145-403: Stephen Lawrence (13 September 1974 – 22 April 1993) was an 18-year-old black British citizen from Plumstead , southeast London, who was murdered in a racially motivated attack while waiting for a bus on Well Hall Road , Eltham , on the evening of 22 April 1993. The case became a cause célèbre : its fallout included changes of attitudes on racism and the police, and to
290-450: A life sentence for an adult, with minimum terms of 15 years and 2 months for Dobson and 14 years and 3 months for Norris. Time spent on remand by Dobson was not deducted from his minimum term to ensure his existing sentence for drug-related offences was served. The judge's sentencing remarks were later published in full online. The judge stated that the sentences reflected that Dobson and Norris were juveniles (Dobson 17, and Norris 16) at
435-531: A "Moor" was given the freedom of the city of York . He is listed in the freemen's rolls as "John Moore – blacke". He is the only black person to have been found to date in the York rolls. The involvement of merchants from Great Britain in the transatlantic slave trade was the most important factor in the development of the Black British community. These communities flourished in port cities strongly involved in
580-572: A by-product of the slave trade; some were of mixed-race African and Spanish, and became interpreters or sailors. American historian Ira Berlin classified such persons as Atlantic Creoles or the Charter Generation of slaves and multi-racial workers in North America. Slaver John Hawkins arrived in London with 300 captives from West Africa. However, the slave trade did not become entrenched until
725-999: A controversial definition. Black British is one of various self-designation entries used in official UK ethnicity classifications . Around 3.7 per cent of the United Kingdom's population in 2021 were Black. The figures have increased from the 1991 census when 1.63 per cent of the population were recorded as Black or Black British to 1.15 million residents in 2001, or 2 per cent of the population, this further increased to just over 1.9 million in 2011, representing 3 per cent. Almost 96 per cent of Black Britons live in England, particularly in England's larger urban areas, with close to 1.2 million living in Greater London . The term Black British has most commonly been used to refer to Black people of New Commonwealth origin, of both West African and South Asian descent. For example, Southall Black Sisters
870-453: A fighting fund was established to pay for the analysis of forensic evidence and the cost of tracing and re-interviewing witnesses. The family were represented by leading counsel Michael Mansfield QC, assisted by Tanoo Mylvaganam and Annie Dixon who all worked pro bono . The charges against Acourt and Norris were dropped before the trial for lack of evidence. On 23 April 1996, the three remaining suspects were acquitted of murder by
1015-526: A garland of cypress-boughs. Severus ordered him away, reportedly being "frightened" by his dark skin colour and seeing his act and appearance as an omen. The Ethiopian is written to have said: "You have been all things, you have conquered all things, now, O conqueror, be a god." A girl buried at Updown , near Eastry in Kent in the early 7th century was found to have 33% of her DNA of West African type, most closely resembling Esan or Yoruba groups. In 2013,
1160-594: A jury at the Central Criminal Court , after the trial judge, the Honourable Mr Justice Curtis, ruled that the identification evidence given by Duwayne Brooks was unreliable. The costs of the prosecution were paid out of the public purse. The Macpherson report endorsed the judgement, stating that "Mr Justice Curtis could [have] properly reach[ed] only one conclusion" and that "[t]here simply was no satisfactory evidence available". An inquest into
1305-495: A lung. Lawrence lost all feeling in his right arm and his breathing was constricted, while he was losing blood from four major blood vessels. Brooks began running, and shouted for Lawrence to run to escape with him. While the attackers disappeared down Dickson Road, Brooks and Lawrence ran in the direction of Shooters Hill . Lawrence collapsed after running 130 yards (120 m); he bled to death soon afterwards. The pathologist recorded that Lawrence managing to run this distance with
1450-441: A means of incorporating immigrants into the society. It conceived of English subjects as those people born on the island. Those who were not were considered by some to be incapable of becoming subjects or citizens. In 1596, Queen Elizabeth I issued letters to the lord mayors of major cities asserting that "of late divers blackmoores brought into this realm, of which kind of people there are already here to manie...". While visiting
1595-649: A minor continuing presence. Such studies include Imtiaz Habib's Black Lives in the English Archives, 1500–1677: Imprints of the Invisible (Ashgate, 2008), Onyeka 's Blackamoores: Africans in Tudor England, Their Presence, Status and Origins (Narrative Eye, 2013), Miranda Kaufmann 's Oxford DPhil thesis Africans in Britain, 1500–1640 , and her Black Tudors: The Untold Story ( Oneworld Publications , 2017). Britain
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#17328561594961740-454: A monastery - St Augustine's Abbey near Canterbury , Kent . These were subsequently taken from the monastery by Earl Godwin for his fourth son, Tostig . King Edward the Confessor restored them again to the monastery on taking power, however Tostig saw the opportunity to take possession of them once again after Edward's death in 1066 when King Harold seized his brother's estates. After
1885-700: A monumental risk with that headline. In many ways, it was an outrageous, unprecedented step. Writing in the February 2012 edition of the Socialist Review , Brian Richardson suggested that Dacre was overselling his involvement in what had finally been achieved, stating: It is ... disingenuous of Dacre to claim that the Stephen Lawrence Family Campaign would have petered out if his paper had not ridden heroically to its rescue. The "Murderers" story appeared in February 1997, almost four years after Stephen
2030-448: A partially collapsed lung was "a testimony to his physical fitness". Brooks ran to call an ambulance while an off-duty police officer stopped his car and covered Lawrence with a blanket. Lawrence was taken to Brook General Hospital by 11:05 pm, but he was already dead. All three witnesses at the bus stop at the time of the attack said in their statements that the attack was sudden and short, although none were later able to identify
2175-956: A servant in their home, being baptised age 19, and later joining the Westminster Militia as a drummer. Later some emigrated to Sierra Leone , with help from Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor after suffering destitution, to form the Sierra Leone Creole ethnic identity. In 1731 the Lord Mayor of London ruled that "no Negroes shall be bound apprentices to any Tradesman or Artificer of this City". Due to this ruling, most were forced into working as domestic servants and other menial professions. Those black Londoners who were unpaid servants were in effect slaves in anything but name. In 1787, Thomas Clarkson , an English abolitionist, noted at
2320-533: A share of this land from her ancestor, Richard de Ros. It was found by a jury of grand assizes that his ancestors held this land in tenancy from the abbot and convent at a rent of twelve pound per annum. In 1314, during the reign of Edward II of England , the abbot was summoned before Hervey de Stanton , the Chancellor of the Exchequer . He was asked to show by what right he claimed sundry liberties and free warren on
2465-585: A skeleton was discovered in Fairford , Gloucestershire , which forensic anthropology revealed to be that of a Sub-Saharan African woman. Her remains have been dated between the years 896 and 1025. Local historians believe she was likely either a slave or a bonded servant . A black musician is among the six trumpeters depicted in the royal retinue of Henry VIII in the Westminster Tournament Roll, an illuminated manuscript dating from 1511. He wears
2610-466: A speech in Manchester: "I was surprised also to find a great crowd of black people standing round the pulpit. There might be forty or fifty of them." There is evidence that black men and women were occasionally discriminated against when dealing with the law because of their skin colour. In 1737, George Scipio was accused of stealing Anne Godfrey's washing, the case rested entirely on whether or not Scipio
