Blair Peach
Encyclopedia
Clement Blair Peach was a New Zealand-born teacher who was fatally assaulted by a police officer during an anti-racism demonstration in London, England.
A campaigner and activist against the far right
, Peach was knocked unconscious in April 1979 during an Anti-Nazi League
demonstration in Southall
against a National Front
election meeting in the town hall. He died the next day in hospital from head injuries that he sustained. Fourteen witnesses said they had seen members of the Metropolitan Police
Special Patrol Group
(SPG) strike Peach. No one was ever charged, but it was suspected that he been hit by a rubberised police radio. An inquest jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure in May 1980. Peach's girlfriend, Celia Stubbs, continued to campaign for many years for a public inquiry into his death. The Metropolitan Police Service reached an out-of-court settlement in 1989 with Peach's brother.
The Metropolitan Police reports into the death of Blair Peach were made available to the public on 27 April 2010.
and was for a time co-editor of the Argot literary magazine with his flatmates Dennis List
and David Rutherford. He worked as a fireman and as a hospital orderly in New Zealand before moving to London in 1969. He became a teacher at the Phoenix School in Bow
, East London, a special needs school, working there from 1969 until his death 10 years later. At the time of his death, he was an active member of the Socialist Teachers' Association within the National Union of Teachers
, and a member of the Socialist Workers' Party
.
, and became its president in the year before his death. In 1974, he was charged with threatening behaviour after challenging a local publican's refusal to serve black customers, but acquitted.
Peach became a campaigner and activist against far right and neo-Nazi organisations. He attended a demonstration held by the Anti-Nazi League
outside the town hall in Southall on Monday 23 April 1979, St George's Day
, joining 3,000 protesters against a National Front meeting taking place in the town hall, in the run-up to the 1979 UK general election. The demonstration was attended by over 2,500 police, and became violent; more than 40 people, including 21 police, were injured and 300 were arrested. Peach was knocked unconscious in a side street, at the junction of Beechcroft Avenue and Orchard Avenue (51.51051°N 0.38034°W), and died the next day in Ealing Hospital. Another demonstrator, Clarence Baker, a singer of the reggae band Misty in Roots
, remained in a coma for five months.
Days after Peach's death, 10,000 marched past the place where he collapsed. The now-demolished Dominion Cinema, Southall, where his body was lying in repose, was visited by 8,000 Sikhs on the eve of Peach's funeral. 10,000 people attended his funeral, which took place 51 days after 23 April. Public reaction to Peach's death, and other underlying racial tensions including excessive police use of the infamous Sus law
, ultimately led to the 1981 Brixton riot and a public inquiry by Lord Scarman.
, headed by Commander John Cass, conducted an internal investigation of Peach's death. The pathologist's report indicated that Peach's broken skull was not the result of being struck by a truncheon, and he suggested Peach may have been struck by a lead weighted rubber cosh or hosepipe filled with lead shot; unauthorised weapons. Cass' investigation of the Met's Special Patrol Group
(SPG) headquarters unearthed a hoard of unauthorised weapons, including various illegal truncheons and knives, two crowbars, a whip, a 3 ft wooden stave, and a lead-weighted leather stick. An officer was discovered attempting to dispose of a metal cosh; however, it was proven not to be the weapon that killed Peach. Another officer was discovered to be a Nazi supporter. It was also uncovered that one officer present at the riots, who was clean shaven on 23 April, decided to grow a beard, whilst another shaved off his moustache which he had sported on 23 April, the day of Peach's death. Another officer refused to participate in an identity parade, and all the police officers' uniforms had been dry cleaned before they were to be inspected.
