Peckham Taser Death Protest

A demonstration took place on Saturday 30th September to protest against the death of Zodoq Obatolah, a 52 year old man who died after being tasered by police in Peckham earlier this year. People marched from the Rye Hill Estate, where the man died in April apparently after falling from a balcony following being tasered. The protest ended in a rally at Peckham police station where people sat in the road to hear speeches from the United Friends and Families Campaign, which brings together people affected by the deaths at the hands of the police.  Speakers included Marcia Rigg, whose brother Sean Rigg died in Brixton police station in 2008, and Germaine Phillips whose son Adrian McDonald died after being tasered by police in Staffordshire in 2014.

Fenton Ogbogbo- murdered by racists in the Old Kent Road, 1981

Fenton Ogbogbo was a 25 year old man who was murdered in a racist attack on the  Old Kent Road in June 1981.

 Three white youths aged 15 to 17 from the Peckham area were jailed at 'Her Majesty’s pleasure' in  a trial at the Old Bailey in the following year.  The court heard that on 21 June 1981 after an incident in a pub on the Old Kent Road, 'Other white youths were recruited and they went after him. But Mr  Ogbogbo of Nunhead Grove, Peckham,  was rescued by young whites he had been playing pool with' in the pub. A few minutes later the three murderers 'who had described the rescuers as “n* lovers”, caught Mr Ogbogbo alone in a fish shop' and stabbed him  repeatedly (Times 23 February 1982). Fenton has been watching a  boxing match on TV in the Senol Fish Bar in Old Kent Road. He died at Guys Hospital.

Fenton had come to London from Nigeria in 1969 and gone to schools in Peckham before working assembling computers, but he had lost his job and was unemployed.

Bizarrely the police suggested that he may have considered suicide earlier that day having supposedly 'pulled back from jumping from the balcony of a block of flats'. This was denied by his family, and in any event was irrelevant to his brutal racist murder later in the day (Times, 23 June 1981)

His father Isiah Ogbogbo, an electrical engineer, said: 'I have lost a child because of the racial trouble in this country. Why should somebody kill a quiet innocent boy like him? [...] It is these skinheads with their hated of black people. That is why my child died. We have a lot of English people living in Nigeria but we do not kill them'.

The report below mentions that another black man had been stabbed in a racist attack in Peckham in the previous week, and that in the same period there were clashes between the police and black youth in the area:

'The Saturday night of Fenton‘s murder hundreds of black youth, joined by some white youth, had fought for two hours with the police in Peckham Rye. “It looked like they were seeking confrontation with us“ said Superintendent Staplin in charge of the police on the scene. He couldn’t have been more right. Wooden stakes were torn up from fences and used as spears to throw at the police, police vehicles were attacked, and such money grabbers as Currys, Boots and British Home Stores were broken into. The BP petrol station narrowly escaped destruction.…

A few miles from Peckham in Lewisham shopping centre, in just two forays by the police, 20 black youths were picked up on 4 and 5 June. These youths, the youngest of which was 13, were held for hours in Ladywell police station. A pregnant teenager among them was attacked and given a black eye. All were subjected to a constant barrage of racist abuse. When one young girl asked how she was supposed to get home when she was released late at night with no money she was told “you can swing on trees“. She was left as an easy target for the kind of racists who killed Fenton Ogbogbo that the police allowed to roam the streets' (Fight Racism! Fight Imperialism!, July/August 1918 - sourced from the Splits and Fusions archive)

Undercover: police spies in South London

'Undercover: the True Story of Britain's Secret Police' by Rob Evans and Paul Lewis is primarily about the work of the Special Demonstration Squad, a London-based police unit set up to infiltrate radical and not so radical movements. Of course the police Special Branch and other agencies have been using informers and undercover police officers for many years. The SDS, seemingly formed in the aftermath of the anti-Vietnam protests of the late 1960s, took this to a new level by deploying cops to live amongst activists, and indeed as activists, for long periods. During their deep cover deployments, they took a key role in organising protests and had sexual relationships, some times having children with women while pretending to be somebody else (using the identities of other, dead children). The SDS closed down in 2008, but its work has continued since in the guise of various shadowy groups such as the National Public Order Intelligence Unit.

If you've been following the authors' unfolding revelations in the Guardian and elsewhere, there probably won't be too many surprizes in this book. But gathering so much of the material together in one place does show how sustained and widespread the practice was (and presumably still is), bearing in mind that only a few undercover spies have been definitely identified out of a much larger number deployed.

Some of the South London connections mentioned in the book have been covered here before, including 'Rod Richardson', a presumed policeman involved in organising the May Day 2001 protests at the Elephant and Castle, and Jim Boyling/Jim Sutton, who lived in East Dulwich while infiltrating Reclaim the Streets.

Jim Boyling (real name) aka Jim Sutton of Reclaim the Streets

'Undercover' also includes other details, including the revelations from Pete Black that he took part in the violent anti-BNP protests in Welling in 1993 and that he was one of several spies deployed to try and dig dirt on the Stephen Lawrence campaign.The attempt to find information to discredit the Lawrence family supporters shows clearly that the undercover operation was not just targeting groups believed to be involved in direct action, but was used to undermine people who threatened to expose police wrong-doing.

Another revelation in the book is that at one time - and certainly in around 2001 - the clandestine HQ of the SDS was ' a rundown office block on Camberwell New Road... situated above the nondescript City Office Superstore stationers'. This was at 303-309 Camberwell New Road London SE5 0TF - now the home of the TFC Supermarket, next to St Marys Greek Orthodox Church.

TFC in Camberwell New Road - once a secret police HQ

If the practice has led to emotional abuse of activists, the strains of living a double life may not have done some of the cops any favours either. Dulwich-born Mark Kennedy seems to have ended up being abandoned by his former handlers after being exposed in 2011, as well as being deeply mistrusted by the activists who he spied on. Another case covered in the book is that of Mike Chitty/Mike Blake who infiltrated the Streatham-based South London Animal Movement in the 1980s, and continued to try and hang around with people from that scene after his police deployment had been ended.

Eight women  who were 'deceived into long term intimate relationships with undercover police officers who were infltrating environmental and social justice campaign groups' are now taking legal action against the police. Supporters from 'Police Spies Out of Lives' are calling for a picket of the Royal Courts of Justice at the next court hearing, expected to be on or about the 19th March.

Walworth radical history walk

Interesting radical history/geography walk last weekend from 56a InfoShop in Crampton Street,  around the the top end of Walworth Road and the Pullens Estate SE17 courtesy of Past Tense.

How the poor die

One theme was who gets remembered and who get forgotten in the official record, with reference to Orwell's How the Poor Die. We were reminded of Ayikoe Atayi, found dead in 2006 in the cupboard where he had been living in Perronet House SE1 while working as a cleaner sending money back to his famiy in Togo.

Reminded too of Richard O'Brien, a 37 year old father of seven who 'died in April 1994 after being pinned to the ground by three officers who said they were arresting him for being drunk and disorderly... Mr O'Brien's family say that his pleas that he could not breathe were ignored, and alleged that officers shouted anti-Irish abuse at him. Mr O'Brien suffered injuries in 31 areas including 12 cuts to the face and head' (Guardian 14 May 2002)

O'Brien was arrested while waiting for a taxi outside English Martyrs Catholic Social Club and taken to Walworth police station. A jury found that he had been 'unlawfully killed' by the police, but in 1999 three police officers were found not guilty of manslaughter. Nevertheless after being found liable for his death under the Fatal Accidents Act, the police finally paid £324,000 compensation to O'Brien's family in 2002.

