The house fire occurred during a party at a property on New Cross Road. His aunt Armza Ruddock, the mother of Paul and Yvonne, described hearing a bang. The first documented instances of St. Anthony's Fire. In the 1960s and 1970s there was a litany of police framing and police brutality. No disrespect to those who did try to help but a lot of so-called activists made their names off the back of the tragedy - TV appearances, radio shows, big jobs, said Mr Haynes. Within months an inquest returned an open verdict. | A decision to mobilise, as seen through the Black Peoples Day of Action demonstration in March 1981, was borne of this frustration a feeling that has endured through the decades since the fire. He adds: There was no outpouring of sympathy. Anthony Shepherd, . Through the occupation of urban space, the marchers filled the silence rendered by the states indifference to the loss of Black lives and proclaimed: Come what may, we are here to stay. NF logos and W*gs Out written on rucksacks; N***rs Out scratched into school desks. ', 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'.'. 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. London, 06 May 04 Covering: Cooke Township, Newville Borough, North Newton Township, Penn Township, South Newton Township, West Pennsboro Township, Lower Mifflin Township, Upper Mifflin Township, Upper Frankford Township Office Hours: Monday - Friday: 8:30 am - 4:00 pm The New Cross Massacre became a clarion call for political action at the beginning of a tumultuous year for Black Britons across urban England. 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. Start your Independent Premium subscription today. Many close to the inquiry believe there was a lack of will to solve the case and it was 'swept under the carpet and these promising lines of inquiry ignored'. As the clock ticked past midnight on 18 January 1981, a house party in New Cross, south-east London, was just getting started. An inquest was held into the deaths in May 1981, but an open verdict was returned; the jury could not (or would not) specify the cause. Today, the New Cross Fire remains unsolved. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. Both inquests recorded open verdicts. Before the New Cross Fire, black homes and community centers were targeted and burnt down. Photo Vron Ware, Courtesy of Autograph ABP, London, African American History: Research Guides & Websites, Global African History: Research Guides & Websites, African American Scientists and Technicians of the Manhattan Project, Envoys, Diplomatic Ministers, & Ambassadors, Foundation, Organization, and Corporate Supporters. No one has ever been charged in connection with the fire, which forensic science subsequently established started inside the house. A total of 27 people were injured as they tried to jump from windows or down drainpipes of the two-storey house at 439 New Cross Road, London. The only way was to march through London and disrupt it as much as we could.. People have trouble now, unless they're rich, with retiring before . The last memory Mr Francis has of his son, who was the DJ at the party, was kissing him goodbye on the Saturday night. All Rights Reserved. Commander Graham Stockwell, head of south London CID . Role Active Director Date of birth April 1956 . For many, it seemed as though Black lives did not matter. New Cross Fire Anniversary 39th anniversary of the New Cross Fire, when 14 young people tragically lost their lives at a house fire in New Cross Road in 1981. In October 2002, Lewisham council installed a special stained-glass window at the church in their memory. Almost all victims of the blaze on January 18, 1981, were teenagers and all were black. These were not just national events that got brushed under the carpet, these were personal events for me. She received her medical degree from University. They created a campaign to memorialise the victims and conducted their own investigation which would take seriously the testimonies and experiential expertise of people on the ground. Police found no evidence to support Smithymans confession, which was one of several made from inside jail between 1991 and 1993. "We know it [the fire] was not an accident. Police reopened the investigation into the fire in 1997 after lobbying by relatives and local MP Joan Ruddock. Theres so much more to this story. Beginning on the ground floor, the fire quickly spread upstairs where a joint sixteenth and eighteenth-birthday party had been taking place but was then winding down. Initially. He added: : The one thing that people cant seem to get into their heads is this: the fire started inside the party, not outside. Paul died a hero.. They felt as if no one cared about their loss. Smithyman's alleged involvement first emerged when he was interviewed by police ten years after the fire following a tip-off by a previous associate called Paul Smith, who is now a property developer based in Clacton, Essex. . The police were widely seen to be scapegoating young Black Britons for the tragedy and the media barely reported the massacre. He was 14 at the time and claims he had tried to gatecrash the party with another teenager. Search by Name Search . He died, aged 20 years, on 9 July 1983, after falling from the balcony of a block of council flats in South London. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. The New Cross Fire tragedy highlighted hostility between black Britons, the police and the media. 1981: Nine die in New Cross house fire. So harrowing are the details that the families of the victims will be offered counselling after the hearing at the Inner London Crown Court. National newspapers largely ignored the New Cross fire and the Government remained silent. The victims, aged between 14 and 22, were celebrating a 16th birthday when the fire . He died, aged 20 years, on 9 July 1983,after falling from the balcony of a block of council flats in South London. Person, Sport / Games, Tragedy, Germany, Israel/Palestine, Romania. It was a profoundly moving act of memorialisation and defiance. After being turned away, the other boy whom he named began the fire in revenge. The event was hosted by Kwame Kwei-Armah and was an evening of spoken word, film, discussion and Lovers rock music. We are old people and we want to know the truth before we die.". 