A VETERAN campaigner spoke this week about his brush with the violence which overtook a peaceful demonstration in Genoa and left one man dead.

Graham Lingard, of Addingham, travelled to the Italian city to join other protesters, aiming to persuade world leaders to abandon Third World debt.

Mr Lingard, Christian Aid co-ordinator for Ilkley, said he was not prepared for the presence of thugs set on disorder, who mingled with genuine protesters.

He said: "You would get groups of people with masks or bandannas around their faces, who looked like they expected trouble.

"There were also people there with gas masks and crash helmets on and I saw a shopping trolley full of petrol bombs. It is not exactly what we were expecting.

"There were 200,000 people there. There were perhaps 1,000 causing problems.

"As an organisation and as an individual I am totally against violence. It is a shame the whole thing was taken over in this way."

A young man was shot dead at Genoa by police during days of serious disturbances.

Mr Lingard, who travelled as part of a large Christian Aid party, said he first became aware that the protest had disintegrated into violence contained by riot police as his coach arrived in France.

He said: "We travelled down over two days and as we were going there we were hearing about the violence that was going on.

"We got stopped in Calais and we had to get off. Three different police forces checked us over.

"When we got to Italy we found out about the death of the protester."

The group decided to travel on to Genoa but not take part in the main march - but this did not protect them from the sinister element present in the city.

Mr Lingard said: "We agreed not to join the main march but we walked along for a few hundred yards with some of the protesters, to join in for a short period.

"It was at that point, that we noticed a person with a shopping trolley full of petrol bombs. We thought we had better not go any further."

It was only then that the party retreated to a church on the outskirts of the city and enjoyed the peaceful demonstration for which they had travelled.

Mr Lingard, 38, of Beacon Street, slammed those who marred the protest with skirmishes and rioting - saying that the atmosphere between most of those present was peaceful.

The seasoned campaigner said he had experienced no such problems when taking part in the Jubilee 2000 Drop the Debt campaign, last year.

He said: "I went to Cologne, which was certainly very different. There were about 70,000 people all campaigning for debt relief.

"There was a party atmosphere, everyone there for the same thing. The police were sitting around at the side of the road.

"This time there were so many issues all together and the violence overshadowed our aims."

Mr Lingard, a nurse, who has two children, said the regrettable events only served to shift the focus from the very real problems faced by the Third world.

He said: "We have been quite disappointed about the lack of response from G8 leaders on debt relief.

"There are still 19,000 people dying in Africa every day because of debt problems. They are not having access to healthcare and education."

He added that Christian Aid would now be seeking a new focus for its campaigning attentions.

He said: "We are going to have a rethink. It is worthwhile going but I do not think we will be focusing on the G8 summits in the future."