2755-511: A taile in his breech, eies like a bason, fanges like a dog, clawes like a beare, a skin like a Niger and a voice roring like a lion"; historian Ian Mortimer stated that such views "are to be noted at all levels of society". Views on Black people were "affected by preconceived notions of the Garden of Eden and the Fall from Grace ." In addition, in this period, England had no concept of naturalization as
2900-509: A woman who might have been a vital witness had telephoned detectives three times within the first few days after the killing, and appealed for her to contact them again. The five suspects were previously involved in racist knife attacks around the Eltham area. Four weeks before Lawrence's death, Dobson and Neil Acourt were involved in a racist attack on a black teenager, Kevin London, whom they verbally abused and attempted to stab. Neil's brother Jamie
3045-659: A write-in response for the 'Black African' group. In Northern Ireland, the 2021 census had Black African and Black Other tick-boxes. In Scotland, the options were African, Scottish African or British African, and Caribbean or Black, each accompanied by a write-in response box. In all of the UK censuses, persons with multiple familial ancestries can write in their respective ethnicities under a "Mixed or multiple ethnic groups" option, which includes additional "White and Black Caribbean" or "White and Black African" tick boxes in England, Wales, and Northern Ireland. Black British or Black English
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#17328561594963190-504: Is 1 carucate and 17 villeins, with 3 boarderers, having 4 carucates. There is wood for the pannage of 5 hogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor it was worth 10 pounds, when he received it 8 pounds, and now as much, and yet he who holds it pays 12 pounds. Brixi Cilt held it of king Edward. Around this time Reginald, son of Gervase de Cornhill, released to the abbot and convent all claims in this manor from David and Robert de Cornhill who had rented it from them. By 1273 Nicholas de Spina
3335-555: Is a misprint for 1772, in turn based on a misunderstanding of the results of the Somerset case referred to below. As a result, Liverpool is home to Britain's oldest black community, dating at least to the 1730s. By 1795, Liverpool had 62.5 per cent of the European Slave Trade. During this era, Lord Mansfield declared that a slave who fled from his master could not be taken by force in England, nor sold abroad. However, Mansfield
3480-539: Is an area in southeast London, within the Royal Borough of Greenwich , England. It is located east of Woolwich . Plumstead has been settled since ancient times, and London's earliest timber structure has been found here. During the excavation of a peat bog near Belmarsh Prison in 2009, an ancient timber trackway , radiocarbon dated to be nearly 6,000 years old, was discovered by archaeologists. In 960 King Edgar gave four plough lands, collectively called Plumstead, to
3625-585: Is thought they are likely to have travelled through Spain or Portugal before arriving in Britain. Blackamoor servants were perceived as a fashionable novelty and worked in the households of several prominent Elizabethans, including that of Queen Elizabeth I, William Pole , Francis Drake , and Anne of Denmark in Scotland . Among these servants was "John Come-quick, a blackemore", servant to Capt Thomas Love. Others included in parish registers include Domingo "a black neigro servaunt unto Sir William Winter ", buried
3770-454: Is wood for the pannage of 5 hogs. In the time of king Edward the Confessor, and afterwards it was worth 10 pounds, now 12 pounds, and yet it pays 14 pounds and 8 shillings and 3 pence. while under the general title of the Bishop of Bayeux's lands The abbot of St. Augustine holds of the bishop of Baieux, Plumsted. It was taxed at 2 sulings and 1 yoke. The arable land is 5 carucates. In demesne there
3915-462: The Daily Mail newspaper labelled all five suspects "murderers". The headline read, "Murderers: The Mail accuses these men of killing. If we are wrong, let them sue us." Underneath this headline appeared pictures of the five suspects: Dobson, Neil and Jamie Acourt, Knight, and Norris. None of the men ever sued for defamation and strong public opinions rose against the accused and the police who handled
4060-613: The Atlantic slave trade in 1808, and cooperated in liberating slaves from illegal trading ships off the coast of West Africa. Many of these freed slaves were taken to Sierra Leone for settlement. Slavery was abolished completely in the British Empire by 1834, although it had been profitable on Caribbean plantations. Fewer blacks were brought into London from the West Indies and West Africa. The resident British black population, primarily male,
4205-547: The Battle of Hastings in 1066, William the Conqueror gifted Plumstead to his half-brother Odo, Bishop of Bayeux , whom he also titled Earl of Kent . The Archbishop of Canterbury Lanfranc of Pavia and the Norman abbot of St Austin's successfully interceded to reclaim a portion of the land on behalf of the monastery. In 1074 Odo then granted by deed the remainder of the parish and also
4350-621: The Criminal Justice Act 2003 , and this provision came into force in April 2005. It opened murder and certain other serious crimes (including manslaughter , kidnapping , rape, armed robbery , and some drug crimes) to a second prosecution, regardless of when committed, with two conditions – the retrial must be approved by the Director of Public Prosecutions , and the Court of Appeal must agree to quash
4495-401: The Director of Public Prosecutions , Keir Starmer QC , applied to the Court of Appeal for Dobson's original acquittal to be quashed. Dobson was in prison at the time for drug dealing . Norris had not been previously acquitted, so no application was necessary in his case. For legal reasons, to protect the investigation and ensure a fair hearing, reporting restrictions were put in place at
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4640-570: The East Indian seamen known as lascars ) agreed to go to this West African colony on the condition that they would retain the status of British subjects , live in freedom under the protection of the British Crown , and be defended by the Royal Navy . Making this fresh start with them were some white people (see also Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor ), including lovers, wives, and widows of
4785-650: The General Register Office for Scotland (GOS) also established new, separate "African, African Scottish or African British" and "Caribbean, Caribbean Scottish or Caribbean British" tick boxes for individuals in Scotland from Africa and the Caribbean, respectively, who do not identify as "Black, Black Scottish or Black British". The 2021 census in England and Wales maintained the Caribbean, African, and any other Black, Black British, or Caribbean background options, adding
4930-556: The Independent Police Complaints Commission had ruled that there was no basis for further investigation, Home Secretary Theresa May ordered an independent inquiry by a prominent QC into undercover policing and corruption, which was described as "devastating" when published in 2014. An inquiry into whether members of the police force shielded the alleged killers was set up in October 2009. Stephen Adrian Lawrence
5075-557: The Indian diaspora and in particular Idi Amin 's expulsion of Asians from Uganda in 1972, many British Asians are from families that had previously lived for several generations in the British West Indies or the Comoros . A number of British Asians, including celebrities such as Riz Ahmed and Zayn Malik still use the term "Black" and "Asian" interchangeably. The 1991 UK census
5220-774: The Indian subcontinent . Solidarity against racism and discrimination sometimes extended the term at that time to the Irish population of Britain as well. Several organisations continue to use the term inclusively, such as the Black Arts Alliance , who extend their use of the term to Latin Americans and all refugees, and the National Black Police Association . The official UK Census has separate self-designation entries for respondents to identify as "Asian British", "Black British" and "Other ethnic group". Due to
