A new investigation into the blaze that killed 13 young black people at a London party 23 years ago suggests that a group of adults inside the house was to blame. |
The show focuses on two young men that were both attracted by the game Cross Fire and mainly tells us how they fight for their dreams of being a professional player. Anthony Grayling CBE, MA, DPhil (Oxon) FRSL, FRSA is Master of the New College of the Humanities, and a Supernumerary Fellow of St Anne's College, Oxford. Anthony Bale is an English medievalist.. Since the article was published over the weekend, social media has been awash with speculation about the cause of the fire while Wayne continues to receive numerous phone calls from campaigners celebrating what has been regarded as a long-awaited uncovering of truth. 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Lottery and the Arts Council to produce two anthologies of interpreters' stories and a play about a couple in a cross-language relationship, for the Soho Theatre, London. The people who know what really happened are already dying out and are going to take that to their grave. This led to accusations that the police had not done enough to solve the mystery of the fire. Tram 1h. He recanted on his confession, at about the time of a parole hearing in 2015, claiming he was not present when the fire started. But further investigations were not made nor charges brought. He was awarded a Philip Leverhulme Prize 2011, a prize "awarded to outstanding scholars under the age of 36 . Anthony Birbeck Please use the search above if you cannot find the record you require. True justice would look like 65 Black people, who were affected by the fire, being made multi millionaires by the Government where they havent received compensation, Mr Haynes said. Forty years on, and for the first time on British television, the story of the fire and its aftermath are being told in Uprising, a three-part BBC One series which begins tonight at 9pm. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Facebook. drew on Black British history, and articulated new Black futures. (link opens a new window) Support links. Protesters with Owen Thompson memorial poster, Black Peoples Day of Action, Fordham Park, New Cross, March 2, 1981. A survivor of the New Cross fire of 1981 which killed 13 Black partygoers has dismissed fresh allegations of police cover-up after renewed speculation that the blaze was started by a racist arsonist. In towns and cities across England, concerts and readings were held to raise funds for the victims families and those injured escaping the fire. A 14th victim died in 1983. By 2015, huge parts of the promenade collapsed during a storm and a fire set some of the buildings ablaze including the clock tower. Anthony Cross. One week after the fire, on 25 January, a meeting was held at the Moonshot Club in New Cross, attended by more than one thousand people. View Anthony Birbeck, MBE, FRSA'S professional profile on LinkedIn. [4], The party was a joint birthday celebration for Yvonne Ruddock (one of the victims of the fire) and Angela Jackson (who survived) and was held at No. These were not just national events that got brushed under the carpet, these were personal events for me. Sources close to the case claim that the allegations were hushed up because of 'political considerations'. A memorial service which was originally planned to mark the 40th anniversary on Sunday, January . There is also a memorial to the victims consisting of a park bench, plus 13 trees with a plaque at either end, on Hackney Downs in east London, and a memorial plaque on the wall of Catford Civic Hall listing the names of the "fourteen young people who died in the New Cross Fire of 18th January 1981". [26] Both were installed in 2012. George Francis lost his 17-year-old son Gerry in the fire and helped to form the New Cross Fire Families Committee, of which he is chairman. Protesters travelled from across England to attend the eight-hour march, which set off from Fordham Park in New Cross a short walk from the scene of the fire. Mr Haynes said: "I have been burnt from my fingers right up to the tops of my arms. Tony Birbeck is on Facebook. Yvonne loved soft, sweet girl music. [19][20], St. Andrew's Church in Brockley has a strong connection with the victims, as many of them attended the youth club there. Two-and-a-half years later, Anthony Berbeck took his own life, becoming the fourteenth victim of the massacre. NF logos and W*gs Out written on rucksacks; N***rs Out scratched into school desks. The Witch Trials of JK Rowling makes sensible points. ", Mr Haynes was burnt from his fingers to the top of his arms, 06 May 04
[29], Blood Ah Go Run, a 1981 film by Menelik Shabazz, documents the response of the Black community to the fire. Facebook gives people the power to. Though much of the political action focused on London, the tragedy spurred action across the country. [32], Rex Obano's radio play Lover's Rock (BBC Radio 3, broadcast in November 2012) is a fictional account of the events leading up to the New Cross Fire. Two inquests recorded open verdicts. Racists like to boast about their accomplishments., The Black Peoples Day of Action demonstration (March 1981). Hassan Howe tells i: It was drizzling and I wondered if people would come. Commander Stephen Allen, from the Metropolitan Police, said: "Part of the way we police now comes out of the terrible riots and disorders that we saw in the 1980's, where we came to an understanding that we had to relate differently to the people we work for.". |