Walworth Working Men's Lecture and Reading Rooms

There was also some reflection on the parallels between the 56a InfoShop -  a radical bookshop and archive in the area since 1991 - and an earlier local institution, the Walworth Working Men's Lecture and Reading Rooms in Camden Street. The poster from the 19th century invited people for lectures, discussion meetings, 'all the best of the periodicals' and 'books lent from the library' - all for 'one shilling per quarter'. Though don't think we would want to advertise today 'take your Wife that is, or is to be'!

'Just the place to go when work is over, you can see there all the news of the day'
(not sure of the date of this, though the place was certainly going in 1855)

May Day 2001: a police spy at the Elephant & Castle?

A guest post from "La Infanta de Castilla"

The Elephant and Castle has been a bit of a hive of radical activity of late. The Self Organised London Social Space is still going a month after the initial occupation of Eileen House on Newington Causeway, a former Department of Health building scheduled for demolition. Nearby at 44-50 Lancaster Street, the empty Colorama 2 building has also been occupied as the Library Street Community Centre (though having been there since September 2012, they may soon be evicted having been in court this week). Last week there was a protest against workfare at the  London HQ of the Salvation Army also on Newington Causeway, and on March 7th activists from the Anti Raids Network disrupted UK Borders Agency checks opposite Elephant and Castle shopping centre.

Back in 2001, the Elephant was one of the gathering points for the May Day anti-capitalist protests. The theme that year was May Day Monopoly, with actions planned at sites across London.

Well as everyone knows Old Kent Road is the only South London location on the Monopoly board, so clearly the Elephant and Castle just had to be the South London focus.



The South London Mayday Collective met to plan for the event, calling on people to gather at the E&C roundabout from noon on Tuesday May 1st 2001. Several hundred people did so and there was a bit of a picnic on the roundabout with the Rinky Dink cycle powered sound system, before people headed off towards Kennington and then into town, dodging round side streets to get around police blockades.

In Central London a large part of the 5,000 crowd ended up being 'kettled' by the police for 8 hours by Oxford Circus. There were 92 arrests on the day, and plenty of bruises as police made free use of their batons.

But perhaps not everybody who was at the Elephant on May Day 2001 had straightforward motives. As part of its ongoing investigations into police infiltration, The Guardian last month identified 'Rod Richardson' as a possible undercover police agent, seemingly using the identity of a dead child ('Rod Richardson: the mystery of the protester who was not who he claimed', Guardian 6 February 2013).  Richardson is also discussed in another Guardian article by his former friend Laura Oldfield Ford:

'It was April 2001, and I was walking across the complicated system of roundabouts at Elephant and Castle in south London to meet a group of fellow activists in a bar at the Southbank. We were a group of anarchists, environmentalists and anti-capitalist protesters who were having a planning meeting for a May Day demonstration which was only days away. It was a balmy spring evening, and the sense of mounting excitement was palpable. At these big meetings you'd see a group of your friends and gravitate towards them. These were people you shared a strong affinity with – people you'd been on big European protests with, who you'd put yourself at risk with, maybe even been arrested and beaten up with. These were people you trusted implicitly, and with whom you shared a strong bond.

When I arrived, one of the first people who grabbed me in an embrace was Rod. We had only been friends for a year or so but in that time shared a lot of intense experiences, living as we did in an environment of strong camaraderie and full-time activism. We had both been around various anti-capitalist groups where we had occupied buildings, worked together on actions, travelled around the country together and enjoyed long drinking sessions after protests. He would come and visit and we would have meals together; he would sit at the table with us discussing ideas and strategies. It wasn't until after he vanished without a trace in 2003 that I became suspicious that "Rod" wasn't whom he claimed to be, and that he may have been an undercover police officer...

In 2001 we begun small meetings in my flat to discuss the logistics of blocking the Elephant and Castle roundabout to clog up a main artery into the City. Rod was a regular visitor, and even stayed the night there on occasion, most notably the night before the May Day 2001 protests. His reason for doing this was that he lived up in Hertfordshire and wanted to be in central London for the first actions of the day. Around this time, my flat was raided by the police – this seemed disproportionate when what we were actually arrested for was flyposting. We were held overnight in police cells, where even the duty sergeant expressed surprise that someone being held for "graffiti" would have their home raided.

Ten years on, "Rod" is now suspected to have been an undercover police officer. It is a disturbing thing to read about, to know that the name we called him may actually have belonged to a baby who died at two days old. Such an infiltration affects you psychologically, and impacts on your relationships with other people. It makes it more difficult to welcome new people into your friendship group. Politically, it's easy to see how damaging it is: the movement can't function if trust between activists is eroded. When a network is riven by accusations and suspicions, organisation and practical actions become an impossibility.

The weirdest thing of all is that I liked Rod a lot – he was such a nice bloke, always smiling and a good laugh in the pub. He appeared to be a committed activist, not afraid of breaking the law, challenging police lines and subjecting himself to, and in some cases instigating, difficult and dangerous situations for the sake of our collective principles. He never, to my knowledge, tried to initiate any kind of intimate relationship with anyone in the scene, but came across as genuinely decent and friendly. He left behind an odd floating feeling akin to grief, with questions left unanswered and a sense of betrayal and loss.

from Indymedia

If I saw him now, I would for an instant expect the smile and the warm embrace, because I haven't adjusted to the idea that the entire friendship may have been fake. I am still deeply confused by the whole episode. There is an element of me that wonders if he experienced confusion as well. It's hard to accept that all those feelings of kinship and affection, those familial bonds that form through full-time activism, were perhaps a sham. If Rod was indeed misguiding us all along, surely feelings of revulsion and guilt must have shivered across him when we called out to him in that stolen name'

As discussed here before, another infiltrator of radical movements - 'Jim Sutton' - lived undercover in East Dulwich around this period. Not that the practice is anything new - during the 1926 General Strike the Lewisham Council of Action was believed to have been infiltrated by a man called Johnstone.

Brockley Incident Yesterday

Not sure exactly what happened in Brockley yesterday afternoon, the story circulating on twitter was 'Crazy guy wielding a pitchfork in Brockley has police cars & helicopters after him, lots of blood in the street'. Don't think it was quite a bloodbath,  but what is clear is that  at around 3 pm there was initially some kind of incident with a man threatening people by the row of shops opposite the Brockley Barge on Brockley Road. He then seems to have been chased towards Brockley Station and run across the train lines, leading to trains being stopped. First Capital Connect reported 'Delays of up to 45 minutes between Norwood Junction and New Cross Gate because of a trespass incident at Brockley'.

The police gave chase with the police helicopter twitter account (yes there is one) reporting '1535: Currently over Brockley @mpslewisham searching for male chased by local Officers'. Don't know if he was arrested, whether anybody was injured, or what the alleged weapon was - did anybody actually see the fork? 