5365-486: The Mail 's headline in 1997 —'Murderers: The Mail accuses these men of killing'—and our years of campaigning, none of this would have happened. Britain's police might not have undergone the huge internal reform that was so necessary. Race relations might not have taken the significant step forward that they have. And an 18-year-old A-Level student who dreamed of being an architect would have been denied justice. The Daily Mail took
5510-508: The Royal Navy . However, even though the committee signed up about 700 members of the Black Poor, only 441 boarded the three ships that set sail from London to Portsmouth. Many black Londoners were no longer interested in the scheme, and the coercion employed by the committee and the government to recruit them only reinforced their opposition. Equiano, who was originally involved in the scheme, became one of its most vocal critics. Another prominent black Londoner, Ottobah Cugoano , also criticised
5655-618: The criminal justice system by Lord Justice Auld , a former senior presiding judge for England and Wales, had also commenced in 1999 and was published as the Auld Report 6 months after the Law Commission report. It opined that the Law Commission had been unduly cautious by limiting the scope to murder and that "the exceptions should [...] extend to other grave offences punishable with life and/or long terms of imprisonment as Parliament might specify." These recommendations were implemented within
5800-697: The double jeopardy rule and criminalising racist statements made in private. Macpherson also called for reform in the British Civil Service , local governments, the National Health Service , schools, and the judicial system, to address issues of institutional racism. The report was criticised in an October 2000 article in The Times by Michael Gove (later an MP and cabinet minister), who wrote, "The tendentious reasoning and illiberal recommendations of that document have been brilliantly anatomised by
5945-438: The "black poor", the black poor were defined as former slave soldiers since emancipated, seafarers, such as South Asian lascars, former indentured servants and former indentured plantation workers. Around the 1750s, London became the home to many Blacks, as well as Jews, Irish, Germans and Huguenots . According to Gretchen Gerzina in her Black London , by the mid-18th century, Blacks accounted for somewhere between 1% and 3% of
Murder of Stephen Lawrence - Misplaced Pages Continue
6090-574: The 1760s. In 1764, The Gentleman's Magazine reported that there was "supposed to be near 20,000 Negroe servants." John Ystumllyn (c. 1738 - 1786) was the first well-recorded black person of North Wales . He may have been a victim of the Atlantic slave trade , and was from either West Africa or the West Indies . He was taken by the Wynn family to their Ystumllyn estate in Criccieth , and christened with
6235-513: The 17th century and Hawkins only embarked on three expeditions. Jacques Francis , who has been described as a slave by some historians, but described himself in Latin as a " famulus ", meaning servant, slave or attendant. Francis was born on an island off the coast of Guinea, likely Arguin Island , off the coast of Mauritania . He worked as a diver for Pietro Paulo Corsi in his salvage operations on
6380-584: The 1880s with housing developed for workers at the Royal Arsenal ; two-up two-down terraced housing was common in the area close to the river and the Arsenal, whereas larger and smarter properties were developed uphill from the Thames, around Plumstead Common . The Plumstead Common Act 1878 ( 41 & 42 Vict. c. cxlv) protected Plumstead Common as public open space forever. In the late 19th century, Woolwich cemetery
6525-416: The 18th century. Other estimates put the number at 15,000. In 1772, Lord Mansfield put the number of black people in the country at as many as 15,000, though most modern historians consider 10,000 to be the most likely. The black population was estimated at around 10,000 in London, making black people approximately 1% of the overall London population. The black population constituted around 0.1% of
6670-505: The Arab world as well as some other immigrants were evacuated to their homelands. In that first postwar summer, other racial riots of whites against "coloured" peoples also took place in numerous United States cities, towns in the Caribbean, and South Africa. They were part of the social dislocation after the war as societies struggled to integrate veterans into the work forces again, and groups competed for jobs and housing. At Australian insistence,
6815-600: The Black British soldiers during World War I was Walter Tull , an English professional footballer, born to a Barbadian carpenter Daniel Tull and Kent-born Alice Elizabeth Palmer. His grandfather was a slave in Barbados . Tull became the first British-born mixed-heritage infantry officer in a regular British Army regiment, despite the 1914 Manual of Military Law specifically excluding soldiers that were not "of pure European descent" from becoming commissioned officers. Colonial soldiers and sailors of Afro-Caribbean descent served in
6960-822: The British refused to accept the Racial Equality Proposal put forward by the Japanese at the Paris Peace Conference, 1919 . World War II marked another period of growth for the Black communities in London, Liverpool and elsewhere in Britain. Many Blacks from the Caribbean and West Africa arrived in small groups as wartime workers, merchant seamen, and servicemen from the army, navy, and air forces. For example, in February 1941, 345 West Indians came to work in factories in and around Liverpool, making munitions. Among those from
7105-584: The Caribbean who joined the Royal Air Force (RAF) and gave distinguished service are Ulric Cross from Trinidad, Cy Grant from Guyana and Billy Strachan from Jamaica. The African and Caribbean War Memorial was installed in Brixton , London, in 2017 by the Nubian Jak Community Trust to honour servicemen from Africa and the Caribbean who served alongside British and Commonwealth Forces in both
7250-556: The Court of Appeal for an increase in the minimum terms. Juvenile minimum life sentences in a 2000 review (i.e. before the 2003 act passed into law) varied from a "most common" minimum of 10 years to a maximum of 20, placing Dobson and Norris in the middle of that range. On 1 February 2012, the Attorney General announced that he would not be referring the sentences to the Court of Appeal, as he believed that "the minimum terms [were] ... within
7395-537: The English court, Casper Van Senden , a German merchant from Lübeck , requested the permission to transport "Blackamoores" living in England to Portugal or Spain, presumably to sell them there. Elizabeth subsequently issued a royal warrant to Van Senden, granting him the right to do so. However, Van Senden and Sherley did not succeed in this effort, as they acknowledged in correspondence with Sir Robert Cecil. In 1601, Elizabeth issued another proclamation expressing that she
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#17328561594967540-549: The First World War and Second World War. By the end of 1943, there were 3,312 African-American GIs based at Maghull and Huyton , near Liverpool. The Black population in the summer of 1944 was estimated at 150,000, mostly Black GIs from the United States. However, by 1948 the Black population was estimated to have been less than 20,000 and did not reach the previous peak of 1944 until 1958. Plumstead Plumstead
7685-838: The London Anthropological Society, in 1863 in his paper "On the Negro's place in nature" wrote that "the Negro is inferior intellectually to the European...[and] can only be humanised and civilised by Europeans." In the 1880s, there was a build-up of small groups of black dockside communities in towns such as Canning Town , Liverpool and Cardiff . Despite social prejudice and discrimination in Victorian England, some 19th-century black Britons achieved exceptional success. Pablo Fanque , born poor as William Darby in Norwich , rose to become
7830-405: The London populace. Evidence of the number of Black residents in the city has been found through registered burials. Some black people in London resisted slavery through escape. Leading Black activists of this era included Olaudah Equiano , Ignatius Sancho and Quobna Ottobah Cugoano . Mixed race Dido Elizabeth Belle who was born a slave in the Caribbean moved to Britain with her white father in
