Jake Prescott, who was involved with the notorious Angry Brigade, has died at the age of 65.
Jake, or Jack as he was known to his family and friends, was convicted along with other members of the militant action group in the early 1970s for conspiracy to cause bombings, serving 10 years of a 15 year sentence.
The Angry Brigade was accused of carrying out 25 attacks on government buildings, embassies, corporations and the homes of government ministers over a five-year period between 1967 and 1971. No one was killed during the bombing campaign and political communiqué’s were issued to explain their actions and justify their targets. It was addressing envelopes for these communiqué’s that Prescott was convicted as a member of the Angry Brigade, or, more accurately, the Stoke Newington Eight as they became known during their trial, then the longest criminal court case in British judicial history.
Seven other political activists were also convicted of the conspiracy, but no one was ever found guilty of actually planting the bombs.
Unlike the rest of the Angry Brigade, Prescott came from a solid working class background. Growing up in Dunfermline he had a troubled early life; his mother died when he was six, his father abandoned him and he had already spent time in prison before he moved to London and was introduced to the revolutionary political scene of the day.
The early ’70s was a time of intense social and political upheaval, the anti-Vietnam war movement was the preoccupation of the left, along with the British Army in Northern Ireland, industrial conflict was escalating with millions out on strike regularly, plus the Clydeside shipyard workers were locked into a lengthy and bitter dispute with Edward Heath, the then Tory prime minister.
While serving his sentence as part of the Angry Brigade, Prescott was active in the Hull prison riots of 1976, staging a mass demo on the roof in response to the brutality of prison screws.
He also studied for a university degree while inside making proper use of the prison libraries.
He eventually married and raised a family he remained devoted to until the end, never cashing in on his notoriety and even writing a letter of apology to Robert Carr who, as home secretary, was one of the people the Angry Brigade targeted.
In his own words: “As the only working-class member, I was not surprised to be the first in and last out of prison. When I look back on it, I was the one who was angry and the people I met were more like the Slightly Cross Brigade”.
