Man arrested over murder of PC Keith Blakelock 25 years ago

Published on Tuesday 9 February 2010 22:00

POLICE investigating the horrific murder of PC Keith Blakelock during the 1985 Broadwater Farm riots have questioned a 40-year-old man about the killing, it was confirmed last night.

The suspect, who would have been 15 when the murder took place, was held and questioned for four days.

The man, formerly of Tottenham, north London, now lives in Suffolk, and was released without charge on bail from Bury St Edmunds police station yesterday.

PC Blakelock, a father of three, was murdered by a machete-wielding gang 25 years ago during riots in Tottenham.

Sources said the arrest was "significant" and that the suspect was not one of the six people originally charged with the murder.

Among them were Winston Silcott, Mark Braithwaite and Engin Raghip, who were convicted of the killing in 1987 but cleared on appeal four years later.

PC Blakelock, 40, was one of the officers called to the riot scene in the London estate, where he was issued with riot protection equipment.

He and colleagues went to assist firefighters, who had been forced out of a tower block where a blaze had been started at a newsagent's. PC Blakelock and his colleagues were also forced back by the rioters. As they retreated, he tripped and fell. Immediately he was surrounded by a mob – many wearing balaclavas and armed with sticks, knives and machetes. He was hacked to death.

Scotland Yard confirmed that his injuries were so grievous it appeared the mob were trying to behead him. PC Blakelock, whose helmet was never recovered, was posthumously awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal.

The unrest was sparked by the death of Cynthia Jarrett, 49, who collapsed during a police raid on her home.

A fresh inquiry into the murder of PC Blakelock was launched in December 2003, after a review identified new lines of inquiry that could be pursued.

The murder case has never been resolved despite an Old Bailey trial and the work of several teams of detectives.

Mr Silcott later accepted 50,000 compensation from the Metropolitan Police for their part in his wrongful conviction.

In 1994, two officers involved in the original inquiry were charged with fabricating evidence, but were cleared at the Old Bailey.

Ten years later police said they were confident of a breakthrough as they searched the garden of 16 Willan Road, Tottenham. The painstaking search is not believed to have yielded any significant clues.

In 2005, police released images of PC Blakelock's bloodstained overalls in an effort to stir witnesses into coming forward. Investigators have said people in the area have information about the identity of the killers that they have not shared with police.

A police spokesman said: "Officers from the Metropolitan Police service's Homicide and Serious Crime Command arrested a 40-year-old man on suspicion of the murder of PC Keith Blakelock in Suffolk on Friday, 5 February. The man, originally from Tottenham, was taken to Bury St Edmunds police station, where he was questioned.

"This year marks the 25th anniversary since PC Blakelock was murdered during the Broadwater Farm riots on 6 October, 1985.

"Police would like to reassure anyone who has information regarding those involved in the murder of PC Keith Blakelock or the attempted murder of PC Richard Coombes, who was also attacked that night, that they can contact the police in confidence."

Mother died in 'car tax' raid by police – then savagery erupted

THE brutal murder of policeman Keith Blakelock during a fierce inner-city riot encapsulated the horrific violence meted out on the Broadwater Farm estate.

The 40-year-old constable was set upon by a mob and hacked to death with a machete on 6 October, 1985, during disturbances in Tottenham, north London. The riots were sparked by the death of Cynthia Jarrett, 49, after four police officers burst into her home.

At the time, Mrs Jarrett's son Floyd was in custody at Tottenham police station over a matter relating to a car tax disc, in which he had allegedly given officers a false name.

The ensuing police raid sparked panic in the Jarrett household and Mrs Jarrett, who had a weak heart, collapsed and died.

The next day a small crowd gathered in protest outside the police station. Tempers escalated during the day as windows were broken and, at 3:15pm, two officers were attacked and seriously injured as the gathering mob began to launch bricks and gunfire broke out.

One of the pair suffered a ruptured spleen when a paving stone was thrown on to his back after he fell to the ground.

A police inspector who drove past the estate had his car window smashed soon after, while a police van answering a 999 call was surrounded and attacked by a mob with machetes, bars and knives.

By the time the first riot-control police arrived, the mob had put up barriers and prepared petrol bombs.

PC Blakelock's death came during attempts to support firemen after a blaze broke out at a newsagent's on the first floor of Tangmere block at 9:30pm.

The officer was surrounded by masked rioters wearing balaclavas and wielding sticks, knives and a machete before he was hacked to death. He suffered 42 separate wounds.

Violence only began to ease off as news of PC Blakelock's death spread and rain began to fall. About 250 police officers were injured in the clashes.