7975-555: The Near East, or North Africa, although Dr Sam Robson from the University of Portsmouth "ruled out" that Henry was black or that he was sub-Saharan African in origin. Dr Onyeka Nubia cautioned that the number of those on board the Mary Rose that had heritage beyond Britain was not necessarily representative of the whole of England at the time, although it definitely was not a "one-off". It
8120-478: The Plumstead area, but mainly at the Manor Ground , on the north side of Plumstead Common Road and the Invicta Ground , where the Royal Ordnance Factories F.C. also played. Plumstead railway station serves the area with National Rail services to London Charing Cross via Lewisham , London Cannon Street via Greenwich , London Cannon Street via Bexleyheath , London Cannon Street via Sidcup , Kentish Town via Greenwich, Dartford and Rainham . Plumstead
8265-417: The United Kingdom during the First World War and some settled in British cities. The South Shields community—which also included other "coloured" seamen known as lascars, who were from South Asia and the Arab world —were victims of the UK's first race riot in 1919. Soon eight other cities with significant non-white communities were also hit by race riots. Due to these disturbances, many of the residents from
8410-450: The Welsh name John Ystumllyn. He was taught English and Welsh by the locals, became a gardener at the estate and "grew into a handsome and vigorous young man". His portrait was painted in 1750s. He married local woman Margaret Gruffydd in 1768 and their descendants still live in the area. It was reported in the Morning Gazette that there was 30,000 in the country as a whole, though the numbers were thought to be "alarmist" exaggerations. In
8555-419: The appropriate range of sentences". On 30 January 2012, it emerged that Norris and Dobson were seeking leave from the Court of Appeal to appeal against their convictions. On 23 August 2012, it was reported that Norris and Dobson had lost the first round of their appeal. On 15 March 2013, it was announced that Dobson had dropped his appeal against his murder conviction. Shortly after Norris
8700-443: The black men. In addition, nearly 1200 Black Loyalists, former American slaves who had been freed and resettled in Nova Scotia , and 550 Jamaican Maroons also chose to join the new colony. According to the Augustan History , North African Roman emperor Septimus Severus supposedly visited Hadrian's Wall in 210 AD. While returning from an inspection of the wall, he was said to have been mocked by an Ethiopian soldier holding
8845-412: The black population was much smaller relative to the total British population of 45 million and official documents were not adapted to record ethnicity. Black residents had for the most part emigrated from parts of the British Empire. The number of black soldiers serving in the British army, (rather than colonial regiments,) prior to World War I is unknown but was likely to have been negligibly low. One of
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#17328561594968990-417: The bus coming. Brooks claimed that he heard one of Lawrence's assailants saying a racial slur as they all quickly crossed the road and "engulfed" Lawrence. The six aggressors forced Lawrence down to the ground, then stabbed him to a depth of about 5 inches (13 cm) on both sides of the front of his body, in the right collarbone and left shoulder. Both wounds severed axillary arteries before penetrating
9135-555: The case centred on the new forensic evidence and whether it demonstrated the defendant's involvement in the murder, or was the result of later contamination due to police handling. The spot of blood was so small that it would have dried almost instantly, leading to the conclusion that it was transferred at the crime scene. On 3 January 2012, after the jury had deliberated for just over 8 hours, Dobson and Norris were found guilty of Lawrence's murder. The two were sentenced on 4 January 2012 to detention at Her Majesty's Pleasure , equivalent to
9280-409: The case. In July 1997 an inquiry was ordered by the home secretary to identify matters related to the killing, known as the Macpherson Report, which was completed in February 1999 ( see below ) . In 2002, David Norris and Neil Acourt were convicted and jailed for racially aggravated harassment after an incident involving a plain-clothes black police officer. In 2005 the law was changed. As part of
9425-418: The charges were dropped on 29 July 1993, the Crown Prosecution Service citing insufficient evidence. An internal review was opened in August 1993 by the Metropolitan Police . On 16 April 1994, the Crown Prosecution Service stated they did not have sufficient evidence for murder charges against anyone else, despite a belief by the Lawrence family that new evidence had been found. The main issue
9570-413: The commencement of these proceedings; the arrests and subsequent developments were not publicly reported at the time. Dobson's acquittal was quashed following a two-day hearing on 11 and 12 April 2011, enabling his retrial. On 18 May 2011, the Court of Appeal handed down its judgment and the reporting restrictions were partially lifted. It was announced by the Crown Prosecution Service that
9715-467: The darker complexion of people with biracial parentage, George Best argued in 1578 that black skin was not related to the heat of the sun (in Africa ) but was instead caused by biblical damnation. Reginald Scot noted that superstitious people associated black skin with demons and ghosts, writing (in his sceptical book Discoverie of Witchcraft ) "But in our childhood our mothers maids have so terrified us with an ouglie divell having hornes on his head, and
9860-520: The day after his punishment was announced, so that it amounted to a caution. Neville Lawrence, Stephen's father, criticised the punishment, saying that Bullock was "guilty on all counts." However, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Federation stated that Bullock had been "largely vindicated" in the proceedings. On 10 March 2006, the Metropolitan Police Service announced that it would pay Duwayne Brooks £100,000 as compensation for how police handled his complaints about their actions toward him after
10005-426: The death of Lawrence was held in February 1997. The five suspects refused to answer any questions, claiming privilege against self-incrimination. The inquest concluded on 13 February 1997, with the jury returning a verdict after 30 minutes' deliberation of unlawful killing "in a completely unprovoked racist attack by five white youths"; this finding went beyond the bounds of their instructions. On 14 February 1997,
10150-402: The double jeopardy rule should be repealed in murder cases to allow a retrial upon new and compelling evidence: this was effected in 2005 upon enactment of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 . The publication in 1999 of the resulting Macpherson Report has been called "one of the most important moments in the modern history of criminal justice in Britain". Jack Straw said that ordering the inquiry was
10295-472: The early 19th century. It is possible that researchers simply did not collect the data or that the mostly black male population of the late 18th century had married white women. Evidence of such marriages may still be found today with descendants of black servants such as Francis Barber , a Jamaican-born servant who lived in Britain during the 18th century. His descendants still live in England today and are white. Abolition of slavery in 1833, effectively ended
10440-578: The ethical socialists Norman Dennis and George Erdos and the Kurdish academic Ahmed al-Shahi in the Civitas pamphlet Racist Murder and Pressure Group Politics ." The pamphlet referred to by Gove is a publication by the think tank Civitas, which criticised the Stephen Lawrence Inquiry, its procedures, its findings and its reception, as well as broadly exploring what it called "The fanatical mindset... of
10585-659: The findings on the Lawrence case, the Macpherson Report had recommended that the rule against double jeopardy (the common law rule that once acquitted an accused person could not be tried a second time for the same crime) should be repealed in murder cases, and that it should be possible to subject an acquitted murder suspect to a second trial if "fresh and viable" new evidence later came to light. The Law Commission later added its support to this in its report "Double Jeopardy and Prosecution Appeals" (2001). A parallel report into
