Death of Blair Peach

Who was Death of Blair Peach?

Clement Blair Peach was a New Zealand-born teacher who died during an anti-racism demonstration in London, England. A campaigner and activist against the far right, Peach was knocked unconscious in April 1979 during an Anti-Nazi League demonstration which turned violent in Southall against a National Front election meeting in the town hall.

He died the next day in hospital from head injuries that he sustained, later officially attributed to the SPG when a Met internal report was finally made available in 2010. At the time, fourteen witnesses said they had seen members of the Metropolitan Police Special Patrol Group strike Peach. No one was ever charged, but it was suspected that he had been hit by a rubberised police radio. An inquest jury returned a verdict of death by misadventure in May 1980. Peach's girlfriend, Celia Stubbs, continued to campaign for many years for a public inquiry into his death. The Metropolitan Police Service reached an out-of-court settlement in 1989 with Peach's brother. The Metropolitan Police reports into the death of Blair Peach, identifying the probable responsibility of one of their own officers, were made available to the public on 27 April 2010.