Cass' reports were leaked and it was reported that he had narrowed down the suspects to six SPG officers, one of whom he believed to have killed Peach. The coroner, Doctor John Burton, dismissed all reports that Peach was killed by an officer even before the inquest had finished. He also refused to let any of the details from the Cass Report to be submitted as evidence. Burton then wrote various letters to the Home Secretary, Lord Chancellor and Attorney General, attacking what he believed to be a well organised fabrication being spread about the death of Peach. The letters accused media organisations such as the BBC
for promoting what he called "biased propaganda". He continued by pouring scorn onto the witnesses statements, stating that some were "totally politically committed to the Socialist Workers Party
" and dismissed their evidence as a mere "fabrication". He also stated, referencing some of the Sikh witnesses, that they "did not have experience of the English system" to give reliable evidence. In contrast, Burton showed sympathy to the various police officers who gave evidence, despite their inconsistencies. Burton's behaviour was described by one Home Office official as "extremely irate", and he resisted calls for the inquest to have a jury until he was forced by the court of appeal. Burton was concerned that the inquest might be hijacked by the "extreme left". The inquest jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure
on 27 May 1980, prompting Peach's girlfriend, Celia Stubbs, to claim the police constable who allegedly administered the fatal blows had got off "scot-free". She continued to campaign for many years, unsuccessfully, for a public inquiry into his death. Eleven witnesses said they had seen members of the SPG hit Peach. After the inquest Burton wrote a large article entitled The Blair Peach Inquest - the Unpublished Story and attempted to publish it until he was convinced by civil servants that the report would "discredit the impartiality of coroners in general and Dr Burton in particular".
In June 2009, the Metropolitan Police Authority
decided to publish the original internal police inquiry into Blair Peach's death by the end of the year. As of December 2009, the Crown Prosecution Service
was reviewing the internal report and said it would advise police as to whether further action should be taken.
The reports into the death of Blair Peach were published on the Metropolitan Police website on 27 April 2010. The conclusion was that Blair Peach was killed by a police officer, but that the other police officers in the same unit had refused to cooperate with the inquiry by lying to investigators, making it impossible to identify the actual killer.
Alan Murray, at the time an inspector in charge of SPG Unit One and now a lecturer in Accounting and Corporate Responsibility at Sheffield University, has admitted that he believes himself to be Officer E, but has denied killing Peach.
Murray was described as “young and forceful” by the report, lied to investigators, and refused to participate in identity parades; to this day he wears the beard which he originally grew to impede identification in case he were compelled to do so.
"Reggae Fi Peach", a song on Linton Kwesi Johnson
's album Bass Culture
, chronicles the death of Blair Peach in the form of dub poetry
. The Ruts
commemorated the death in the tune "Jah War". The 2 Tone
album The 2 Tone Story is dedicated to his memory. Hazel O'Connor
wrote "Calls the Tune" in his memory.
The lyrics to The Pop Group
's 1980 song "Justice" (from their For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder?
LP) ask, "Who killed Blair Peach?"
Ralph McTell
wrote the song "Water of Dreams" in 1982.
A campaigner and activist against the far right
Far right
Far-right, extreme right, hard right, radical right, and ultra-right are terms used to discuss the qualitative or quantitative position a group or person occupies within right-wing politics. Far-right politics may involve anti-immigration and anti-integration stances towards groups that are...
, Peach was knocked unconscious in April 1979 during an Anti-Nazi League
Anti-Nazi League
The Anti-Nazi League was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party with sponsorship from some trade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of far-right groups in the United Kingdom. It was wound down in 1981...
demonstration in Southall
Southall
Southall is a large suburban district of west London, England, and part of the London Borough of Ealing. It is situated west of Charing Cross. Neighbouring places include Yeading, Hayes, Hanwell, Heston, Hounslow, Greenford and Northolt...
against a National Front
British National Front
The National Front is a far right, white-only political party whose major political activities took place during the 1970s and 1980s. Its popularity peaked in the 1979 general election, when it received 191,719 votes ....
election meeting in the town hall. He died the next day in hospital from head injuries that he sustained. Fourteen witnesses said they had seen members of the Metropolitan Police
Metropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
Special Patrol Group
Special Patrol Group
The Special Patrol Group was a unit of Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for providing a centrally-based mobile capability for combating serious public disorder and crime that could not be dealt with by local divisions....
(SPG) strike Peach. No one was ever charged, but it was suspected that he been hit by a rubberised police radio. An inquest jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure in May 1980. Peach's girlfriend, Celia Stubbs, continued to campaign for many years for a public inquiry into his death. The Metropolitan Police Service reached an out-of-court settlement in 1989 with Peach's brother.
