TRAGIC riot Pc Keith Blakelock was stabbed 43 times and almost had his head
hacked off by a mob, his murder trial heard yesterday.
Thugs hellbent on butchering an officer in the infamous 1985 Tottenham rampage
shouted “Kill the pig!”, the court was told.
Nicky Jacobs, 45 – aged 16 at the time of the Broadwater Farm estate horror –
used a knife as he joined in the attack on Pc Blakelock, it was alleged.
Prosecutor Richard Whittam QC said the riots had a “sinister edge” compared to
the “materialistic” riots of 2011.
The QC, speaking on the first day of the Old Bailey trial, added: “The
anger of family and friends added to tensions within the community and led
the following day to widespread disorder, both in Tottenham but also
elsewhere in London.
“These were far more serious riots than we have seen in recent times. The
Tottenham riots had a more sinister edge to them.
“At least some of the rioters in 1985 appeared to have as their target
the death of a police officer. One police officer was killed and another
very seriously injured.”
Violence erupted after a local woman, Cynthia Jarrett, suffered a fatal heart
attack as four cops raided her home.
Dad-of-three Pc Blakelock was among 11 officers attacked by an armed gang as
they tried to protect firemen trying to quench a blaze at a block of flats,
the jury heard.
The outnumbered cops and firemen fled – but Pc Blakelock and a colleague, Pc
Richard Coombes, were pounced on as they stumbled and fell, the trial was
told. Pc Coombes suffered serious injuries.
Pc Blakelock’s widow Elizabeth attended the hearing with sons Lee, Kevin and
Mark.
Jacobs, of Hackney, East London, denies murder. The trial continues.