Another plot that never was
29 April 2004 - SACC
On April 19 2004 ten people - nine men and one woman were arrested in anti-terrorism raids in Manchester and elsewhere. The media speculated on a plot to blow up Manchester United's Old Trafford ground and the police put on extra security at the next match to "put the public at ease" even thogh there was "no specific threat". Police took down the details of car number plates outside mosques in Disbury and Cheetham Hill.
But by the end of the month all the people arrested had been released without being charged with any terrorism offence. They weren't even held for the full 14 days permitted under the law. Six of them have been re-arrested for immigration offences and one has been deported. This is now a standard method for punishing the innocent.
