The Mangrove nine led 150 people on a demonstration in August 1970 against police harassment of the black community in Notting Hill, London.

They were initially charged at the Marylebone Magistrates Court and all charges were rejected. They were then re-arrested a year later in 1971, and more serious charges were introduced of riot and affray in the Old Bailey Criminal Crown court. The trial broke legal British History lasting 55 days. The trial started in October 1971 and ended in December 1971.

This was the first time in legal history that a trial with all black defendants got a judicial acknowledgement from the Judge that there was "evidence of racial hatred in the Metropolitan Police".