He believes in some ways they have been helped by the passage of time - due to advances in forensic science they have been able to pin-point the exact location of the fire when it started (by an. Police chiefs have been accused of failing to fully investigate the confession of a jailed murderer who revealed how a house fire started 40 years ago, killing 13 young black partygoers. Public meetings attracted hundreds of people who demanded answers. And that was when I decided I've got to move, I've got to get out of here.". A week after the fire, 2,000 mourners gathered at the Moonshot Youth Centre in South London to pay their respects and to devout themselves to the struggle for justice.. This year, the 40th anniversary of the blaze, campaigners say the story symbolises the police abuse and neglect by the state felt by many black people at the time. 2021 Associated Newspapers Limited. Find your bookmarks in your Independent Premium section, under my profile. Do you find this information helpful? Police initially thought the inferno was caused by a firebomb thrown through a downstairs window. After huge public pressure, the Metropolitan police wrote to the Attorney General in 2001, asking him to reopen the investigation. The new police inquiry, involving fresh interviews with witnesses, has now formally established that the blaze started when a naked flame was applied to a foam-filled armchair in the living-room. The symbolism of the march drew on Black British history, and articulated new Black futures. Joan Ruddock, Labour MP for Lewisham Deptford, has worked closely with the families and was responsible for securing a second police inquiry. By February 9, four more black teenagers had succumbed to their fire injuries. This theory was corroborated by eyewitnesses who reported having seen a white man drive away from the house in a light-coloured Austin Princess moments after the fire had started. His other roles included the leads in HBO's first ever mini-series . And he went and kissed his father and that was the last we saw of my son. "[15]; an apparent reference to a controversial speech by Dame Jill Knight, a right-wing member of the ruling Conservative Party, which was widely interpreted as condoning or even encouraging "direct action" against noisy parties. ', Chillingly, the source added: 'He said that while watching Rastafarians jumping out of the top-floor windows on fire, he referred to them as 'roastafarians'.'. Role Active Director Date of birth April 1956 . London, 02 Feb 04
"The phone rang the next morning. The victims of the fire were all young Black, Mixed Race, British people between the ages of 14 and 22. [2] The coroner said that the fire was probably started deliberately by one of the guests, but as he could not be sure of this, he returned an open verdict.[10]. [33] In March 2018, poet Jay Bernard's performance work investigating the fire, Surge: Side A, won the 2017 Ted Hughes Award for new poetry. Username. DDPC 3/3 fire insurance assessments . "He came in, got dressed, and kissed his mother and kissed me and said, 'I'll see you in the morning,'" said Mr Francis, a former British Rail worker and photographer who lives in Sydenham, south London. In the immediate aftermath of the fire, a New Cross Massacre Action Committee (NCMAC) was set up, chaired by John La Rose, which organised a "Black People's Day of Action" on 2 March 1981, when some 20,000 people marched over a period of eight hours through London, carrying placards that bore statements including: "13 Dead, Nothing Said". 13 Apr 1922, d. 21 Mar 2008 Citations . Others have been very ill for a period of years.". It seeks to deepen understandings of the past, cast light on the present and agitate for change in the world we live in now. Anthony BIRBECK Filter appointments Filter appointments Current appointments Total number of appointments 7 Date of birth April 1961 CHESTER-LE-STREET CC TRADING LIMITED (10000684) Company. Mr Haynes told BBC London what he remembered of the night. Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in, Please refresh your browser to be logged in. A second Coroners inquest into the New Cross fire held in 2002 also returned an open verdictthough, crucially, the partygoers were fully cleared of any responsibility. Numbers swelled as the march neared the city; young people jumped over school gates and curious shoppers joined the demonstration. [3] There had been some early complaints from neighbours about excessive noise from the party. 17,029 pages were read in the last minute. Until 2011 he was Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London. This Government doesnt care about the people of this country, whether theyre Black or white; theyre quite happy to have in-fighting in this country among the racists and religions in this country because it helps them to keep control, Mr Haynes said. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Name.
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