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police informer there passed the
Amhurst Road address to police on 18 August 1971. An observation was set up and when Jim Greenfield was seen leaving the flat, a search warrant was obtained. At 16:15 on 20 August the police entered the flat and arrested Mendleson, Creek, Barker and Greenfield. Mendleson again gave her name as Nancy Pye. The police reported that their searches of 359 Amhurst Road discovered not only duplicating equipment on which Angry Brigade publications had been produced, but a stick of
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the Judge took into account by reducing the overall sentence by five years. Mendleson was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. While being taken down to the cells she called out "I would like to say thank you to the two members of the jury who had faith in us". Along with others convicted in the trial, Mendleson appealed against both verdict and sentence, being represented by
336:
criticised the decision and asserted that protection of the public and police morale came first. Mendleson moved to
Cambridge to live with friends as a condition of her parole, and remained a Cambridge resident for the rest of her life. Her father gave an interview to BBC Radio explaining that prison
307:
Notwithstanding her oratory, Mendleson was convicted by a 10–2 majority of conspiracy to cause explosions. She was also found guilty of the possession charges, but not guilty of attempting to cause an explosion in
Manchester. The jury foreman asked for "leniency or clemency" for the defendants, which
303:
witnesses to the fact that she was in
Wivenhoe when the bomb was planted. Although she knew others in the case, she asserted that there was no evidence of any plots or conspiracies. Mendleson said that she understood the feelings behind those who would make bomb attacks on cabinet ministers but doing
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became the longest criminal trial at that point in
English legal history, Mendleson was one of three defendants to represent themselves; the "Stoke Newington Eight Defence Group" argued that this was the right decision as they had challenged prosecution witnesses and exposed several as liars. However
298:
The most important part of the trial for
Mendleson was her final speech in her own defence, which took a day and a half of court time. She urged the jury to understand her political work and lifestyle, which would help them see why the police should have planted guns and explosives on her. She noted
253:
With regular police raids on people known to be supportive of the Angry
Brigade and with Mendleson a wanted person (although for cheque fraud only), the police were interested in finding any addresses where she might be found. Mendleson was keeping in regular touch with her family in Stockport and a
216:; for it Mendleson wrote an article on "Judges and the Law". After the arrests the police linked the case to other stolen cheque books and, on 11 June 1971, Mendleson was one of six people to be charged with conspiracy to defraud. However she had jumped bail and her picture was printed in the
353:
Such a lifestyle meant she was not greatly interested in seeing her poetry published, but others thought that her work deserved a larger audience. She is said to have had poems published in the
Sheffield Free Press. Also, a volume of poetry, due to be published by the Common Ground Printing
304:
so "isn't going to get rid of the capitalist system, because there is always somebody to step into his place unless the situation and conditions are right". In conclusion she stressed that those in dock "are working together for a happier and more peaceful world".
113:, a ruling she insisted was unjust. After her release she raised a family, resumed her education and devoted her life to art and to poetry. She grew somewhat isolated from the rest of society, but her friends saw to it that some of her work was published.
350:, and devoting her life to poetry and art. She became opposed to technology and disliked judgments based on rationality in favour of those based on an artistic judgment, which led to her life becoming increasingly disconnected from the rest of society.
354:
Co-operative, was reportedly removed prior to publication after the printer sought to censor the content. She was first published in 1986, according to a later reviewer, through "a series of home-made, distributed hand to hand, photographed-manuscript
290:
her health suffered and she was ill throughout much of the trial; on occasion she was too ill to take part at all and the trial had to be halted. She was granted bail during a four-week summer adjournment of the trial, spending the time in Wales.
155:. She was reported to have been a "brilliant and unruly pupil". In addition Mendleson fostered her artistic ability through attending the New Era Academy of Drama and Music from 1957 to 1967, and performed at several Northern Music Festivals.
