London Police implicated in 1979 death of NZ anti-racism activist Blair Peach

From TV3 NZ:


Secret British report into Kiwi death to be released

British police are to finally publish a report this week into the death of New Zealand teacher and anti-racism activist Blair Peach at a demonstration in west London in 1979, which is expected implicate former officers.

The Press Association reported prosecutors have completed a review of the document and passed their findings back to the Metropolitan Police.

Relatives of Mr Peach have been campaigning to obtain a secret internal review of the killing for many years.

Some 2000 pages of documents are expected to be released, including the previously secret police report drawn up months after Mr Peach’s death which concluded that the blow which killed him was likely to have been struck by a police officer on duty, the Sunday Telegraph reported.


Six officers have been identified as the ones likely to have struck Mr Peach but they have all been unable - or unwilling - to identify the guilty party. All the men have since retired from the force.

It was understood a copy of the report has already been passed to solicitors representing Mr Peach’s partner Celia Stubbs.

A shadow has hung over the death of Mr Peach, 33, since he was hit over the head at a demonstration against the National Front in Southall, in 1979. Members of the force’s Special Patrol Group were suspected of hitting him with a rubberised police radio or a lead-filled cosh.

NZPA

The report has now been released.

From the BBC:

Police publish report into death of Blair Peach in 1979

A police officer is likely to have “struck the fatal blow” which killed a protester in west London 31 years ago, a Scotland Yard report reveals.

[...]

The 1979 report said: “Whilst it can reasonably be concluded that a police officer struck the fatal blow, and that that officer came from carrier U.11, I am sure that it will be agreed that the present situation is far from satisfactory and disturbing.”

It went on: “The attitude and untruthfulness of some of the officers involved is a contributory factor.

“It is understandable that because of the events of the day officers were confused, or made mistakes, but one would expect better recall of events by trained police officers.

“However, there are cases where the evidence shows that certain officers have clearly not told the truth.”

News brief · 29 April 2010