Anyway this was all going off right next to Brockley Christmas Market in Coulgate Streeet, where people were sipping mulled wine, buying presents and listening to Brockley Ukulele Group. 'Mike Modular' has posted a sound recording on audioboo that captures the strange soundclash of ukes, sirens and helicopters. This is a slice of sound that sums up early 21st century Brockley (and indeed other areas like East Dulwich and the Bellenden end of Peckham) -  a  pleasant if slightly twee world of cup cakes, crafts and small stringed instruments periodically interrupted by desperation and violence.

listen to ‘Brockley Christmas Market’ on Audioboo

Update Monday: so was this all a big fuss about not very much? According to eye witnesses in comments there was a some kind of altercation by the Brockley Barge, followed by a guy waving a swiss army knife around. Later someone, possibly the same guy, was seen with a garden fork being threatening. Doesn't seem there was blood on the streets , as reported on Twitter, or indeed anybody injured, and as a fork was abandoned at the scene it doesn't really sound like there was a guy wandering the streets of Brockley for 24 hours brandishing a pitch fork. A big police operation failed to find him that day and the next day someone - perhaps the same guy again - was arrested in Brockley, with Lewisham police reporting that 'a burglary suspect that @MPSinthesky assisted us with... was arrested & has been bailed pending further enqs'.  No doubt distressing for some people directly involved and could have ended badly, but to be honest sounds like a fairly routine case of messed up drink/drugs/mental health issues.

Who polices the police?

Lewisham Anti-Racist Action Group (LARAG) have a public meeting coming up on  Tuesday October 2nd from 7pm at Goldsmiths College, New Cross.

The meeting will be on the subject ‘Who Polices the police’ and will feature a short film, then a discussion with Marcia Rigg-Samuel (brother of Sean Rigg) and a speaker from the campaign group Inquest. LARAG say 'This is an important meeting given no police officer has been successfully prosecuted despite 1439 deaths in custody or following police contact since 1990, of which 199 were from the black and minority ethnic community'.

Sean Rigg, aged 40, died at Brixton police station in 2008 shortly after being arrested and restrained. At the inquest into his death at Southwark Coroners Court last month, the Jury criticised both the Police and South London and Maudsley NHS Trust (Sean was being treated for schizophrenia).

History Corner: Resisting the National Front 1980

In 1977, the famous Battle of Lewisham occurred when a march by the extreme right wing racist National Front from New Cross to Lewisham centre sparked fighting between anti-fascists, the NF and the police. But sadly this was not the end of the NF in South London. In 1980 there were two marches in quick succession, one in Southwark and one in Lewisham.

The NF march in Southwark took place on Sunday 2 March 1980, despite an earlier unsuccessful attempt by Southwark Council to get it banned. 'Around 1,000 Front supporters took part in the march from Wyndham Road, along Camberwell Road, to Camberwell Green, turning left in to Peckham Road, along Lyndhurst Way to residential Holly Grove [in Peckham] for an open air rally. The marchers - mostly teenage skinheads... chanted "National Front is the white man's Front, join the National Front". There were roars of "N---er Lovers" and "Kill the reds" whenever the few onlookers - mainly from windows - shouted anti-Front slogans' (South London Press 4 March 1980). The leader of this motley crue of racists was then NF Chairman Andrew Brons, who spoke at the rally at the end. He is now a BNP Member of the European Parliament.

The NF speak outside derelict house in Holly Grove 1980,
© Jim Rice, www.londonphoto.co.uk

A similar number of anti-racists turned out to oppose the march, with the counter-demonstration called by Southwark Campaign Against Racism and Fascism (SCARF)*. But they were prevented by the police from getting near to the NF: 'Hundreds of officers threw a cordon around them as they gathered outside the London College of Printing, Elephant and Castle... The organisers were informed of the progress of the march by motorcyclists riding between the two rallying points... Some marchers headed for New Kent Road only to be turned back by lines of police'.  Police also cordoned off all side roads along the route, banning pedestrians and traffic. There were ten arrests (SLP 4 March 1980). At one point 'A group of demonstrators started running, trying to get ahead of the escorting police, and scuffles broke out. Several policemen were bowled over' (Times 3 March 1980).

'Keep Britain Two Tone - Demonstrate Against National Front March' (Rock Against Racism)

The Lewisham March

On Saturday 12 April 1980, 100 NF marched from Clapham Junction to Wandsworth High Street. The following weekend they moved on to Lewisham. The march there has been called after Lewisham Council refused the NF permission to use a Council building for a meeting during its Greater London Council election campaign for its West Lewisham candiate Lynda Mirabita.

The route of the NF march on Sunday April 20 1980 was kept secret until the last minute - it went from Forest Hill to Catford where 'A rally was held in a confined areas bordered by Catford greyhound stadium, a railway embankment and bridge, a second railway line and a canal' (Times 21 April 1980). According to the South London Press (22 April 1980):  'Estimates varied between 250-700 NF marchers - mostly young skinheads - against 1,000 counter marchers. Marquees were put up in Hilly Fields for the 4,000 police drafted in for the day'. The police used similar tactics to those employed in Southwark: 'The Anti Nazi League grouped its supporters by Lewisham Town Hall but they were unable to reach their target because police had cordoned off all side streets along the route... mounted police prevented counter-demonstrators breaking through a cordon at Holbeach Road. About 50 protestors tried to reach the Front marchers by cutting across the Private Banks Sports Ground and a football match was temporarily halted as police rugby tackled the demonstrators on a pitch... Another group, armed with spanners patrolled the streets in a car searching for Front members'.

The St Pauls riot in Bristol had taken place just before the Lewisham march, and The Times reported (21 April 1980): 'After the march several hundred of the Anti-Nazi League counter-demonstrators suddenly turned and charged down Lewisham High Street. A few bottles broke against windows to cheers and a brick smashed a tailors shop window. Some youths, mainly black, changed 'Bristol, Bristol' as they ran... Mounted policemen were sent through back streets to cut of the charging youths.' Five people were arrested when police found four petrol bombs in a car in Lewisham High Street, and in a trial later that year four teenagers were jailed for six years each for possession of the petrol bombs which the prosecution claimed they had intended to use against the National Front (Times October 22 1980).

In total 72 people were arrested on the day of the demonstration, the majority of them counter-demonstrators. The police tactics were criticised by Christine Trebett of the All Lewisham Council Against Racism and Fascism: 'Police were present in enormous numbers and prevented the counter-demonstrators reaching the National Front by sealing all routes to the march and threatening arrest to those who tried to break through; counter demonstrators in Brockley Rise were lined up against the wall and people leaving the local public house were prevented from going home. At about 4.00 pm the National Front were diverted into the Catford stations and the counter-demonstrators started to march towards Lewisham. The police lost control and started to run along the main road, driving vans fast along both sides of the carriageway; the police then formed up and drove back the demonstrators, kicking and knocking down any who resisted and making arrests. The police were particularly violent towards the women demonstrators' (report to West Lewisham Labour Party, 1980, included in 'Modern Britain since 1979: a reader', ed. Keith Laybourn and Christine Collette, 2003).

A racist GP in New Cross

Shockingly, a local GP addressed the NF march at the end: 'Dr Robert Mitchell, who has a surgery in Queens Road, said yesterday he would advise his patients against mixed marriages only if asked for advice. He also believed in repatriating black people. Dr Mitchell polled 1,490 votes when he stood as National Front's Parliamentary candidate in Deptford last year'. Lewisham Labour Councillor David Townsend said 'We must take an urgent look at how a doctor with such appalling views can be allowed to practice in such a racially sensitive area as New Cross' (SLP 22 April 1980).

