The second inquest has been an unprecedented opportunity for families, survivors and the police to try and provide answers to questions which have haunted them all for the past 23 years. Find staff in Birkbeck's Department of Languages, Cultures and Applied Linguistics. CROSS-FIRE & SECURITY CO.,INC. But yet people are left standing there and speculating. Many believed the move demonstrated naked contempt towards a black community inmourning. What is that? Anger and fear sparked an unprecedented demonstration by black Britons, tens of thousands taking to the streets of London. We needed to give it the platform itdeserved.. Read More About Us. It was a kind of sweep of passion and people saying "we have had enough".". A 14th victim died in 1983. Fern Tree Fire Brigade Deceased: 1992: Nigel Bruce HUME: Hobart Fire Brigade 1993: Kenneth Graeme HAMMOND: Fire Safety 1993: Neville Robert BINGHAM: Barrington Group 1993: James Maxwell SMITH: Stanley Fire Brigade 1994: Neil James MANNING: Tasmania Fire Service Deceased: 1994: Brian Edward RAINBIRD: Sorell Group 1994: William John BURKE: Hobart . [8] The inquest into the deaths of the 13 teenagers, began on 21 April 1981. [1] Nefertiti Gayle, Every Time Me memba (no date) reproduced in Beverley Bryan, Stella Dadzie and Suzanne Scafe, The Heart of the Race: Black Womens Lives in Britain, London, 1985, pp. This led to accusations that the police had not done enough to solve the mystery of the fire. Others carried loudspeakers and banners bearing the names and faces of thevictims. One event in Leeds in August 1981, branded An evening of black cultural expression, included poetry, music and dance alongside hair-plaiting and painting competitions. Join Facebook to connect with Anthony Birbeck and others you may know. At the time, the area saw a lot of racist attacks and far-right political activity, with the National Front having a significant presence. Role Active Director Date of birth April 1956 . Locals and the Friends of Birnbeck Pier have been petitioning for this part of Weston's heritage to be revived to its former glory. "I don't remember any noise, but what I do remember is that the more I wiped my face the more it felt like sweat until it started to feel gritty," he said. The comments below have been moderated in advance. In 2002, a new action in the High Court led to an order for a second inquest, which was held in 2004. Nine people were killed and 20 injured in a blaze which engulfed a house early this morning in south London. DDPC 3/3 fire insurance assessments . ", "23 years on, new inquest opens into black youths killed in fire", "Coroner repeats open verdict on New Cross Fire 7 May 2004", "Preface to New Cross Massacre Story published by New Beacon Books", "Black People's Day Of Action: Inside The 1981 New Cross Fire March That Brought Britain To A Standstill", "New Cross Fire 13 dead and nothing said! Initial rumours of a racist attack carried out by far right groups were too easily overlooked by police, it has been claimed. 2023 London Remembers, All Rights Reserved. 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. Show more 4 months left. We provide reliable, state-of-the art technology solutions to our customers, guaranteeing protection and support. Member Eastside Advisory Council, Riverside, 1973; board directors One-way Outreach Center, Coachella, 1979; member finance committee Calvary Chapel, Cathedral City . Ms Ruddock said she hoped people who had remained silent for years would finally reveal the truth about what happened, and has suggested there should be immunity for witnesses. 439, New Cross Road. 1 . Anthony Bale is an English medievalist.. Thirteen young people were killed, more than 50 injured and one guest - Anthony Berbeck - died two years later at the age of 20. The victims of the fire were very publicly memorialised during the Black Peoples Day of Action (2 March 1981) when up to 20,000 people (estimates vary) marched for over 12 miles through central Londonfrom New Cross Road to Hyde Parkwith many carrying aloft placards bearing pictures of the thirteen victims, their names, and dates of birth and death. My wife started screaming. They felt as if no one cared about their loss. Username. Born in Timioara, Romania. Almost all victims of the blaze on January 18, 1981, were teenagers and all were black. Mr Haynes said: "I have been burnt from my fingers right up to the tops of my arms. 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. "[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. 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. Other occupants: Sylvia K Birbeck. "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. No one has ever been tried for starting the blaze, but between 1991 and 1993 police received confessions from a jailed killer who gave the name of a suspect, and said he himself was present when it began. And he went and kissed his father and that was the last we saw of my son. Michael Smithyman, who had been jailed for killing his pregnant girlfriend, was the subject of a police report submitted to the Home Office and was reinterviewed by an elite Scotland Yard unit in 1993. 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. In October 2002, Lewisham council installed a special stained-glass window at the church in their memory. Name. Email or phone: Password: . He adds: There was no outpouring of sympathy. BlackPast.org is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and our EIN is 26-1625373. |
Stephen Birbeck. From April to the end of the summer of 1981, several significant uprisings occurred in various British cities. Paul died a hero.. "We know it [the fire] was not an accident. Hilarious snaps reveal workers who don't have time for red tape, Wife is shocked after husband of 15 years asks for permission to have an affair: 'I don't know what to do', Do not sell or share my personal information. After huge public pressure, the Metropolitan police wrote to the Attorney General in 2001, asking him to reopen the investigation. When they arrived, heavy smoke and flames were coming from the home. The exhibition[28] shows photographs documenting the Black People's Day of Action, taken by Vron Ware, who had attended the march on 2 March 1981. Two inquests into the victims' deaths gave an open verdict. John La Rose, the founder of the UKs first black publisher and specialist bookshop New Beacon Books, said at the time: This outrage in the heart of London the Prime Minister says nothing. 17,029 pages were read in the last minute. 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, the 58-year-old said. Facebook gives people the power to share and makes the world more open and connected. Smithyman and his friend may well have come to the door and couldnt get in but someone wouldve at least remembered two white boys approaching the venue - but nobody recalls this. ', 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'.'. 2021 Associated Newspapers Limited. A survivor was so horrified by what he saw that he killed himself two years later. 