1990 Strangeways Prison riot courts, hangings, castrations and that between eleven and twenty prisoners had been killed. On 3 April the front page of the "Daily Mirror" read "Prison Mob 'Hang Cop' ", and claimed a former policeman imprisoned at Strangeways for rape had been killed by prisoners. The newspaper was forced to publish a retraction admitting that "reliable police sources" had been mistaken, when it transpired that the man was actually alive and imprisoned in HM Prison Leeds. Following the end of the rooftop protest the newspapers condemned the prisoners, with "The Daily Telegraph" describing the riot as "a degrading public spectacle", and
1990 Strangeways Prison riot glass. Nine men went on trial charged with riot under Section 1 of the Public Order Act 1986, with six of them, including Paul Taylor and Alan Lord, also being charged with the murder of Derek White. On the first day one prisoner pleaded guilty to charges of riot and conspiracy to riot, and was also acquitted of the murder charge. The other defendants were also acquitted of murder due to the unreliability of eyewitness testimony and the possibility that White had died from a pre-existing thrombotic condition. On 16 April, four defendants including Paul Taylor were convicted of rioting,