The following March, the NF proposed to hold a provocative march past the scene of the New Cross Fire but this, and a planned counter-demonstration, was banned by the Home Secretary (Times, 5 March 1981).

Racist attacks

Marching wasn't the only thing NF activists were up to at that time. In May 1980 the sometime chair of Southwark NF, Kenneth Matthews, was jailed for six years for a plot to burn down Union Place Resource Centre. This workers co-operative printshop was on Vassall Road near the junction with Camberwell New Road (next to the Union Tavern pub), and printed lots of radical literature.

Matthews(aged 44) lived in Lorrimore Square SE17 and worked for Southwark Council as a dustcart driver. Stephen Beales, another NF member, was jailed for 3 years for the same offence and for petrol bombing a club used by Irish people in Lorrimore Sqaure. A third member of the gang was sent to Borstal (South London Press 22 May 1980). They had been caught outside Union Place with petrol, thunder flashes, and wires intending to make an electronically-detonated petrol bomb (Times 23 May 1980).

Not long afterwards, three other men were jailed for a violent racist attack on a black van driver at East Greenwich service statin (SLP, 10 May 1980)

*The Ruinist found some SCARF graffiti from that period still visible in 2009 in Amelia Street, Walworth - can you still see it?:

Last updated December 2023, added RAR image.

Pensions Strike

Today saw civil servants, health workers and other public sector workers taking action against deteriorating pensions - changes which can be summed up as 'pay more, work longer, get less'. It wasn't as big an event as the strike last November which also included teachers, local government workers and university staff, but nevertheless up to 400,000 people are estimated to have taken action. 

I came across pickets at Kings hospital in Camberwell (pictured) and the Equalities and Human Rights Commission in Tooley St SE1; I gather there were also people out at Lewisham College, Catford Job Centre, the Kaleidoscope child development centre (Rushey Green Road) and no doubt many other places in SE London. A demonstration headed into central London from St Thomas' Hospital.

Elsewhere in a not entirely unrelated protest up to 30,000 police officers marched against cuts - police sergeant tweeter Rob Jackson reported last night that 'Over 100 Lewisham officers will join other Met Colleagues for the March against police cuts'. Hardened strikers and protesters with experience of being pushed around by the police can be forgiven some schadenfreude, and may not feel inclined to rush to support them. But whether we like them or not, we shouldn't lose sight of the political significance of  the police marching against the policies of a Conservative government on the same day as other public sector workers.

It sometimes feel sthat we are living through a re-run of the 1980s. The Thatcher Government of that period destroyed industries, threw millions on to the dole and ruthlessly deployed its forces against opposition. But however much it was hated by many, it also maintained its domination by winning the active support of parts of the population including many working class and  middle class people who felt their living standards were rising. The police were obvious beneficiaries, but they weren't the only ones. The difference this time round is that there is virtually no 'positive buy in' to the Government. Hardly anybody feels that they are better off, the most the Government can rely on is a widespread despair about alternatives and fuelling a brooding resentment against 'better off' public sector workers. Even it were true that public sector pensions are better all round (they are for some, but not for everybody), making them worse won't help people working in the private sector. In fact the worse conditions are for public sector workers, the less private sector employers will have to do to compete and attract staff - so conditions are likely to deteriorate all round.

(if you've got any other South London strike/protest news, please comment)

(Brixton Blog covers the strike in Lambeth, Big Smoke has pictures of London protests, Lewisham teacher Martin Powell-Davies covers some local action; Harpy Marx has pictures of the demo at St Thomas')

History Corner: Police clash with Deptford Irish 1869

Deptford had a significant Irish population in the 19th century with a frequently antagonistic relationship with the police. According to Kent historian Carolyn Conley: 'the Irish at Deptford frequently gathered on Saturday night for street dances. If local merchants complained, the police came in to disperse the dancers, with predictable results. The Irish resisted police interference, a brawl broke out between the Irish and the police, and at least one Irishman was arrested as a an example' (The Unwritten Law: Criminal Justice in Victorian Kent, Oxford University Press, 1991).

One incident along these lines took place in 1869 with riotous scenes in Deptford being the subject of two court cases. Although dancing is not mentioned, the police dispersing a social gathering was the spark for the conflict. And while the nationality of the accused is not specifically stated, it is evident from the surnames of those arrested and of the witnesses that at least some of them were Irish. The case was first heard at Greenwich magistrates, as reported in The Times (9 August 1869):

'At Greenwich, Patrick Connolly, aged 26, Thomas Mansell, 34, John Kirkby, 55, and Johanna Welling, 35, were brought up for final examination charged with being concerned in a riot in Deptford, and seriously assaulting several constables of police... It appeared that on the night of Thursday the 22nd [July] the prisoner Connolly, who has been nine times convicted of assaults upon the police, was causing a disturbance in the High Street, Deptford and when requested to leave by Police Constable Garley he made use of vile language. PC Beard went to Garley's assistance, and on being asked by him to leave, Connolly struck him a violent blow in the mouth and ran away.

The constable pursued him and recaptured him, and then a crowd assembled, bricks and stones were freely thrown at police, by which time others had arrived, and the tradesman in the locality had to close their shops. On police constable Edwards attempting to get Connolly to the staton he was thrown by him violently on the curbstone and Connolly again ran away, but was recaptured. Beard received a violent blow in the eye, which blinded him for the time, and had rendered him unfit for duty since.

The prisoner Mansell then took a prominent part, and attempted to rescue Connolly from Edwards, who received a violent blow upon the face, which knocked him down. When on the ground he was kicked in the ribs, and Mansell, Kirby, and the female prisoner were distinctly sworn to as throwing stones which struck the police'.

The scene of the events, pictured in 1865. According to Old Deptford History, this was taken from the north End of Deptford High Street 'slightly right shows the entrance into Old King St which went into Watergate St at the far end. To the left we can see New King St. All this area was demolished to make way for Evelyn St to join up with Creek Road' . The buildings pictured would be about where the Harp of Erin pub and Methodist Hall now stand.


The prisoners were refused bail and committed for trial at the Old Bailey. The transcript of the trial  on 16 August 1869 at Old Bailey Online shows that the police version of events was contested by witnesses.

PC Frederick Gurley told the court there: 'On 22nd July, at 7.30 p.m., I was on duty in High Street, Deptford, and saw thirty or thirty-five persons at the bottom of the street, blocking up the thoroughfare on the pavement, and causing an obstruction—I spoke to Connolly who was there, and told him to move on—he said that he should not—I said that the shop-keepers complained that respectable people could not pass, and begged he would move away—he said, "No, I shall not, not for you; I shall stand here just as long as I like"—I asked him civilly to move again—he said, "No, I shall not, not for a b—like you"—I went into High Street and got the assistance of Beard, we returned together, and Connolly used very bad language—Beard asked him to move away and not make a disturbance there, upon which Connolly struck him a violent blow on the mouth with his fist, and ran twenty yards down King Street—I ran after him and caught him... a mob got round, and stones and brickbats were thrown in all directions.'

Other police officers described the crowd as about 100 strong and claimed that they had not use their batons. However, witnesses for the defence told a different story. Elizabeth Mansell told the court: 'I live at 18, New King Street, Deptford, and am Mansell's brother's wife—on the night of the 22nd July, when the police attempted to take Connolly, Mansell was standing by but took no part in it—I was looking at the man who knocked the policeman down, it was none of the prisoners... they had Connolly down and had their knees or their boots on his stomach—I have been fifteen years in this country and I never saw such treatment before—their staves were out and they knocked him about fearfully—to the best of my opinion they were drunk... they had all got their staves out, hitting Connolly over the head, and kicking him—I did not see him do anything to them'.