10730-487: The first black person of African origin to vote in parliamentary elections in Britain, in a time when only 3% of the British population were allowed to vote. Sailors of African descent experienced far less prejudice compared to blacks in the cities such as London. Black sailors would have shared the same quarters, duties and pay as their white shipmates. There are some disputes in the estimation of black sailors, conservative estimates put it between 6% and 8% of navy sailors of
10875-816: The forensic evidence. Initially this was held in secrecy and not publicised; however, in November 2007, police confirmed they were investigating new scientific evidence. The re-examination was led by forensic scientist Angela Gallop . The most important of the new evidence comprised: The police unit manager involved in the matter commented that the new evidence was only found because of scientific developments and developments in forensic approaches that had taken place since 1996 which allowed microscopic blood stains and hair fragments to be analysed for DNA and other microscopic evidence to be found and used forensically. Gary Dobson and David Norris were arrested and charged without publicity on 8 September 2010 and on 23 October 2010
11020-569: The former Caribbean British colonies in the West Indies (i.e., the New Commonwealth ), sometimes referred to as the Windrush Generation , and Black British people descending from Africa . The term black has historically had a number of applications as a racial and political label and may be used in a wider sociopolitical context to encompass a broader range of non-European ethnic minority populations in Britain. This has become
11165-506: The inquiry that mistakes had been made in the murder investigation, including his own ignorance that he could have arrested the suspects four days after the killing simply on reasonable suspicion , a basic point of criminal law. The report also found that the Metropolitan Police was institutionally racist . A total of 70 recommendations for reform, covering both policing and criminal law, were made. These proposals included abolishing
11310-477: The investigation that Lawrence was killed because he was black, and that the handling of the case by the Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) and Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) was affected by issues of race. A 1998 public inquiry , headed by Sir William Macpherson , concluded that the original MPS investigation was incompetent and that the force was institutionally racist . It also recommended that
11455-420: The junction of Dickson Road to see if he could see a bus coming. Brooks was still on Well Hall Road, between Dickson Road and the roundabout with Rochester Way and Westhorne Avenue . Brooks saw a group of six white youths crossing Rochester Way on the opposite side of the street near the area of the zebra crossing and moving towards them. At or just after 10:38 pm, he called out to ask whether Lawrence saw
11600-544: The late 1500s, including the silk weaver Reasonable Blackman . When trade lines began to open between London and West Africa, persons from this area began coming to Britain on board merchant and slaving ships. For example, merchant John Lok brought several captives to London in 1555 from Guinea. The voyage account in Hakluyt reports that they: "were tall and strong men, and could wel agree with our meates and drinkes. The colde and moyst aire doth somewhat offend them." During
11745-533: The later 16th century as well as into the first two decades of the 17th century, 25 people named in the records of the small parish of St. Botolph's in Aldgate are identified as "blackamoors." In the period of the war with Spain, between 1588 and 1604, there was an increase in the number of people reaching England from Spanish colonial expeditions in parts of Africa. The English freed many of these captives from enslavement on Spanish ships. They arrived in England largely as
11890-406: The law and police practice. It also led to the partial revocation of the rule against double jeopardy . Two of the perpetrators were convicted of murder on 3 January 2012. After the initial investigation, five suspects were arrested but not charged; a private prosecution subsequently initiated by Lawrence's family failed to secure convictions for any of the accused. It was suggested during
12035-482: The liberties and rights of the monastery. Plumstead manor, together with the church of Plumstead and the chapel of Wickham annexed to it, remained part of the possessions of the monastery until its final dissolution in 1539, the 30th year of the reign of Henry VIII , when the abbey and all its revenues were surrendered into the King's hands by the then abbot, John Essex, and its thirty members. Plumstead expanded rapidly in
12180-749: The local Cambridge Harriers athletics club, and appeared as an extra in Denzel Washington 's film For Queen and Country . At the time of his murder, he was studying technology and physics at the Blackheath Bluecoat School and English language and literature at Woolwich College , and was hoping to become an architect. Lawrence had spent the day of 22 April 1993 at Blackheath Bluecoat School. After school, he visited shops in Lewisham , then travelled by bus to an uncle's house in Grove Park . He
12325-586: The manor of Plumstead amongst others. Other questions included the right for a weekly market in Plumstead on a Wednesday and a fair yearly for three days "on the Eve day, and morrow of St. Nicholas ". For reasons that remain unclear, King Edward III exempted the men and tenants of the manor of Plumstead from providing four men from the borough for the sheriff as was the requirement elsewhere. A writ to Roger de Reynham, Sheriff of Kent, in 1332 directed and commanded him that
12470-433: The master cannot by force compel him to go out of the kingdom." Despite the previous rulings, such as the 1706 declaration (which was clarified a year later) by Lord Chief Justice Holt on slavery not being legal in Britain, it was often ignored, with slaveowners arguing that the slaves were property and therefore could not be considered people. Slave owner Thomas Papillon was one of many who took his black servant "to be in
12615-414: The media. Such claims had surfaced before, and been investigated in 2007, but were reignited in 2013 when a former undercover police officer stated in an interview that, at the time, he had been pressured to find ways to "smear" and discredit the victim's family, in order to mute and deter public campaigning for better police responses to the case. Although further inquiries in 2012 by both Scotland Yard and
12760-509: The militant anti-racist" with references to Malcolm X among others. The government gave the cost of the inquiry as £4.2 million, of which £3.5 million was paid by the Metropolitan Police. In 1997, Lawrence's family registered a formal complaint with the Police Complaints Authority (PCA), which in 1999 exonerated the officers who had worked on the case of allegations of racism. Only one officer, Detective Inspector Ben Bullock,
12905-458: The most famous slaves to attend a sea captain was known as Sambo. He fell ill shortly after arriving in England and was consequently buried in Lancashire. His plaque and gravestone still stand to this day. There were also small numbers of free slaves and seamen from West Africa and South Asia. Many of these people were forced into beggary due to the lack of jobs and racial discrimination. In 1687,
13050-399: The most important decision he made during his tenure as home secretary from 1997 to 2001. In 2010, the Lawrence case was said to be "one of the highest-profile unsolved racially motivated murders". On 18 May 2011, after a further review, it was announced that two of the original suspects, Gary Dobson and David Norris, were to stand trial for the murder in the light of new evidence. At
13195-435: The murder inquiry's Det. Sgt. John Davidson had taken money from known drug smuggler Clifford Norris, the father of David Norris, a chief suspect in the investigation. Neil Putnam, a former corrupt police detective turned whistleblower , told a BBC investigation that Clifford Norris was paying Davidson to obstruct the case and to protect the suspects. "Davidson told me that he was looking after Norris and that to me meant that he
