1985 Handsworth riots 1500 police officers drafted into the area, about 45 shops looted and burnt, and a trail of damage running into hundreds of thousands of pounds. As well as racial tension, unemployment was seen as a major factor in the riots; by the time of the riots, fewer than 5% of the black population to have left school that summer had found employment. The riots were the first of a series of similar riots across the country during the autumn of 1985, notably the Broadwater Farm riot in London which also resulted in a fatality (the murder of policeman Keith Blakelock).
2005 Macquarie Fields riots 2005 Macquarie Fields riots The Macquarie Fields riots were a series of disturbances in southwest Sydney in February 2005 which were referred to as a riot by both the Parliament of New South Wales and the media. The riots were sparked by a high speed police pursuit on 25 February through the Glenquarie housing estate in the South West Sydney suburb of Macquarie Fields. The chase resulted in the driver, 20-year-old Jesse Kelly, crashing the stolen vehicle into a tree and killing his two passengers, 17-year-old Dylan Raywood and 19-year-old Matthew Robertson. Certain circumstances around the riots including the fatal