The Metropolitan Police reports into the death of Blair Peach were made available to the public on 27 April 2010.
Life
Peach was born in New Zealand. He studied at Victoria University of WellingtonVictoria University of Wellington
Victoria University of Wellington was established in 1897 by Act of Parliament, and was a former constituent college of the University of New Zealand. It is particularly well known for its programmes in law, the humanities, and some scientific disciplines, but offers a broad range of other courses...
and was for a time co-editor of the Argot literary magazine with his flatmates Dennis List
Dennis List
Dennis List was a New Zealand poet, editor and novelist.List was born in Wellington to a professional family whose name was originally Liszt but grew up in Rotorua. He became a student at Victoria University of Wellington in 1964 and quickly gained prominence as a writer and editor...
and David Rutherford. He worked as a fireman and as a hospital orderly in New Zealand before moving to London in 1969. He became a teacher at the Phoenix School in Bow
Bow, London
Bow is an area of London, England, United Kingdom in the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. It is a built-up, mostly residential district located east of Charing Cross, and is a part of the East End.-Bridges at Bowe:...
, East London, a special needs school, working there from 1969 until his death 10 years later. At the time of his death, he was an active member of the Socialist Teachers' Association within the National Union of Teachers
National Union of Teachers
The National Union of Teachers is a trade union for school teachers in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It is a member of the Trades Union Congress...
, and a member of the Socialist Workers' Party
Socialist Workers Party (Britain)
The Socialist Workers Party is a far left party in Britain founded by Tony Cliff. The SWP's student section has groups at a number of universities...
.
Activism and death
Peach was an active member of the East London Teachers' Association, a branch of the National Union of TeachersNational Union of Teachers
The National Union of Teachers is a trade union for school teachers in England, Wales, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. It is a member of the Trades Union Congress...
, and became its president in the year before his death. In 1974, he was charged with threatening behaviour after challenging a local publican's refusal to serve black customers, but acquitted.
Peach became a campaigner and activist against far right and neo-Nazi organisations. He attended a demonstration held by the Anti-Nazi League
Anti-Nazi League
The Anti-Nazi League was an organisation set up in 1977 on the initiative of the Socialist Workers Party with sponsorship from some trade unions and the endorsement of a list of prominent people to oppose the rise of far-right groups in the United Kingdom. It was wound down in 1981...
outside the town hall in Southall on Monday 23 April 1979, St George's Day
St George's Day
St George's Day is celebrated by the several nations, kingdoms, countries, and cities of which Saint George is the patron saint. St George's Day is celebrated on 23 April, the traditionally accepted date of Saint George's death in AD 303...
, joining 3,000 protesters against a National Front meeting taking place in the town hall, in the run-up to the 1979 UK general election. The demonstration was attended by over 2,500 police, and became violent; more than 40 people, including 21 police, were injured and 300 were arrested. Peach was knocked unconscious in a side street, at the junction of Beechcroft Avenue and Orchard Avenue (51.51051°N 0.38034°W), and died the next day in Ealing Hospital. Another demonstrator, Clarence Baker, a singer of the reggae band Misty in Roots
Misty in Roots
Misty in Roots began life as a Southall-based British roots reggae band in the early 1970s. Their first album was 1979's Live at the Counter Eurovision, a record full of Biblical Rastafarian songs. It was championed by BBC Radio 1 DJ John Peel, helping to bring roots reggae to a white audience...
, remained in a coma for five months.
Days after Peach's death, 10,000 marched past the place where he collapsed. The now-demolished Dominion Cinema, Southall, where his body was lying in repose, was visited by 8,000 Sikhs on the eve of Peach's funeral. 10,000 people attended his funeral, which took place 51 days after 23 April. Public reaction to Peach's death, and other underlying racial tensions including excessive police use of the infamous Sus law
Sus law
In England and Wales, the sus law was the informal name for a stop and search law that permitted a police officer to stop, search and potentially arrest people on suspicion of them being in breach of section 4 of the Vagrancy Act 1824.-1824 legislation:The power to act on "sus" was found in part...