Mary Leary of  22 Barnes' Alley, Deptford said that 'I saw Connolly lying on his back in the road, and the four policemen beating him with their staves—I asked a policeman not to kill him, and he turned round and struck me on the arm'.

Kate Mahoney denied that the female accused had thrown any stones: 'I live in Queen's Court, opposite Mrs. Willing—on 22nd July, when the mob came, her door was shut; her lodger came and opened it and she came out and folded her arms, and never stooped or turned, and I saw the police pass by a step or two, and drag her by the shoulders—there are no loose stones in the court—she did not throw stones—she had her arms folded till the policeman dragged her by the shoulders'.

At the end of the trial, Connolly and Mansell were found guilty of assaulting police and sentenced to two years and one year in prison respectively, but Willing and Kirby were found not guilty.

[nb The Times reports refers to Johanna Welling aged 35; the Old Bailey reports to Johanna Willing aged 37]

Police shooting in Forest Hill

On Sunday morning (19 February), a 25 year old man of Ghanaian origin was shot and critically injured by police in Stanstead Road, SE23.

With the last police shooting in London - the killing of Michael Duggan in Tottenham - sparking widespread rioting, the police have gone into public relations overdrive. The police held a public meeting about the incident on Monday night (see report at The Multicultural Politic) and Lewisham Community Police Consultative Group is holding another one on Saturday (25.02.12) at Kilmorie Primary School, Kilmorie Road, London, SE23 2SP, starting at 1pm. Naturally the police will want to put across their version of events, but it is important to be clear that the facts of what happened have not yet been independently established. In many previous cases the first version of events reported in the press has turned out to be incomplete and misleading.

Previous Cases


Let's recall the case of Jean Charles de Menezes, the young Brazilian man shot dead by police at Stockwell Station in July 2005. In the aftermath of this, police officers made a number of statements on or off the record which were subsequently found to be untrue. They also allowed press stories which they knew to be untrue to go unchallenged. Many people would have gained the false impression from this that Jean Charles was acting suspiciously: that he was wearing bulky clothing on a summer's day (in fact he was wearing a denim jacket), that he jumped the ticket barrier (the CCTV showed he used an oyster card) and that he ignored police warnings (the jury at the inquest concluded that no warning was given).

Likewise in the Mark Duggan case, it was suggested that he had fired at police. It was later disclosed that this was incorrect and that a bullet that lodged in a policeman's radio had in fact been fired by another officer.

What happened in Forest Hill?

Many people have already made up their mind about what happened in Forest Hill on Sunday. To quote a commenter at Brockley Central.  'The man was running round with a machete. Tasers didn't work. What's to discuss?'. This may or may not be correct. This is what the police statement said:

'At around 05:40 hrs on Sunday 19 February, police were called to reports by members of the public of a man attempting to break in to a car in Elsinore Road, SE23. Local officers attended and attempted to approach the man who then threatened them with a large bladed weapon.  The officers retreated and called for further units to assist including firearms officers.The man then approached officers on Stanstead Road threatening them with the weapon.

Firearms officers attended the scene, and both taser and firearms were deployed. Subsequently the male received gunshot wounds having been shot by police...The circumstances will now be subject of an investigation. There are no further details at present but we can confirm a number of knives have been recovered from the scene'.

The scene of the shooting, with tasers and clothes on the ground

The Independent Police Complaints Commission statement says:

'An independent investigation was immediately launched by the IPCC after Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) officers’ tasered and shot a 25-year-old local man.The incident started in Elsinore Road shortly after 5.40am when officers responded to an emergency call. Additional officers, including firearms teams, arrived at the scene and the man was tasered. Firearms officers discharged five bullets three of which hit the man. He sustained abdomen, leg and hand injuries and remains in King’s College Hospital receiving treatment. A young man remains in hospital but with help from eyewitnesses we can piece together bit-by-bit as much information as possible to form a clear sequence of events. I would urge anyone who can provide information to contact the IPCC by email at foresthill@ipcc.gsi.gov.uk or on freephone 0800 096 9077.'

What about witnesses? The Standard reported (20 February 2012) 'Witnesses on a residential street have described the chaotic scenes after a ‘madman with a sword’ was shot by police'. The source? 'Dad-of-one Jason Dempsey, 30, said: “I was told the guy had a sword' - so not actually a direct witness at all.

'Council worker Laura Wilkinson, of Stanstead Road, said: “I heard the gunshots and there were quite a lot of them. There were three in quick succession followed by three more. I got up and looked out the window. The police were screaming and shouting. They were shouting ‘get down, stay where you are’...I was relieved to see lots of police out there because obviously waking up to gunshots wasn’t a pleasant experience. It was mad.” The 26-year-old added: “It does seem like a lot for someone with a knife.”'

So far I have only seen reports of what people heard, or heard from others, whether any other direct eye witnesses have come forward is unclear.

Questions


People running round the streets waving blades need to be restrained, but that doesn't mean they should be routinely shot. There are a number of key questions in this particular case.

- what exactly was the nature of the threat to police? - was it a sword, a machete or a knife? How close did it come to injuring anybody?

- what was the exact sequence of events? - did police use the taser, and when this failed, open fire? Or were they used more or less simultaneously? Why did the taser fail? How many officers fired shots? Did they all take the same action, or did one literally jump the gun? Did they follow their own rules and procedures?

- assuming it was a matter of a 'madman with a sword', a whole lot of other questions come into play not just for the police but for other health and social care agencies. Because the actions of such a person would suggest not a career criminal but a vulnerable adult, for instance with mental health and/or drug & alcohol problems.  If that were the case, questions might include whether the person was known to other agencies and whether they had received the support they needed.

In events like these it is right that the facts should be independently investigated, rather than the police investigating themselves. Whether the IPCC is up to this job is another matter - their investigation into the death of Smiley Culture in a police raid last year was criticised by his family, because among other things the IPCC was not even able to formally interview all of the officers involved.

Racist Murder in SE London

Everybody now agrees that the killing of Stephen Lawrence in Eltham  on 22 April 1993 was a terrible racist crime and two men have been jailed for his murder. Back in 1993 it was very different - Government and media indifference (with some exceptions) and police hostility to those campaigning against racist attacks.

It was a terrible time in South East London, when the borough of Greenwich was named by some as 'Britain's racist murder capital' (Independent, 12 June 1993).  In February 1991, 15-year-old Rolan Adams was killed on the way home from a vist to the Hawksmoor youth club in Bentham Road, Thamesmead.

The Rolan Adams banner on a march to the BNP HQ in February 1992

In July 1992, 15 year old Rohit Duggal was stabbed to death outside the kebab shop in Tudor Parade, Well Hall Road. A white youth named Peter Thompson was later jailed for his murder.

Relatives of Rohit Duggal on a November 1992
demonstration to the BNP HQ in Welling

Then came the murder of  18-year-old Stephen Lawrence in April 1993, also in Well Hall Road in Eltham. As with the Adams and the Duggal cases, the police and Crown Prosecution Service tried to deny the racist aspects of the murder.

