Brixton Riot (1985)

Sat Sep 28, 1985

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Image: Dorothy “Cherry” Groce in a London hospital after being shot by police [theguardian.com]

On this day in 1985, a race riot broke out in Brixton after London Metropolitan Police shot and paralyzed Jamaican immigrant Dorothy “Cherry” Groce. She later won £500,000 in compensation from the police with no admission of liability.

Police shot Groce during a raid on her home, in which police were looking for her son, who was not there at the time.

As word of the shooting spread, a group of more than 60 people formed outside Groce’s house, later moving to the local district police station, chanting anti-police slogans and demanding disciplinary action against the officers involved.

There, hostility between the largely black crowd and the largely white police force quickly escalated to violence, and then rioting. Police lost control of the area for the next two days. Police, community residents, and bypassers were all attacked, leading to the death of at least one person and injuring dozens.

Cherry Groce received later received over £500,000 in compensation from the Metropolitan Police, but with no admission of liability. In 2014 - three years after her death - the police issued a formal apology for her shooting.