, ultimately led to the 1981 Brixton riot and a public inquiry by Lord Scarman.
The Cass Report and inquest
A team of 30 detectives from the Metropolitan PoliceMetropolitan police
Metropolitan Police is a generic title for the municipal police force for a major metropolitan area, and it may be part of the official title of the force...
, headed by Commander John Cass, conducted an internal investigation of Peach's death. The pathologist's report indicated that Peach's broken skull was not the result of being struck by a truncheon, and he suggested Peach may have been struck by a lead weighted rubber cosh or hosepipe filled with lead shot; unauthorised weapons. Cass' investigation of the Met's Special Patrol Group
Special Patrol Group
The Special Patrol Group was a unit of Greater London's Metropolitan Police Service, responsible for providing a centrally-based mobile capability for combating serious public disorder and crime that could not be dealt with by local divisions....
(SPG) headquarters unearthed a hoard of unauthorised weapons, including various illegal truncheons and knives, two crowbars, a whip, a 3 ft wooden stave, and a lead-weighted leather stick. An officer was discovered attempting to dispose of a metal cosh; however, it was proven not to be the weapon that killed Peach. Another officer was discovered to be a Nazi supporter. It was also uncovered that one officer present at the riots, who was clean shaven on 23 April, decided to grow a beard, whilst another shaved off his moustache which he had sported on 23 April, the day of Peach's death. Another officer refused to participate in an identity parade, and all the police officers' uniforms had been dry cleaned before they were to be inspected.
Cass' reports were leaked and it was reported that he had narrowed down the suspects to six SPG officers, one of whom he believed to have killed Peach. The coroner, Doctor John Burton, dismissed all reports that Peach was killed by an officer even before the inquest had finished. He also refused to let any of the details from the Cass Report to be submitted as evidence. Burton then wrote various letters to the Home Secretary, Lord Chancellor and Attorney General, attacking what he believed to be a well organised fabrication being spread about the death of Peach. The letters accused media organisations such as the BBC
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
for promoting what he called "biased propaganda". He continued by pouring scorn onto the witnesses statements, stating that some were "totally politically committed to the Socialist Workers Party
Socialist Workers Party (Britain)
The Socialist Workers Party is a far left party in Britain founded by Tony Cliff. The SWP's student section has groups at a number of universities...
" and dismissed their evidence as a mere "fabrication". He also stated, referencing some of the Sikh witnesses, that they "did not have experience of the English system" to give reliable evidence. In contrast, Burton showed sympathy to the various police officers who gave evidence, despite their inconsistencies. Burton's behaviour was described by one Home Office official as "extremely irate", and he resisted calls for the inquest to have a jury until he was forced by the court of appeal. Burton was concerned that the inquest might be hijacked by the "extreme left". The inquest jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure
Misadventure
Misadventure can refer to:* Ed, Edd n Eddy: The Mis-Edventures, a 2005 video game* The Misadventures of Merlin Jones, a 1964 Walt Disney film* The Misadventures of P.B...
on 27 May 1980, prompting Peach's girlfriend, Celia Stubbs, to claim the police constable who allegedly administered the fatal blows had got off "scot-free". She continued to campaign for many years, unsuccessfully, for a public inquiry into his death. Eleven witnesses said they had seen members of the SPG hit Peach. After the inquest Burton wrote a large article entitled The Blair Peach Inquest - the Unpublished Story and attempted to publish it until he was convinced by civil servants that the report would "discredit the impartiality of coroners in general and Dr Burton in particular".
In June 2009, the Metropolitan Police Authority
Metropolitan Police Authority
The Metropolitan Police Authority is the police authority responsible for supervising the Metropolitan Police Service, the police force for Greater London ....
decided to publish the original internal police inquiry into Blair Peach's death by the end of the year. As of December 2009, the Crown Prosecution Service
Crown Prosecution Service
The Crown Prosecution Service, or CPS, is a non-ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for public prosecutions of people charged with criminal offences in England and Wales. Its role is similar to that of the longer-established Crown Office in Scotland, and the...
was reviewing the internal report and said it would advise police as to whether further action should be taken.