Stephen Lawrence's parents at a vigil in May 1993

There were other murders too elsewhere in South London. Ruhullah Aramesh, a 24 year old Afghan refugee, was beaten to death in Thornton Heath by a gang armed with iron bars in July 1992. In October of that year Sher Singh Sagoo, a Deptford market trader, was attacked and killed. And murder was just the tip of the iceberg - between August 1990 and May 1991, 863 incidents of racist attacks and harassment were reported to the Greenwich Action Committee Against Racist Attacks alone.

I went on many demonstrations at that time, usually led by the families of murder victims. There was the Anti Racist Alliance demo in June 1993 from Norbury Park to the scene of Ruhullah Aramesh's murder.

There was the march against the British National Party's 'Rights for Whites' demo in Thamesmead in May 1991, provocatively called a few months after the murder of Rolan Adams in the same area where he was killed. The police mobilised their forces included mounted police to stop the anti-racists who outnumbered the BNP ten to one (roughly 1200 to 120).

I remember seeing riot police baton people's heads out of sight of the cameras in a car park between housing blocks on the estate. I took a friend with a head wound to Kings hospital in Camberwell as we didn't think the local casualty department would be a safe place to go.  Incidentally Stephen Lawrence (then at Blackheath Bluecoats School),  took part on the anti-BNP demo that day too.

'Horseback police in riot gear charged hundreds of screaming demonstrators as a protest ended in violence. Policy carrying batons and wearing protective visors waded into demonstrators in Thamesmead on Saturday. About 20 protesters were arrested and one PC injured as campaigners tried to block a march by the right-wing British National Party. More than 150 BNP members had intended to march from the Hawksmoor Youth Club to Bentham Road – just a few feet from where 15 year old Rolan Adams was stabbed to death in February. But police changed the route after discovering more than 3000 anti-racists were to stage a counter demonstration. The anti-BNP marchers, led by the Greenwich Action Committee Against Racist Attacks, became angered when they realized they would not be allowed anywhere near the right-wingers… as a breakaway group ran down a cul-de-sac guarded by  police horse riders, trouble flared. Police reports claim bricks and missiles were thrown at officers… An eyewitness saw three members of the crowd trampled underfoot by horses’ (Erith and Crayford Times, 30 May 1991).

Welling demonstration, October 1993

Increasingly the headquarters of the BNP in Upper Wickham Lane, Welling, became the focus of demonstrations. The point wasn't that the racist murders were being explicitly organised by them, but that they were spewing out racist poison that was legitimising these attacks.

The biggest demonstration took place on 16th October 1993.  Anti-fascist magazine Searchlight estimated 40,000 people attended, the Independent 25,000 and Socialist Worker 60,000. Either way it must have been one of the biggest demonstrations ever seen in South East London. The Unity demo against the BNP started off with a massive rally on Winns Common, before heading off towards Welling.

Auschwitz survivor Leon Greenman leads the march

According to Searchlight (November 1993), 'the marchers arrived at the crossroads where one road went to the nazi headquarters and the other [Lodge Hill] was the route imposed by the police. At this point the Unity banner at the head of the march was facing into the road leading to the BNP headquarters. The stewards and Leon Greenman, an 82 year old survivor of the Nazi death camps, tried to negotiate passage through the police line. When it was refused, some of the marchers sat down'. Riot police, including some on horseback, charged the crowd and there were riotous scenes with smoke bombs,  flying bricks, snatch squads and 3,000+ police. At least 56 demonstrators were injured and 31 people were arrested on the day' (Sunday Times, 17 October 1993). Personally I didn't even see any of this until I got home on TV as I had been trapped in the crowd by Plumstead cemetery - like much of the crowd unable to move because the police had blocked both Upper Wickham Lane (towards the BNP HQ) and Lodge Hill (the route the police had earlier said the march would have to take).

One woman reported at the time 'I was sitting on a wall, just trying to avoid the police. A policeman pushed me off. The police charged from a side street. I tripped over a bush and four police just laid into me with truncheons.  I was on the floor and one of them was kneeling on me, just hitting me. Later I saw a man in a wheelchair. The police charged again and again and just knocked him over. He fell out of his chair. My friend - she's 16 - tried to help him up and the police started hiting her' (Socialist Worker, 23 October 1993) 



Anti-Nazi League chief steward Julie Waterson
bleeding after being batoned by police in October 1993

The BNP HQ finally closed in 1995, following action by Bexley Council.

See also: Bob from Brockley, pretty much summing up what I think about the whole affair; 853 - thoughts of a SE London contemporary of Stephen Lawerence, and a reminder  'that it was the community in Eltham who gave up the names of Dobson and Norris in the first place. It was the local Metropolitan Police who decided that the death of a black man wasn’t worth investigating properly, not the people of Eltham'; Ian Bone points out that one of the police officers who mismanaged the original Lawrence investigation became a Croydon Conservative councillor - David Osland wrote to his superiors in September 1993 that 'Our patience is wearing thin on 3 Area (south-east London)... with the Lawrence family and their representatives'.

[update 11 January 2012 : 'The dad of Stephen Lawrence has passed potentially crucial new evidence on his son's murder to cops, he revealed yesterday. Neville Lawrence, 69, was told a suspect had now confessed to being at the scene of the murder.The development comes after two men were jailed for life last week for the gang murder of Stephen in 1993. Mr Lawrence said: "After the verdict, I met two people in Brockley, London, on Saturday who knew one of the guys that was part of the gang. They mentioned the boy confessed that he was there on the night. They gave me their names and addresses and I passed them on to the police." Mr Lawrence called on the racist pair to tell cops where the knife used to stab his son is hidden. He added: "There is forensic evidence on that knife to convict somebody else.". His plea came as a burger bar worker claimed Norris was involved in a brutal attack on him six weeks BEFORE Stephen was murdered. Gurdeep Bhangal, 41, said he confronted the yob after he banged on the window of the Eltham branch of Wimpy. He said: "I got hold of him and was stabbed by another person." No one was arrested, [The Sun, 10 January 2012]

As Bob from Brockley reminds us in the comments, while failing to find evidence against the killers the police were deploying resources in infiltrating anti-racist groups - and indeed a former police spy has admitted to taking part in attacks on police lines in Welling (see Bob's post on this affair).

'Motley Crew' riot in Camberwell on preacher's visit (1827)

Camberwell Fair, held where the Green is now situated, was a source of conflict between the authorities and fair-goers until it was eventually suppressed completely. In 1827 there were riotous scenes as the police intervened to prevent a preacher addressing a crowd on Camberwell Green. Exactly what his message was, and why the local magistrates wanted to stop him, is unclear from the following account published in The Times, 21 August 1827.

'Riot at Camberwell

On Sunday, at two o'clock, according to previous announcement, Mr Smith, of Penzance, arrived on the ground where Camberwell fair is held, in a hackney coach, attended by an immense number of persons who had followed the vehicle all the way from town. The moment he alighted, a constable stepped up and told him that the Magistrates had given directions that he should not be permitted to hold forth on the Green. On receiving this notification Mr Smith demanded the names of  the Justices who had issued such a mandate and upon being informed, he proceeded to take down their names in his note-book. He then called for a chair, intimating to the mass of people by whom he was surrounded that as soon as he was furnished with an article that would elevate him  a little above the rest, so as to he heard by all his auditors, he should then explain to them the chief causes of the opposition manifested by the Magistrates against him. Having waited for some time, during which the shouts of the crowd were deafening, a parson was seen making his way towards the preacher holding up a chair; and having placed it down, the later was about to ascend when two or three constables approached and again reiterated their directions; but no sooner had they spoken than they were attacked by the mob, who were determined that Mr Smith should be heard.

