Riot Act felt uncertain of their power to take action to stop the riots without a reading of the Riot Act. After the riots, Lord Mansfield observed that the Riot Act did not take away the pre-existing power of the authorities to use force to stop a violent riot; it only created the additional offence of failing to disperse after a reading of the Riot Act. The Riot Act was read prior to the Peterloo Massacre of 1819, as well as prior to the Bristol Riots at Queen's Square in 1831. Both are held to be related to the Unreformed House of
Prawn farm massacre massacre at the farm, but the Managing Director of Serendip Seafood Limited, Victor Santhiapillai, who was a former Executive Director of the International Trade Centre (a United Nations body) and the company's former Manager, together with Consultant to the company Bruce Cyr (an American national) rebutted the government's denial and confirmed that the massacre did in fact take place. They also contradicted the government's claim that those killed were either terrorists or that they died in the crossfire. Rejecting the government's Media Centre claim Santhiapillai said, "I totally reject the Media Centre's charge that the 22 Serendib Seafood's staff members