13340-411: The murder, characterized as "racist stereotyping" of him as a hostile young black man, according to a statement from Brooks' solicitors firm. On 25 July 2006, the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) announced that it had asked the Metropolitan Police to look into alleged claims of police corruption that may have helped hide the killers of Lawrence. A BBC investigation alleged that
13485-454: The murder. The police also did not investigate the suspects' houses for four days. Detective Superintendent Brian Weeden, the officer who had been leading the murder investigation from its third day, and who led the murder squad for 14 months, explained to the McPherson inquiry in 1998 that part of the reason no arrests had taken place by the fourth day after the killing (Monday 26 April)
13630-418: The nature and quality of my goods and chattel". Black people lived among whites in London in areas of Mile End , Stepney , Paddington , and St Giles . After Mansfield's ruling many former slaves continued to work for their old masters as paid employees. Between 14,000 and 15,000 (then contemporary estimates) slaves were immediately freed in England. Many of these emancipated individuals became labelled as
13775-566: The oldest black communities of London. The largest Black communities were to be found in the United Kingdom's great port cities: London's East End , Liverpool, Bristol and Cardiff's Tiger Bay , with other communities in South Shields in Tyne & Wear and Glasgow . In 1914, the black population was estimated at 10,000 and centred largely in London. By 1918 there may have been as many as 20,000 or 30,000 black people living in Britain. However,
13920-563: The original Metropolitan Police Service investigation had been incompetent and that officers had committed fundamental errors, including failing to give first aid when they reached the scene, failing to follow obvious leads during their investigation, and failing to arrest suspects. The report found that there had been a failure of leadership by senior MPS officers and that recommendations of the 1981 Scarman Report , compiled following race-related riots in Brixton and Toxteth , had been ignored. Detective Superintendent Brian Weeden said during
14065-422: The original acquittal because of new and compelling evidence. On 27 July 2006, the Daily Mail repeated its "Murderers" front page. In July 2010, The Independent described the Lawrence killing – despite it having happened more than 17 years previously – as "one of the highest-profile unsolved racially motivated murders". In June 2006, a cold case review commenced, involving a full re-examination of
14210-564: The period of small-scale black immigration to London and Britain. Though, there were some exceptions, black and Chinese seamen began putting down the roots of small communities in British ports, not least because they were abandoned there by their employers. By the late 19th century, race discrimination was furthered by theories of scientific racism , which held that whites were the superior race and that blacks were less intelligent than whites. Attempts to support these theories cited "scientific evidence", such as brain size. James Hunt, President of
14355-513: The progress of mankind has been, and however far we have advanced in overcoming prejudices, I doubt if we have yet got to the point of view where a British constituency would elect a Blackman". Naoroji was elected to parliament in 1892, becoming the second Member of Parliament (MP) of Indian descent after David Ochterlony Dyce Sombre . According to the Sierra Leone Creole barrister and writer, Augustus Merriman-Labor , in his 1909 book Britons Through Negro Spectacles , London's Black population at
14500-506: The proprietor of one of Britain's most successful Victorian circuses. He is immortalised in the lyrics of The Beatles song " Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite! " Thirty years after his 1871 death, the chaplain of the Showman's Guild said: "In the great brotherhood of the equestrian world there is no colour line [bar], for, although Pablo Fanque was of African extraction, he speedily made his way to
14645-500: The residents of Plumstead should be allowed to send one man only. By 1363 Edward also decreed to the monastery in his charter of infpeximus that he released all manors and possessions given to it by former kings, including William the Conqueror . He also confirmed all the grants of liberties previously bestowed on the abbot and monastery. By the time of Richard II of England the taxes from Plumstead were valued at 69 pounds, 10 shillings and sixpence, and Henry VI of England reconfirmed
14790-560: The right of the abbot to be "Chief Lord of the Fee". However, the Domesday Book of 1086 holds the details of Plumstead as two separate entries. Under the title of the land of the church of St. Augustine it reads In Litelai hundred . The abbot of St. Augustine has 1 manor, named Plumstede, which was taxed at 2 sulings and 1 yoke. The arable lands is ... In demesne there is 1 carucate and 17 villeins, with 6 cottagers, having 6 carucates, there
14935-505: The royal livery and is mounted on horseback. The man is generally identified as the " John Blanke , the blacke trumpeter," who is listed in the payment accounts of both Henry VIII and his father, Henry VII . A group of Africans at the court of James IV of Scotland , included Ellen More and a drummer referred to as the " More taubronar ". Both he and John Blanke were paid wages for their services. A small number of black Africans worked as independent business owners in London in
15080-410: The same time it was disclosed that Dobson's original acquittal had been quashed by the Court of Appeal , allowing a retrial to take place. Such an appeal had only become possible following the 2005 change in the law, although Dobson was not the first person to be retried for murder as a result. On 3 January 2012, Dobson and Norris were found guilty of Lawrence's murder; the pair were juveniles at
15225-435: The same year, a party for black men and women in a Fleet Street pub was sufficiently unusual to be written about in the newspapers. Their presence in the country was striking enough to start heated outbreaks of distaste for colonies of Hottentots . Modern historians estimate, based on parish lists, baptismal and marriage registers as well as criminal and sales contracts, that about 10,000 black people lived in Britain during
15370-464: The scheme. In 2007, scientists found the rare paternal haplogroup A1 in a few living British men with Yorkshire surnames. This clade is today almost exclusively found among males in West Africa , where it is also rare. The haplogroup is thought to have been brought to Britain either through enlisted soldiers during Roman Britain, or much later via the modern slave trade . Turi King, a co-author on
15515-484: The skeletons found on the Mary Rose were found to have Southern European or North African ancestry; one found to be wearing a leather wrist-guard bearing the arms of Catherine of Aragon and royal arms of England is thought to possibly be Spanish or North African, the other, known as "Henry" was thought to also have similar genetic makeup. Henry’s mitochondrial DNA showed that his ancestry may have came from Southern Europe,
15660-420: The slave trade, such as Liverpool and Bristol . Some Liverpudlians are able to trace their black heritage in the city back ten generations. Early black settlers in the city included seamen, the mixed-race children of traders sent to be educated in England, servants, and freed slaves. Mistaken references to slaves entering the country after 1722 being deemed to be free men are derived from a source in which 1722
15805-472: The streets. Reports at the time stated that they "had no prospect of subsisting in this country but by depredations on the public, or by common charity". A sympathetic observer wrote that "great numbers of Blacks and People of Colour, many of them refugees from America and others who have by land or sea been in his Majesty's service were... in great distress." Even towards white loyalists there was little good will to new arrivals from America. Officially, slavery
15950-472: The study, noted the most probable "guess" was the West African slave trade. Some of the known individuals who arrived through the slave route, such as Ignatius Sancho and Olaudah Equiano, attained a very high social rank. Some married into the general population. In the late 18th century, the British slave trade declined in response to changing popular opinion. Both Great Britain and the United States abolished
