Broadwater Farm Defence Campaign – The End of the Show Trial

Broadwater Farm Defence Campaign – The End of the Show Trial


Theme(s): Broadwater Farm

Keystage: KS3

How to use this resource: The Broadwater Farm disturbances and the aftermath illustrate the tensions in 1980’s Britain which arose from post war housing policy which concentrated poor and ethnic minority people in “futuristic Utopia” high rise estates. These tensions were compound

BGA reference: BG/P/2

The leaflet is one of many produced by The Broadwater Farm Defence Campaign who formed to address the wider issues of injustice and police-community relations, following the mass arrest of 369 people during the Broadwater Farm Estate disturbances on October 6th, 1985. A national appeal to review the convictions of the Tottenham Three was undertaken by the Broadwater Farm Defence Campaign where it successfully worked in tandem with its brother organization, the Tottenham Three Families Campaign.  

This leaflet was produced just after the end of the trial of Winston Silcott, Engin Raghip and Mark Braithwaite on Thursday 19th March 1987, who were convicted of the murder of PC Keith Blakelock during the Broadwater Farm disturbances in Tottenham in October 1985.   The Broadwater Farm Defence Campaign  dubbed them the ‘Tottenham Three’ and with the Tottenham Three Families Campaign they fought to establish their innocence. An eighteen-page report in 1987 by two American law professors, Margaret Burnham and Lennox Hinds, called it a ‘a serious miscarriage of justice’. The independent Gifford Report provides details on the social conditions and community-police relations which were the background to these events.  

The convictions were seen by the Broadwater Farm Defence Campaign as a ‘Trial by Media, Not by Jury’ and it took over four years, on the 25th November 1991, for all three convictions to be overturned and the truth to emerge which showed that their stance ‘No Evidence-Police Revenge’ was totally accurate and fully justified.  

The court of appeal found that there was no forensic evidence linking the Tottenham Three to the crime and that the confessions were unreliable with statements being, unsigned, uncorroborated and taken without a solicitor being present. Following the successful appeal Bernie said: 

 “The campaign and campaigners have been vindicated after the long struggle we have had for justice” 

The perpetrators of this crime have never been found. 

How can the artefacts support your teaching and students’ learning

Understanding the media and the police’s handling of The Broadwater Farm disturbances and the aftermath through convictions and acquittals of the ‘Tottenham Three’ highlight the impact of politics on the media and police, policing and media reporting against a backdrop of inequality, austerity, recession and political ideology, that disproportionately targeted poor and/or ethnic communities in England at the time. It also highlights the way the British Government and its official agencies dealt with the legacy of Broadwater Farm.

It also highlights how the media and political and police determination to find a scapegoat meant the already lax safeguards were even less, but above all, it shows that the concept of ‘fake news’ is nothing new and was used as much in the past, as it is today.  In addition, the ‘Tottenham Three’ is part of a string of high profile miscarriages of justice that really questioned the professionalism of the police and the politicisation of the police. The Broadwater Farm Defence file also highlights the methods used by people to express their views about the Government and its official agencies treatment of people. It illustrates the changing face of Government legislation to race, equality, immigration and police enforcement.

History KS3, GCSE and A-Level

Interpret contemporary history requirements from KS3 – KS5 by focusing on the experience of immigrants to post-war Britain from the 1940s onward and looking at the reasons why people from Africa and the Caribbean moved to Britain during this time, the experiences they have faced living in Britain such as housing, employment and policing and looking at how the progress of equality, diversity, inclusion and racism in Britain has changed over time.

Citizenship KS4/GCSE, GCSE/A-Level Sociology, GCSE Media, A-Level Politics and Law A-Level
  • Understand the roles undertaken by people within the legal system to affect change and how this is pivotal to our justice system.
  • How the role of pressure and interest groups, play an important part in providing a voice and support for different groups in society campaigning to bring about a legal change or to fight injustice.
  • Know there are different forms of democratic and citizenship actions people can take to bring about change and hold those in positions of power to account in regard to issues relating to human rights and the justice system.
  • Gain insight into why mutual respect and understanding, and community cohesion are important in a democratic society.
  • Understand the reasons why people migrate from one place to another, especially in and out of the UK over the last 60 years.
  • Understand how people are represented in the media and law

Linking the artefact to the present day

  • The ongoing debate as to whether the police are ‘institutionally racist’
  • The policing of areas such as Tottenham and the ongoing tensions through stop and search
  • The current state of race relations in Britain and how events contribute to and/or help diminish racial tensions and the juxtaposition of Britain’s reputation for racial tolerance.
  • The Government’s and official agencies reactions and action to race and equality especially when challenged
  • The changing face of Britain’s housing, it’s housing policy and the way we live
  • The community, political and media reactions large scale racial incidents such as the Windrush Scandal or Grenfell Tower
  • The disproportionate number of people of African and Caribbean heritage who are in UK prisons
  • The uneven way that the law is  applied to  people of African and Caribbean heritage