April 10 at 10pm.

Wednesday's episode looks back to July 1981, when violence exploded in Walthamstow, Bradford and Southall. In Bradford, rumours of a National Front attack in the city led to 12 young people stockpiling petrol bombs. Arrested on conspiracy charges, they faced life imprisonment.

The men pleaded not guilty, claiming they were acting in self defence. There followed a high profile campaign and a series of demonstrations to free the ‘Bradford 12’. In March 1982, protesters shouting “Free the Bradford 12” and “Police conspiracy” marched through the city centre to a rally at Queens Hall. A national demonstration supporting the Bradford 12 took place the following month.

At the end of a 31-day trial at Leeds Crown Court, the men were acquitted. The acquittal of the Bradford 12 was seen as a significant victory in highlighting the right of a community, rather than an individual, to defend itself.