16095-482: The sunken St Mary and St Edward of Southampton and other ships, such as the Mary Rose , which had sunk in Portsmouth Harbour . When Corsi was accused of theft, Francis stood by him in an English court. With help from an interpreter, he supported his master's claims of innocence. Some of the depositions in the case displayed negative attitudes towards slaves or black people as witnesses. In March 2019 two of
16240-427: The suspects. In the days following Lawrence's murder, several residents came forward to provide names of suspects and an anonymous note was left on a police car windscreen and in a telephone box naming a local gang as the five main suspects. The suspects were Gary Dobson, brothers Neil and Jamie Acourt, Luke Knight, and David Norris. In February 1999, officers investigating the handling of the initial inquiry revealed that
16385-448: The time did "not much exceed one hundred" people and "To every one [Black person in London], there are over sixty thousand whites". World War I saw a small growth in the size of London's Black communities with the arrival of merchant seamen and soldiers. At that time, there were also small groups of students from Africa and the Caribbean migrating into London. These communities are now among
16530-434: The time of the crime and were sentenced to detention at Her Majesty's pleasure , equivalent to a life sentence for an adult, with minimum terms of 15 years 2 months and 14 years 3 months respectively for what the judge described as a "terrible and evil crime". In the years after Dobson and Norris were sentenced, the case regained prominence when concerns of corrupt police conduct during the original case handling surfaced in
16675-509: The time of the offence, which took place before the Criminal Justice Act 2003 ; the starting point for the minimum term was therefore 12 years. The judge acknowledged this was "lower than some might expect". A similar crime committed in 2011 as an adult would have justified a minimum sentence of 30 years. Following the 2012 convictions, Paul Dacre , Daily Mail editor since 1992, issued a comment on his 1997 headline decision. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say that if it hadn't been for
16820-542: The time, this proportion is considerably larger than the population as a whole. Notable examples are Olaudah Equiano and Francis Barber . With the support of other Britons, these activists demanded that Blacks be freed from slavery. Supporters involved in these movements included workers and other nationalities of the urban poor. Black people in London who were supporters of the abolitionist movement include Cugoano and Equiano. At this time, slavery in Britain itself had no support from common law, but its definitive legal status
16965-570: The top of his profession. The camaraderie of the ring has but one test – ability." Another great circus performer was equestrian Joseph Hillier, who took over and ran Andrew Ducrow 's circus company after Ducrow died. From the early part of the century, students of African descent were admitted to British Universities. One such student, for example, was the African American James McCune Smith, who travelled from New York City to Glasgow University to study medicine. In 1837 he
17110-540: The total population of Britain in 1780. The black female population is estimated to have barely reached 20% of the overall Afro-Caribbean population in the country. In the 1780s with the end of the American Revolutionary War, hundreds of black loyalists from America were resettled in Britain. Marcus Thomas is thought to have been brought at that time from Jamaica as a young boy by the Stanhope family, working as
17255-418: The two would face trial for Lawrence's murder in light of "new and substantial evidence". The judgment of the court stated that "[i]f reliable, the new scientific evidence would place Dobson in very close proximity indeed to Stephen Lawrence at the moment of and in the immediate aftermath of the attack, proximity, moreover, for which no innocent explanation can be discerned". The ruling also emphasised that this
17400-768: The xxviith daye of August [1587] and "Frauncis a Blackamoor servant to Thomas Parker", buried in January 1591. Some were free workers, although most were employed as domestic servants and entertainers. Some worked in ports, but were invariably described as chattel labour. The African population may have been several hundred during the Elizabethan period, however not all were Sub-Saharan African. Historian Michael Wood noted that Africans in England were "mostly free... [and] both men and women, married native English people." Archival evidence shows records of more than 360 African people between 1500 and 1640 in England and Scotland. Reacting to
17545-549: Was "highly discontented to understand the great number of Negroes and blackamoors which (as she is informed) are carried into this realm", and again licensing van Senden to deport them. Her proclamation of 1601 stated that the blackamoors were "fostered and powered here, to the great annoyance of [the queen's] own liege people, that covet the relief, which those people consume". It further stated that "most of them are infidels, having no understanding of Christ or his Gospel". Studies of African people in early modern Britain indicate
17690-532: Was accused of stabbing teenagers Darren Witham in May 1992 and Darren Giles in 1994, causing Giles to suffer a cardiac arrest. The stabbings of victims Gurdeep Bhangal and Stacey Benefield, which both occurred in March 1993, in Eltham, were also linked to Neil and Jamie Acourt, David Norris and Gary Dobson. Within three days of the crime, prime suspects had been identified. No arrests were made, however, until over two weeks after
17835-751: Was also a term for those Black and mixed-race people in Sierra Leone (known as the Creoles or the Krio(s) ) who were descendants of migrants from England and Canada and identified as British. They are generally the descendants of black people who lived in England in the 18th century and freed Black American slaves who fought for the Crown in the American Revolutionary War (see also Black Loyalists ). In 1787, hundreds of London's black poor (a category that included
17980-479: Was at pains to point out that his ruling did not comment on the legality of slavery itself. This verdict fueled the numbers of Blacks who escaped slavery, and helped send slavery into decline. During this same period, many former American slave soldiers, who had fought on the side of the British in the American Revolutionary War , were resettled as free men in London. They were never awarded pensions, and many of them became poverty-stricken and were reduced to begging on
18125-617: Was awarded a medical doctorate and published two scientific articles in the London Medical Gazette . These articles are the first known to be published by an African-American medical doctor in a scientific journal. An Indian Briton, Dadabhai Naoroji , stood for election to parliament for the Liberal Party in 1886. He was defeated, leading the leader of the Conservative Party , Lord Salisbury to remark that "however great
18270-580: Was born in Greenwich District Hospital on 13 September 1974 to Jamaican parents who had emigrated to the UK in the 1960s. His father was Neville Lawrence, then a carpenter, and his mother was Doreen , then a special needs teacher . Brought up in Plumstead , South-East London, he was the eldest of three children, the others being Stuart (born 1976) and Georgina (born 1982). During his teenage years, Lawrence excelled in running, competing for
18415-752: Was denied leave to appeal. On 18 May 2022, it was reported that David Norris's request to be moved to an open prison in advance of his possible release was denied. In 2016 police released an enhanced image from a CCTV camera, showing the face of a witness they have not been able to identify. On 31 July 1997, the home secretary , Jack Straw , ordered a public inquiry , to be conducted by Sir William Macpherson and officially titled "The Inquiry Into The Matters Arising From The Death of Stephen Lawrence", and published as The Macpherson report . Its report, produced in February 1999, estimated that it had taken "more than 100,000 pages of reports, statements, and other written or printed documents" and concluded that