The reports into the death of Blair Peach were published on the Metropolitan Police website on 27 April 2010. The conclusion was that Blair Peach was killed by a police officer, but that the other police officers in the same unit had refused to cooperate with the inquiry by lying to investigators, making it impossible to identify the actual killer.
Officer E
The Metropolitan Police report stated that an SPG policeman, identified as Officer E, was “almost certainly” the one whose assault killed Peach.Alan Murray, at the time an inspector in charge of SPG Unit One and now a lecturer in Accounting and Corporate Responsibility at Sheffield University, has admitted that he believes himself to be Officer E, but has denied killing Peach.
Murray was described as “young and forceful” by the report, lied to investigators, and refused to participate in identity parades; to this day he wears the beard which he originally grew to impede identification in case he were compelled to do so.
Memorials
A primary school in Southall was later named after Blair Peach."Reggae Fi Peach", a song on Linton Kwesi Johnson
Linton Kwesi Johnson
Linton Kwesi Johnson is a UK-based dub poet. He became the second living poet, and the only black poet, to be published in the Penguin Classics series. His poetry involves the recitation of his own verse in Jamaican Patois over dub-reggae, usually written in collaboration with renowned British...
's album Bass Culture
Bass Culture
Bass Culture is an album by dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, released in 1980 on the Island Records label. It was produced by Linton Kwesi Johnson and Dennis Bovell ....
, chronicles the death of Blair Peach in the form of dub poetry
Dub poetry
Dub poetry is a form of performance poetry of West Indian origin, which evolved out of dub music consisting of spoken word over reggae rhythms in Jamaica in the 1970s....
. The Ruts
The Ruts
The Ruts were a reggae-influenced British punk rock band, notable for the 1979 Top 10 hit "Babylon's Burning", and an earlier single "In a Rut", which was not a hit but was much played and highly regarded by the UK BBC Radio 1 disc jockey, John Peel.-Career:...
commemorated the death in the tune "Jah War". The 2 Tone
2 Tone
2 Tone is a music genre created in the United Kingdom in the late 1970s by fusing elements of ska, punk rock, rocksteady, reggae, and New Wave. It was called 2 Tone because most of the bands were signed to 2 Tone Records at some point. Other labels associated with the 2 Tone sound were Stiff...
album The 2 Tone Story is dedicated to his memory. Hazel O'Connor
Hazel O'Connor
Hazel O'Connor is an English singer-songwriter and actress. She is the daughter of a soldier from Galway who settled in England after World War II to work in a car plant...
wrote "Calls the Tune" in his memory.
The lyrics to The Pop Group
The Pop Group
The Pop Group are a British post-punk band from Bristol, England, formed in 1978, whose dissonant sound spanned punk, free jazz, funk and dub reggae. Their lyrics were often political in nature...
's 1980 song "Justice" (from their For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder?
For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder?
For How Much Longer Do We Tolerate Mass Murder? was released on the Rough Trade label in 1980 by UK post-punk band The Pop Group. It featured a collaboration with American musical/poetry groupThe Last Poets...
LP) ask, "Who killed Blair Peach?"
Ralph McTell
Ralph McTell
Ralph McTell is an English singer-songwriter and acoustic guitar player who has been an influential figure on the UK folk music scene since the 1960s....
wrote the song "Water of Dreams" in 1982.
Further reading
- Investigation into the death of Blair Peach, Metropolitan Police Service, 27 April 2010.
- Death of Blair Peach: The truth at last, The Guardian, 28 April 2010.
- The 30-year fight to release report into Blair Peach death, The Guardian, 27 April 2010.
- Celia Stubbs: Lessons from the death of Blair Peach, The Guardian, 14 June 2009.
- Roberts, Alison. I thought 'Oh my God, it’s like Blair Peach over again', Evening Standard, 15 April 2009.
External links
- 1979: Teacher dies in Southall riots "A 33-year-old man dies from head injuries after fighting between police and demonstrators in Southall. (First broadcast 23 April 1979)" video of events by BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...