A reinforcement of police, however, having come to the assistance of the constables, a general row took place, during which broken heads were given on each side, and in the midst of the affray Smith, like a skillful General, made a hasty retreat, and escaped, leaving one if his chief supporters, a man named Perring, in custody. In appeared Smith proceeded afterwards into the parish of Lambeth, followed by a crowd of ragamuffins, and having ascended the steps of a new building in Surrey New-road, he there harangued the motley crew, exclaiming most vehemently against the magistrates, and declaring that their names and conduct towards him should be published and go forth to the world.

The neighbourhood of Camberwell was a scene of noise and confusion the whole of the day; the mob, amongst whom were numbers of pickpockets, expecting the return of the preacher. Yesterday morning, Perring, who had been apprehended the day before, was taken before the magistrates and held to bail for assaulting the officers in the execution of their duty. He was anxious to address the magistrates on the subject of Mr Smith's visit to Camberwell, but the magistrates declined hearing anything, conceiving that Mr Smith's efforts were calculated to do much more harm than good at the fair'.

I am guessing that 'Mr Smith of Penzance' is George Charles Smith (1782–1863), known as ‘Boatswain Smith'. Originally from London - he was apprentice to a bookseller in Tooley Street - he was press ganged into the Navy before becoming pastor of a baptist chapel in Penzance. In 1817 he spread his activities to London, preaching in particular to sailors, river and canal workers. He opened a floating chapel in the Thames and established charities including the the Shipwrecked and Distressed Sailors' Family Fund. The practice of open air non-conformist preaching was initially met with official opposition, though it later became common-place.

The 1981 Riots in South London

Previously confidential Government papers released to the National Archives this week provide some fresh insights into the 1981 riots, which swept across England in July 1981. Included in the papers is some information on events in South London, which combined with contemporary press reports gives an idea of what happened in the area at that time.

Woolwich and Lewisham

 Included in the documents is a briefing from the F4 division of the Home Office (responsible for links with security services, special branch etc) with details from the Metropolitan Police of disturbances on Thursday 9th July: ‘At 7:24 pm 100 black youths and 50 white youths were reported at Woolwich, but there was no trouble… at 8.42 pm disturbances broke out at Woolwich, with youths throwing stones and overturning vehicles. Serials had previously been deployed to the Woolwich area for the Anti-Nazi League meeting and these, supplemented by the Special Patrol Group and Urgent Response Units deployed from Operations Room, moved into the area to prevent trouble… At 10.35 pm disturbances broke out at Lewisham … During this time the disturbances at Woolwich were continuing’. Statistics from the Met’s ‘R’ district (Woolwich) showed that 37 people had been arrested in Woolwich, with four minor injuries to police, 8 windows broken and two cars overturned. ‘P’ District (Lewisham) reported 10 arrests.

The Times reported these events the next day: 'London police quickly quelled what threatened to be a riot early yesterday evening in Woolwich, south-east London. About 200 black and Asian youths ran through the town centre smashing 15 shop windows and overturning two cars. There was some looting. The youths were outnumbered by police who quickly dispersed them. 27 arrests were made… In Lewisham, eight youths were arrested after clashes in which goods were looted from Chiesman’s department store. About 100 black youths in Deptford threw bottles at a police car (Times, 10 July 1981).

The Woolwich events seem to have been provoked by rumours of a racist skinhead invasion to attend a gig at the Tramshed (a similar occurence had led to the riots in Southall in the previous week). According to the Deptford and Peckham Mercury (16 July 1981), people initially gathered on the streets to defend local venues thought vulnerable to racist attack - groups were reported at local Sikh temples in Calderwood Street and Masons Hill (where an Anti Nazi League meting was taking place), a mosque in Thomas Street, and the Simba project (an African-Caribbean community group). An (untrue) rumour that the skinheads were arriving on the Woolwich ferry prompted hundreds of mainly young people to run down Powis Street, and it was here that shop windows were broken and cars overturned, with a tobacconist shop being looted.

The same paper reported that on that night too, bottles were thrown at police by a crowd on Tanners Hill, Deptford (presumably the same incident referred to in The Times). In Balham High Road 'Around 35 shops were damaged in a wave of violence which started shortly after midnight when some 200 youths roamed the streets. Worst hit was the Argos Discount Store where hundreds of pounds worth of goods were stolen' (South London Press, 14 July 1981). On the following Friday night, two cars were overturned in Daneville Road, Camberwell (Mercury, 16 July 1981), while 'a 15 year old youth was arrested in Rye Lane, Peckham, for allegedly throwing a petrol bomb at police'  (South London Press, 14 July 1981).

The trouble in Lewisham seems to have been fairly sporadic, prompting some self-congratulation from the police in the South London Press: 'Lewisham has escaped almost trouble free from a week of rioting in Britain's inner cities thanks to sensitive policing and public co-operation, a police chief said yesterday. Apart from a window being smashed at Chiesman's in Lewisham High-St, and a minor stone throwing incident in Sydenham on Saturday where three people were arrested, there have been no repeats of the mass looting and rioting which has hit many areas. Although many shopkeepers have taken the precaution of boarding up their windows and police have been issued with protective clothing and headgear, P District's acting commander Dennis Rowe said that he is "delighted" the borough has remained peaceful.

'Although many of our officers have been drafted into other areas where there have been riots and the ones left behind have had to work long hours, they are still endeavouring to remain patient and to police the area sensitively... I am aware that while we have to continue to remain firm and to make those arrests that are correct, we can still keep sight of the need to be understanding. Through a concerted effort by our liaison officer and home beat constables along with a tremendous spirit of co-operation by local community groups, youth leaders and the general public we have been successful... We are even getting a feedback from a number of black and white youths who are proud of their borough saying "This is our town and we don't want to smash it up' (SLP 17 July 1981).

Many local black people probably had a less rosy view of community-police relations, particularly in the aftermath of the New Cross Fire in January 1981. Indeed there was renewed controversy in July when police warned that a planned New Cross Massacre Action Committee fundraiser couldn't go ahead for licensing reasons at the Evelyn 190 Centre in Evelyn Street, Deptford ('Clash over fire victims' disco', Mercury, 16 July 1981).

Battersea Park

Battersea was another flashpoint: 'A gang of youths attacked four policeman on Sunday afternoon [12 July], striking them to the tarmac floor of the roller skating rink in Battersea Park. Two PCs - Robert Smith and Brian Tullock - were rushed to hospital with serious head wounds. PC Smith needed 13 stitches. "It all started when we answered a call saying a car had been overturned in the park, said Det. Con. Larry Lawrence, "Four of us were in plain clothes but as soon as we identified ourselves we were attacked by about 20 youths carrying hockey sticks and wooden staves. The blows rained down on PC Smith and PC Tullock was given a severe kicking". Mr Lawrence said a crowd of 200 stood watching. "The only human touch there was a girl who took off her cardigan and wrapped it around PC Smith's head as he lay bleeding". A crowd of youths carrying hockey sticks and wooden staves ran through the park during the early evening damaging two cars and throwing petrol bombs at the police'.
 