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. As a survivor, I feel triggered by these discussions and the furore around it is irritating because all its doing is upsetting a whole bunch of people - again, winding up the Black community - again, only for the matter to get dropped again, he continued. The police were widely seen to be scapegoating young Black Britons for the tragedy and the media barely reported the massacre. He has published on inequality and the inner city in Britain, and his article Truth, Justice, and Expertise in 1980s Britain: the Cultural Politics of the New Cross Massacre appears inHistory Workshop Journal issue 91, where it is available on free access. [3] There had been some early complaints from neighbours about excessive noise from the party. Join Facebook to connect with Tony Birbeck and others you may know. Its a state ofbarbarism.. He is Professor of Medieval Studies at Birkbeck, University of London and from 2017 to 2021 was Executive Dean of the School of Arts, and has written widely on medieval Christian-Jewish relations and on medieval culture and literature. [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. So harrowing are the details that the families of the victims will be offered counselling after the hearing at the Inner London Crown Court. 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. We got there early and crowds began to build. Linton Kwesi Johnson, the Jamaican-born Dub poet, describes the day of action as the most powerful expression of black political power this country has ever seen. The last memory Mr Francis has of his son, who was the DJ at the party, was kissing him goodbye on the Saturday night. Then they questioned eight black youths who subsequently claimed they had been forced to make false statements. Another guest, Anthony Berbeck became the 14th victim two years later. "The phone rang the next morning. Many of the victims' families and the survivors attended the event. Thirteen young black people were killed and 27 were injured. For some it was seen as a chance to lay to rest the ghosts of 439 New Cross Road. But forensic evidence then suggested it began inside the house. Thirteen young black people were killed and the black community stood up and said, No, not this time., Uprising airs at 9pm on Tuesday 20, Wednesday 21 and Thursday 22 July on BBC One. [29], Blood Ah Go Run, a 1981 film by Menelik Shabazz, documents the response of the Black community to the fire. |
This week, a new inquest will be opened into all 14 deaths following an extensive forensic reinvestigation by police which includes an analysis of the movement of people at the house party. I am a user experience and communications specialist with a passion for inclusive, accessible and user-focused design. It was a profoundly moving act of memorialisation and defiance. 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. 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.. Archive footage shows a coffin held aloft in the crowd as some waved placards emblazoned with messages like Black People Die Babylon Lie and Thatcher in her Silence Incites Violence. The symbolism of the march drew on Black British history, and articulated new Black futures. 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. Despite repeated requests, bosses at Whitemoor prison refused to say whether they had passed on to Smithyman a request from The Mail on Sunday to interview him. A forensic report produced for the Met Police in 2011 ruled out a firebomb attack, concluding that the blaze started when someone in the house set an armchair alight. 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. Before the New Cross Fire, black homes and community centers were targeted and burnt down. Smithyman is now 56 and in jail at HMP Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire. His other roles included the leads in HBO's first ever mini-series . Film director Steve McQueen, who made a BBC documentary on the tragedy earlier this year, said the blaze and its aftermath were 'momentous events in our nation's history'. Would the same happen if it had been 13 young white children? A memorial service which was originally planned to mark the 40th anniversary on Sunday, January . Public meetings attracted hundreds of people who demanded answers. [19][20], St. Andrew's Church in Brockley has a strong connection with the victims, as many of them attended the youth club there. Sir Steve McQueen praises resilient black people who protested against racism after the New Cross fire, I remember growing up and someone in my family always knew someone, who knew someone [who died in the fire], says Sir Steve McQueen, who co-directed Uprising with James Rogan. No further information on the new partner, A M Harris, has been found) before, in January 1913, it became known as Procter and Birkbeck (T E Birkbeck having been with the firm since at least 1900). Recommended option. These were not just national events that got brushed under the carpet, these were personal events for me. For many, it seemed as though Black lives did not matter. Presenter posts Home Secretary warns political correctness has created a 'blind spot' for Islamist extremism to operate 'This is not the way to conduct an interview': Smiling Iranian foreign minister says women in his country Now the CHICKENS could get vaccines! How the hell did someone walk in that house from off the street, start the fire and walk back out? Police reopened the investigation into the fire in 1997 after lobbying by relatives and local MP Joan Ruddock. [34][35][36], In 2020, a BBC Radio 4 documentary entitled "From the Ashes of New Cross", an episode in the series Lights Out, was broadcast to mark the 40th anniversary of the fire. [26] Both were installed in 2012. 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 victims were also commemorated in January 2011 with a blue plaque from Nubian Jak Community Trust. . One eyewitness reportedly saw a man throw a missile at the house. This new evidence is expected to emerge at the inquest, which will last three months. Survivor season 41 - everything we know about the cast, 1981 New Cross Fire wasnt a racist attack, survivor says, he appeared in a 2020 documentary co-produced by Nadine White about the Black Peoples Day of Action march, Extra 20% off selected fashion and sportswear at Very, Up to 20% off and extra perks with Booking.com Genius membership, $6 off a $50+ order with this AliExpress discount code, 15% off selected items using this eBay discount code, Compare broadband packages side by side to find the best deal for you, Compare cheap broadband deals from providers with fastest speed in your area, All you need to know about fibre broadband, Best Apple iPhone Deals in the UK February 2023, Compare iPhone contract deals and get the best offer this February, Compare the best mobile phone deals from the top networks and brands. 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. 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