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After her release, she adopted the alternative spelling of her surname
Mendelssohn. She spent some time in Sheffield, where she started a family and had three children. Mendelssohn moved to Cambridge in about 1985, studying poetry at
284:
Mendleson found prison life extremely stressful and at the committal hearing complained that five months in
Holloway had caused "isolation and repression, both physical and mental". The resulting trial of eight defendants at the
199:
On 27 February 1971, Mendleson and Greenfield visited Liverpool to discuss founding a new radical libertarian newspaper; after leaving the meeting they and three others drove to Greenfield's nearby home town of Widnes to go to a
244:
anarchist group. The duplicating equipment at Amhurst Road was used to produce Angry Brigade Communiqué No. 11 published on 31 July 1971, and Mendleson drafted the Angry Brigade Moonlighter's Cell Communiqué which followed it.
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since 1970 for seeing the population it hopes to serve as a single group rather than as millions of individual people, a critique which the reviewer Andrew Duncan linked to the poet's own history. 1997 saw the appearance of
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had had a terrible effect on her, making it impossible for her to concentrate. He also said that she had taken no part in the bombings and that she and the other defendants were "good young people" who tried to help others.
236:, the group decided to rent a flat in London. On 2 July 1971, John Barker and Hilary Creek posing as a married couple, and Mendleson using the name 'Nancy Pye', rented the top floor flat at 359 Amhurst Road in
970:
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that at the time of the Manchester bombing she had been living in Wivenhoe where doors were left open and people borrowed each other's magazines, and she had been able to produce unchallenged
204:. The police were called by someone who thought the group looked suspicious and when Greenfield had no documents for their hire car, all five were arrested. Police searches discovered
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under its Folio imprint and Equipage, this time not using her pseudonym. As with previous publication, it was due to efforts from others, rather than Mendelssohn herself, that
240:. One of the Mendleson's main concerns was that the group continue to support the defence of Jake Prescott and Ian Purdie, who were charged with carrying out two bombings for
171:; what she saw had a great effect on her political thinking. In 1969 she dropped out of her university course rather than continue into her final year, but remained living in
424:. As the tumour developed, she became incapacitated by it and dependent on hospital care, being almost unconscious for the last two weeks before her death in November 2009.
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until 13 February 1977, causing a storm of press coverage which one reporter described as "scandalous and distasteful". The issue was raised in Parliament with
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and was eventually charged with possession of the armaments and conspiracy to cause explosions. Mendleson's fingerprints were found on a copy of
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magazine used to wrap a bomb planted at the Italian consulate in Manchester, and she was also charged with attempting to cause this explosion.
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Mendleson was quietly released on parole in November 1976, just four years after the end of the trial. The news was not disclosed by the
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book; the five gave false names and were bailed to report to Colchester Police Station. The newspaper eventually appeared under the name
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On 13 June 1972 a doctor's note said that Mendleson needed to stay in bed for 48 hours; the trial was adjourned until she was better.
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area of London, and was a close friend of a group including some university friends who were living a semi-communal life in
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was taken up by its publishers; it included some of her line drawings, and some poetry appeared in handwritten form.
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Mendelssohn collapsed in February 2009, and was subsequently diagnosed with an inoperable brain tumour on her
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557:"Vanishing points: new modernist poems" (ed. John Kinsella, Rod Mengham), Salt Publishing, 2004, p. 302.
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in Stepney. She became a friend of Jim Greenfield after meeting him on leaving a political meeting.
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to read English Literature and American History. In May 1968, she went to Paris, to join in the
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in Wivenhoe in April 1971 were shown pictures of Mendleson and asked if they recognised her.
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around the university for several months. In early 1970 she was living in York Way in the
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183:; among them was Hilary Creek. Mendleson and Creek were supporting a group which had
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Smart, Pamela (16 February 1977). "Anna's face of anguish". Daily Mirror. p. 1.
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127:
856:"See Sense: Embarking on a Reading of Jennifer Moxley, Grace Lake and John Forbes"
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Smith, Colin (19 November 1972). "Stoke Newington Eight make Old Bailey History".
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704:"Conspiracy Notes 4", Stoke Newington Eight Defence Group, London, 1972, p. 15.
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614:"Conspiracy Notes 4", Stoke Newington Eight Defence Group, London, 1972, p. 8.
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MacManus, James (20 June 1973). "Four guilty of bomb plot lose appeals".
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pistol and 81 rounds of ammunition. Mendleson was remanded in custody at
172:
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Mendleson was the daughter of Maurice Mendleson, a market trader from
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Mendelsohn was convicted of conspiracy to cause explosions as part of
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councillor in Stockport; the Mendleson family was later described by
401:, which had a theme of the relationship between water and language.
