A police officer was stabbed to death during the 1985 Broadwater Farm riots in north London after he was set upon by an armed mob yelling “kill the pig”, a court has heard.
The detail emerged as the trial of 45-year-old Nicholas Jacobs began at the Old Bailey.
He is accused of murdering Pc Keith Blakelock, 40, as the officer tried to protect firefighters tackling a blaze at the height of the unrest in Tottenham.
Opening the prosecution, Richard Whittam QC said the riots of 1985 were more “sinister” than the later ones in Tottenham in 2011.
Mr Whittam said: “At least some of the rioters in 1985 appeared to have as their target the death of a police officer.
“Whether that was their primary objective is not something that you will have to decide. The fact is that one police officer was killed and another very seriously injured.”
The disorder broke out the day after Cynthia Jarrett, a mother of a police suspect, had a heart attack and died when her home was searched.
Pc Blakelock was among a group of officers sent out without cover on the night of Sunday October 6, 1985, to protect firemen putting out blazes.
They came across a “very large group” of rioters, many armed with an assortment of weapons, the court heard.
Mr Whittam said: “Very heavily outnumbered and fearful they may become trapped both the police and the firefighters were forced to retreat.
“Outside the flats, as they ran for safety, Pc Blakelock and Pc Richard Coombes went to ground and were set upon to shouts of ‘kill the pig’ and the like.
“Pc Coombes was very fortunate to survive. Pc Blakelock did not. The attack on him was without mercy. In the ferocious attack his helmet came off.
“He was beaten and stabbed to death before his colleagues were able to force the attackers away.
“Pc Blakelock suffered something in excess of 40 stab type injuries and there appears to have been an attempt made to decapitate him.”
Pc Blakelock’s widow Elizabeth Johnson bowed her head as the graphic detail about her husband’s death was read out in court. Her three sons were also in the public benches.
The prosecution outlined that there is no dispute that Jacobs, who was 16 in 1985, had been involved in the Broadwater Farm riots, but said it was up to the jury to decide if he was responsible for the death of the police officer.
Mr Whittam said the allegation against Jacobs was that “he was armed with a bladed weapon and he used it as part of the joint attack” on Pc Blakelock.
“There is no dispute that Pc Blakelock was murdered,” he said. “There is no dispute that Nicky Jacobs was involved in the public disorder that night, as were some of the witnesses.”
Jacobs, who denies murder, waved to his supporters in the public gallery as he left the dock. The trial is due to last six weeks.
:: Watch Sky News live on television, on Sky channel 501, Virgin Media channel 602, Freeview channel 82 and Freesat channel 202.
Source Article from http://uk.news.yahoo.com/pc-blakelock-attackers-yelled-kill-pig-193042222.html
Pc Blakelock Attackers 'Yelled Kill The Pig'
No comments:
Post a Comment