A Fair Cop Blog

The brutal murder of PC Keith Blakelock on 6th October 1985 during the riots at the Broadwater Farm Estate has never been far from my mind. As a twelve year old lad with a dad in the job and fervent interest in the police, I vividly remember the graphic accounts of what happened that night.

There was a fresh appeal for witnesses to on Crimewatch last night and some very moving accounts from PC Blakelock’s brave widow and sons.

PC  Blakelock is briefly mentioned in my book as his name was daubed on a wall in Bradford when I was part of a serial of officers dealing with the riots there ten years after his tragic murder.

I would like to publicly support the investigating officers and I truly hope that the animals that did what they did are finally brought to justice.

I hope that the Royal Courts of Conscience have punished each and every one of the scumbags over the past 25 years and I hope that the Courts of Justice will be able to finish the job off.

RIP PC Keith Blakelock.

Ex Police Inspector Peter Boatman (Northamptonshire Police) was an ‘expert’ in a number of areas including the use of force, defensive tactics and armed response. His CV boasts a large amount of experience in this field.

He supplied the investigating officers in my case with a very damning report about the actions I took against Adrian Linley after I had been punched repeatedly to a concussive state. What Boatman failed to take into account, and it is the reason I challenged his evidence from the outset, was my perception of what was happening at the hands of this thug. Boatman single-handedly failed to take into account the stated case Rv Williams when he wrote his statement about me. He never even spoke with me about what happened and condemned my actions from the account given to him by the people who were trying to convict me. For years, I have tried to show that his evidence was flawed.

Boatman’s company Pro-Tect Systems was the only official distributor of the Taser, but it has been alleged that Northumbria Police were issued with untested tasers during the Raoul Moat incident. The Home Secretary intervened and revoked Boatman’s licence meaning he was no longer able to supply these weapons to the police. An investigation, I understand, is being conducted about Boatman’s involvement in this.

Peter Boatman’s body was discovered at his home address on Friday 1st October 2010 after his company had been publicly slammed for the alleged wrong-doing. It is strongly suspected that he committed suicide.  Only he knows what he had done and only he knows why he killed himself.

I am deeply sorry for his family, but he cared little for the suffering I have endured for the past decade and he contributed directly to that. I would love to know what was on his conscience in his final moments, but guess I never will.

I have had a few technical issues regarding my blog over the past three or four months, which I think are now resolved. This has meant that around 40 posts that have been written recently went on yesterday. I apologise to those of you who have taken the time to write and didn’t see your comment published. That is now rectified and I look forward to more blogging in the future.

I would like to thank everyone that came to Cleckheaton Library last night for my talk. It was fantastic to see the need for more chairs as 70 people turned up to the event. We were expecting 30!