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436:, edited by Sara Crangle, Swindon : Shearsman Books, 2020,
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I'm working here : the collected poems of Anna Mendelssohn
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In 2000, a full book of Mendelssohn's poetry was published by
132:
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358:". In 1988 two of her poems were published under the title
332:, saying that Mendleson was no longer a danger to society;
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in May 1968, and became a political radical in Britain.
514:. Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library. February 2010.
98:, 1948 – 15 November 2009), who wrote under the name
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Poem at onedit – 'REARRANGED LETTER TO THOMAS EVANS'
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as "politically radical". Mendleson was educated at
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971:People educated at Stockport High School for Girls
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125:in Cheshire. According to Peter Riley, writing in
781:Hillmore, Peter (4 March 1977). "London Letter".
685:
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471:Steve Crowther, "Breaking of Anna the Bomber",
459:Her name is frequently given as Anna Mendelson.
374:Three volumes of her poetry were published by
163:In September 1967, Mendleson went down to the
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1001:Prisoners and detainees of England and Wales
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378:under the literary pseudonym Grace Lake.
220:as a wanted person. People arrested in a
951:Alumni of St Edmund's College, Cambridge
540:(1 October 1972). "No bombs in court".
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131:, her father was from a "working class
829:"Poetical Histories: the whole story"
366:, with a cover design by the author.
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738:Carr, "The Angry Brigade", p. 203-5.
729:Carr, "The Angry Brigade", p. 193-5.
668:Carr, "The Angry Brigade", p. 143-5.
659:Carr, "The Angry Brigade", p. 122-3.
650:Carr, "The Angry Brigade", p. 121-2.
641:Carr, "The Angry Brigade", p. 114-7.
632:Carr, "The Angry Brigade", p. 110-1.
596:Carr, "The Angry Brigade", p. 93-4.
386:in 1995; a review of the latter in
71:Writer, poet and political activist
991:20th-century British women writers
874:"Angry Brigade Member Passes Away"
677:Carr, "The Angry Brigade", p. 148.
623:Carr, "The Angry Brigade", p. 108.
605:Carr, "The Angry Brigade", p. 106.
382:published in 1993 was followed by
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946:Alumni of the University of Essex
587:Carr, "The Angry Brigade", p. 50.
578:Carr, "The Angry Brigade", p. 48.
566:Carr, "The Angry Brigade", p. 30.
527:Carr, "The Angry Brigade", p. 36.
492:Riley, Peter (15 December 2009).
392:magazine saw it as a critique of
876:. Brian Whelan. 3 December 2009.
817:. Autumn 1997. pp. 105–110.
811:"Nine fine flyaway goose truths"
770:. 14 February 1977. p. 20.
149:Stockport High School for Girls
348:St Edmund's College, Cambridge
208:and a stolen Essex University
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981:Deaths from cancer in England
831:. Peter Riley. Archived from
84:St Edmunds College, Cambridge
854:Sheerman, Lucy (July 2001).
280:Stoke Newington Eight trial
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986:20th-century British poets
719:. 14 June 1972. p. 7.
512:"Anna Mendleson 1948-2009"
232:Needing a base to produce
159:Dropping out of university
475:, 15 February 1977, p. 5.
996:British female criminals
766:"Parole for bomb girl".
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916:Anna Mendleson Obituary
894:. Victor Gollancz Ltd.
966:Writers from Stockport
312:. The appeals failed.
890:Carr, Gordon (1975).
715:"Defendant to rest".
362:as issue number 5 of
956:British women poets
835:on 28 February 2010
165:University of Essex
151:, where she became
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494:"Anna Mendelssohn"
394:left-wing politics
364:Poetical Histories
976:English criminals
892:The Angry Brigade
442:978-1-84861-714-8
384:Bernache nonnette
356:feuilles volantes
310:Michael Mansfield
242:The Angry Brigade
137:Spanish Civil War
111:The Angry Brigade
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287:Old Bailey
145:Des Wilson
100:Grace Lake
68:Occupation
63:Grace Lake
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153:Head Girl
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376:Equipage
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173:Wivenhoe
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341:Poetry
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234:Strike
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