'Later in the evening three policeman were injured in Francis Chichester Way when 35 youths hurled missiles and fire bombs at police lines. The incidents followed outbreaks of violence on Saturday night when 17 arrests were made in Queenstown Road and Falcon Road area' (South London Press, 14 July 1981).
 
Brixton

The main Brixton riots occurred in April 1981,  arguably setting off the whole cycle of 1981 uprisings. But in July there were two further outbreaks, first of all on Friday 10 July:

''Violence returned to the streets of Brixton this weekend, a few hours after Lord Scarman finished part one of his enquiry into the April riots. Large crowds clashed with police, cars were overturned and set alight, shops were attacked and looted only a short distance from Lambeth Town Hall where GLC leader Ken Livingstone was addressing an Anti Nazi League meeting. His audience had a grandstand view as officers fought looters... 31 officers were hurt and there were 157 arrests, mainly for looting and assaulting police.

Trouble started at about 4 pm when police arrested a Rastafarian called Maliki in Atlantic Road. A popular disc jockey and community leader Lloyd Coxsone (32) tried to intervene but was arrested for obstruction. Within minutes youths had set up barricades across Atlantic Road... Police reinforcements were quickly on the scene but at 4:30 a Panda car in Atlantic Road was overturned and set on fire. An unmarked car which came to its aid was also overturned and fired but officers escaped unhurt.

Outside the Atlantic pub [later renamed the Dogstar in the 1990s] black leaders used a loud hailer to appeal for calm. Mr Maliki told the crowd that Mr Coxsone had been released and urged them to disperse. But some youths had already taken advantage of the confrontation to start looting shops in Atlantic Road. Rattner's the jewellers were attacked at 4.30 and a mob then ran down Electric Lane to raid Curry's the electrical goods shop...

Police formed themselves up in squads of about a dozen men with a sergeant in command. They lined up along the main road, walking under cover of riot shields towards the crowds. They were apparently trying to disperse the mob along Effra Road and Brixton Hill... By 8.30 police had cleared the centre of Brixton' (Source: South London Press, 14 July 1981).

Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher visited Brixton police station in the early hours of the 14 July, following a meeting at New Scotland Yard where predictably senior officers lobbied for greater police powers and more riot equipment (the National Archives papers include a report of this meeting, and of arrangements to provide riot helmets and plastic bullets from the army to the police).

Burning police car in Brixton 1981 (not sure if this was in April or July)

Railton Road raids

Then on 15 July there was further trouble in Brixton following controversial police raids on Railton Road. The Government papers in the National Archives includes a detailed report of these raids, supposedly prompted by reports that petrol bombs were being stored there. 

  

Eleven premises were raided, numbers 35, 37, 47, 52, 54 and 60 Railton Road under warrants obtained under Section 187 of the Licensing Act 1964 ‘suspected of being used for unlawful drinking’, and 50, 56, 58, 62 and 64 under section 6 of the Criminal Justice Act. Several of the properties were semi-derelict and due for demolition. 176 CID and uniformed officer were employed ‘to enter the premises and a further 391 officers were either held in reserve or employed in cordoning off the area’. The report admitted that ‘No evidence was found during the operation of the manufacture of petrol bombs or of premises being used for illegal drinking that evening. Seven people were arrested, all for minor offences’.

Details in the report do give some indication of social life on 'the frontline' (as that part of Railton Road was known) at that time: at 47 ‘a new record player and a small quantity of drugs were found’; at 54 Railton Road, there were ’25 to 30 people on the premises’; at 58 the police paid compensation for damage to a space invaders machine and a pool table; at 62 ‘The ground floor of these premises was used as a quasi-masonic temple and at the time of the raid two ceremonial swords were laid out on the floor and other items of regalia stored in a cabinet.’ (Report of Enquiry by Deputy Assistant Commissioner Dear into Police Operations in Railton Road, Brixton on Wednesday 15 July 1981).
This report downplays the extent of damage to people's homes, but locally there was intense anger at the way the raids had been conducted:

'Joseph Francis (17), who was asleep when the raid occurred, said his unlocked bedroom door was axed by two policemen. He said a woman and baby in the room were thrown to the floor when the mattress was dragged from under them and furniture was ripped open.
Mr. Gladstone McKenzie arrived at his shop, the Railton Free Off Licence, to find the door and windows smashed and the back room ransacked. He said he had always had a good relationship with the police and was shocked by the extent of the damage. Some upstairs windows looked as though they had been broken from are inside as most of the glass was lying outside.

One of the houses wrecked during Wednesday's raid had just had £4,000 of Inner City Partnership money spent on it. No. 50 Railton Road is owned by Lambeth Council and leased to the Railton Youth Club...

100 youths were involved in running fights with police in Railton-rd. on Wednesday night. Petrol bombs, stones and bottles were thrown and 10 officers were injured. The trouble started just after 11 p.m. when two cars were set alight and a barricade of corrugated iron and timber set up behind them. But the police, drawn up in strength at the junction of Railton-rd. and Coldharbour-lane, made no move. Masked youths, one carrying a long stave, then charged the police lines, hurling missiles but were quickly driven back. A fire engine attempting to reach the burning cars was stoned. There was another scare when a convoy of eight powerful motorbikes ridden by white youths roared through the riot area.

At 11.45 police started cautiously moving up Railton-rd behind a wall of riot shields and sealing off side roads. Another large force was meanwhile approaching from the Herne Hill end. It was at about this time that the first petrol bombs were thrown. By 12.15 the barricade was being removed and police were in control of the area, though they remained on guard for some hours' (South London Press, 17 July 1981).

The left in Brixton

A briefing report for Ministers included in  the National Archives papers highlighted the involvement in left-wing groups, particularly in the Brixton area: ‘There is considerable evidence of activity by extremist organisations that have been hit by some of the worst of the recent violence' though it acknowledged that 'It seems unlikely that in any major case extremists have actually instigated the violence’. The report doesn't say that the radical left seems to have been too fragmented into rival groups to co-ordinate any kind of large scale effective action, but it does provide evidence of this.

The report mentions the Labour Committee for the Defence of Brixton founded following the 1981 riots at the instigation of the ‘Militant Tendency’ and operating ‘from an address in Railton Road’; ‘the Workers Revolutionary Party has a books hop in Atlantic Road and a Youth Training Centre in Stockwell’; ‘the Revolutionary Communist Group has its headquarters in Railton Road’; ‘the Revolutionary Communist Party set up a Lambeth Unemployed Workers Group shortly before the Riots, and has since formed a South London Workers Against Racism group, similar to the East London Workers Against Racism which attracted some notoriety for organising vigilante patrols’; ‘the Race Today Collective has offices in Brixton. The edition [sic] of its magazine is Darcus Howe, who has been associated with campaigning in support of the H-block hunger strikes, the New Cross Massacre Action Committee’; ‘After the riot the Socialist Workers Party circulated a leaflet in Brixton in which it said “it was a magnificent way for Brixton to fight back"’ (Brief for a Debate on Recent Outbreaks of Civil Disorder in Great Britain).

The aftermath: riot training on Greenwich peninsula

As reported at Greenwich Phantom,  following the riots the River Way Police Holding and Training Centre was created for a couple of years on Greenwich peninsula (Greenwich Council published a critical report in 1984 on 'Riot Training in Greenwich'). The map shows that this included  a mock-up street and areas for petrol bomb, CS gas, water cannon and smoke grenade training.