Death of Keith Blakelock Violence and looting spread throughout England for several days, leading to five deaths, extensive property damage and over 3,000 arrests. Death of Keith Blakelock Keith Henry Blakelock was a London Metropolitan Police constable who was murdered on 6 October 1985 during rioting at the Broadwater Farm housing estate in Tottenham, north London. The trouble broke out after a local black woman died of heart failure during a police search of her home, and took place against a backdrop of unrest in several English cities and a breakdown of relations between the police and black communities. PC Blakelock had been assigned
Broadwater Farm riot Broadwater Farm riot The Broadwater Farm riot occurred around the Broadwater Farm estates area of Tottenham, North London, on 6 October 1985. The events of the day were dominated by two deaths. The first was that of Cynthia Jarrett, an African-Caribbean woman who died the previous day due to heart failure during a police search at her home. It was one of the main triggers of the riot in a context where tension between local black youth and the largely white Metropolitan Police was already high due to a combination of local issues and the aftermath of another riot which