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. Prince Andrew 'fears he won't be able to afford Royal Lodge if King Charles cuts his 250K grant - but is Can you solve this trivia riddle? Until 2011 he was Professor of Philosophy at Birkbeck College, University of London. But Ruddock says black people were united in an increasingly hostile environment. in the Civic Suite. I will always remember him as I saw him the night of the party. 1 He held the office of Deputy Lieutenant (D.L.) Others have been very ill for a period of years.". "[18], On 14 January 2011, an event called "Remembering the New Cross Fire 30 Years On" was held at the Albany Theatre in Deptford. Between 5:45 and 5:55 a.m. on Sunday 18 January 1981, a fire broke out in the front room of 439 New Cross Road in the London Borough of Lewisham. Witnesses stated that he threw a Molotov cocktail into the house party. 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Some 300 police officers and 65 members of the public were injured in three days of violent unrest. He had to pause our interview just to take a call from a well-wisher about this very topic. See Photos. He was one of more than 100 youngsters who had gathered at 439 New Cross Road to celebrate 16-year-old Yvonne Ruddock's birthday. Police also ruled out the theory that a fight had taken place. In addition to the 13 who died in the fire, 27 were injured and a 14th took his own life two years later. Thirteen young black people were killed and 27 were injured. There was a significant amount of racial tension across London. The New Cross fire in South London in 1981 prompted a campaign for political action over allegations of a totally inadequate response from police and government. But forensic evidence then suggested it began inside the house. Moreover, local far-right extremism and the longer history of racist arson attacks in the area suggested that the fire was a deliberate attack. The blaze broke out on 18 January 1981 at a joint birthday party for Yvonne Ruddock and Angela Jackson at 439 New Cross Road in Lewisham. The victims were also commemorated in January 2011 with a blue plaque from Nubian Jak Community Trust. Others carried loudspeakers and banners bearing the names and faces of thevictims. The disaster claimed a 14th victim two years later when 20-year-old Anthony Berbeck took his own life in 1983 because of what an inquest judge called "trauma brought on by the fire". A 14th victim, who had survived the. [8] The inquest into the deaths of the 13 teenagers, began on 21 April 1981. Artists like Linton Kwesi Johnson, Benjamin Zephaniah, and Johnny Osbourne also wrote poems and songs, telling the story of the massacre, and condemning the silence which followed it. Refreshments are available both before and after the service. Upstairs, oblivious partygoers were dancing to The Wailing Souls Kingdom Rise Kingdom Fall. When the illness was first recorded in detail, it was called ignis sacer (or, "holy fire,") and according to Lapham's Quarterly, that first in-depth mention came way back in 994. Charles is evicting Harry and Meghan from Frogmore Cottage 'so he can start after his Coronation with A royal princess at Eton? The comments below have been moderated in advance. The History of Radical Mas Bands at Notting Hill Carnival, Crush the Despicable! Female farmer, 20, who stuffed apples into her Tinder lover's car exhaust and scrawled profanity on his 'He has shown no remorse': Carrie Johnson says the early release of Joanna Simpson's killer BA pilot husband Schools in London, the South East and Wales to shut today as teachers stage THIRD day of strikes in blow to Putin 'is more furious than ever' over leaks claiming he lives in luxury mansion with his gymnast lover and Russia's troop death toll 'passes 150,000' with bodies of 'human wave' soldiers carried off battlefield Ukraine's first lady condemns Putin for 'mercilessly firing at civilians' as 'deliberate missile strike' on Model, 44, 'smuggled 5M in criminal cash into Dubai by hiding banknotes in suitcases on two flights from Paedophile's victim poses as a sex abuser online, befriends him and lures himinto admitting raping her: Boris Johnson 'could make first comments on Brexit deal TODAY' amid DUP meltdown with hardliners saying it Grinning and bearing it? Find staff in Birkbeck's Department of Languages, Cultures and Applied Linguistics. A memorial service which was originally planned to mark the 40th anniversary on Sunday, January . Nevertheless, the popular press focused overwhelmingly on the minor disturbances that occurred on an otherwise overwhelmingly peaceful demonstration. Magdalene Edwards, now 57, survived the fire by jumping from a window while three months pregnant, but her 16-year-old stepsister Rosalind Henry died. Corroborated eyewitness accounts placed a white man in an Austin Princess vehicle at the New Cross Fire scene. Wed walk to school and see graffiti of black men hanging on lamp posts. Facebook. It began on the evening of Saturday, 17 January 1981, and continued throughout the night and into the early hours of Sunday, 18 January.[5]. But further investigations were not made nor charges brought. Shepton Mallet, Somerset, BA4. Peter Bleksley, a police constable in Peckham in 1981, says his colleagues joked that New Cross should be renamed Blackfriars. Anthony Berbeck. In early April, an estimated 943 peoples were stopped and searched by the police under Sus laws, an addendum to the 1824 Vagrancy Act, and 188 black youths were arrested. Facebook gives people the power. Anthony Birbeck is on Facebook. Username. My wife started screaming. [19][20], St. Andrew's Church in Brockley has a strong connection with the victims, as many of them attended the youth club there. Sign up hereto stay up to date with the best new TV. Sources close to the case claim that the allegations were hushed up because of 'political considerations'. A mural has been revealed in honour of 14 young black people killed by a fire in south London 41 years ago. [14] One slogan read: "Dame Jill Knight Set The Fire Alight! Contradictory claims and reports of a supposed fight in the living room complicatedmatters. 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