18560-946: Was developed in two phases (1856, 1855) on land formerly part of the southern edge of the Common. Plumstead was also the home of the Peculiar People and an account of this Protestant sect is recorded in 'Unorthodox London' by the journalist Charles Maurice Davies . The Plymouth Brethren have had numerous meeting rooms in the area since about 1845. The present Brethren meeting places are at Plum Lane (1865), Willenhall Road (ca 1910) and Brewery Road (Richmond Gospel Hall). Quakers met nearby in Woolwich from 1905, and in their own Meeting House from 1924. Plumstead had rapid housing growth but still retained large areas of green land i.e. Winns Common, Plumstead Common, Shrewsbury Park and Rockcliffe Gardens. The urban sprawl of lower Plumstead adjacent to Woolwich
18705-434: Was elected abbot of the monastery and by the following year he was receiving eleven pounds from Plumstead residents. Lora de Ros, lady of Horton, gave her right to two carucates of land and 50 acres (200,000 m ) of woods in Plumstead to the abbot, Thomas, in return for the rights of her and her heirs to partake of prayers performed in the church during 1287. It appears that Robert, the last abbot but one, had recovered
18850-414: Was established in 1979 "to meet the needs of black (Asian and Afro-Caribbean) women". Note that "Asian" in the British context usually refers to people of South Asian ancestry. Black was used in this inclusive political sense to mean "non- white British ". In the 1970s, a time of rising activism against racial discrimination, the main communities so described were from the British West Indies and
18995-458: Was involved in the tri-continental slave trade between Europe, Africa and the Americas. Many of those involved in British colonial activities, such as ship's captains , colonial officials , merchants, slave traders and plantation owners brought black slaves as servants back to Britain with them. This caused an increasing black presence in the northern, eastern, and southern areas of London. One of
19140-418: Was joined there by his friend Duwayne Brooks , and they played video games until leaving at around 10:00 pm. After realising that the 286 bus on which they were travelling would get them home late, they decided to change for either bus route 161 or bus route 122 on Well Hall Road . Lawrence and Brooks arrived at the bus stop on Well Hall Road at 10:25 pm. Lawrence walked along Well Hall Road to
19285-524: Was killed. For much of the intervening period the mainstream press, including the Daily Mail , were openly hostile and suspicious of a family that so vocally criticised the police. On 5 January 2012, it was reported that the Attorney General was reviewing the minimum terms at the request of a member of the public, to determine whether he believed them to be "unduly lenient" , and if so whether to apply to
19430-647: Was made Commissary of Provisions and Stores for the 350 black people suffering from poverty who had decided to accept the government's offer of an assisted passage to Sierra Leone. The following year, in 1787, encouraged by the Committee for the Relief of the Black Poor , about 400 black Londoners were aided in emigrating to Sierra Leone in West Africa, founding the first British colony on the continent. They asked that their status as British subjects be recognized, along with requests that they be given military protection by
19575-458: Was no longer growing from the trickle of slaves and servants from the West Indies and America. Abolition meant a virtual halt to the arrival of black people to Britain, just as immigration from Europe was increasing. The black population of Victorian Britain was so small that those living outside of larger trading ports were isolated from the black population. The mentioning of black people and descendants in parish registers declined markedly in
19720-449: Was not clearly defined until the 19th century. During the late 18th century, numerous publications and memoirs were written about the "black poor". One example is the writings of Olaudah Equiano , a former slave who wrote a memoir titled The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano . In 1786, Equiano became the first black person to be employed by the British government, when he
19865-850: Was not initially matched by upper Plumstead. Plumstead Manor School is located in the area. The school was first established as Plumstead County School for Girls in 1913, and was later renamed Kings Warren Grammar School before becoming a comprehensive school in 1967. The school was a girls school until September 2018, after which it began accepting students of all genders. There are a number of primary schools in Plumstead including St. Patricks RC Primary School, St. Margaret's CofE Primary School, Gallions Mount Primary School, Timbercroft Primary School, Bannockburn Primary School, Plumcroft Primary School, Greenslade Primary School, South Rise Primary School, and Conway Primary School. Arsenal Football Club (then known as Royal Arsenal or Woolwich Arsenal) played in Plumstead between 1886 and 1913, at various grounds in
20010-591: Was not legal in England. The Cartwright decision of 1569 resolved that England was "too pure an air for a slave to breathe in". However, black African slaves continued to be bought and sold in England during the eighteenth century. The slavery issue was not legally contested until the Somerset case of 1772, which concerned James Somersett, a fugitive black slave from Virginia . Lord Chief Justice William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield concluded that Somerset could not be forced to leave England against his will. He later reiterated: "The determinations go no further than that
20155-412: Was ordered to face disciplinary charges for neglect of duty. Bullock, who was second in command of the investigation, was later found guilty of failure to properly brief officers and failure to fully investigate an anonymous letter sent to police, but he was acquitted of 11 other charges. Four other officers who would have been charged as a result of the inquiry retired before it concluded. Bullock retired
20300-471: Was protecting him, protecting his family against arrest and any conviction," Putnam said. Davidson denied any such corruption. Black British Modern ethnicities Black British people are a multi-ethnic group of British people of Sub-Saharan African or Afro-Caribbean descent. The term Black British developed in the 1950s, referring to the Black British West Indian people from
20445-495: Was that he had not known the law allowed arrest upon reasonable suspicion – a basic point of criminal law. On 7 May 1993, the Acourt brothers and Dobson were arrested. Norris turned himself in to police and was likewise arrested three days later. Knight was arrested on 3 June. Neil Acourt, picked out at an identity parade , and Luke Knight were charged with murder on 13 May and 23 June 1993 respectively, but
20590-582: Was the first to include a question on ethnicity . As of the 2011 UK Census , the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) allow people in England and Wales and Northern Ireland who self-identify as "Black" to select "Black African", "Black Caribbean" or "Any other Black/African/Caribbean background" tick boxes. For the 2011 Scottish census ,
20735-594: Was the only black man in Hackney at the time. Ignatius Sancho , black writer, composer, shopkeeper and voter in Westminster wrote, that despite being in Britain since the age of two he felt he was "only a lodger, and hardly that." Sancho complained of "the national antipathy and prejudice" of native white Britons "towards their wooly headed brethren." Sancho was frustrated that many resorted to stereotyping their black neighbours. A financially independent householder, he became
20880-486: Was to be "a new trial of a defendant who, we repeat, is presumed in law to be innocent," and suggested a cautious and fact-based reporting style to avoid contempt of court or risk of prejudice to the future trial. A jury was selected on 14 November 2011, and the trial, presided over by Mr Justice Treacy , began the next day at the Central Criminal Court. With the prosecution led by Mark Ellison QC ,
21025-420: Was with the identification evidence by Brooks, which was seen as both tainted by procedural irregularities, and not strong enough under case law: this view was borne out by the later private prosecution. In September 1994, Lawrence's family initiated a private prosecution against the initial two suspects and three others: Jamie Acourt, Gary Dobson and David Norris. The family were not entitled to legal aid and
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