1985 Brixton riot

The Brixton riot of 1985 started on 28 September in Lambeth in South London. It was the second major riot that the area had witnessed in the space of four years, the last in 1981. It was sparked by the shooting of Dorothy "Cherry" Groce by the Metropolitan Police, while they sought her 21-year-old son Michael Groce in relation to a suspected firearms offence; they believed Michael Groce was hiding in his mother's home.

After two days of riots, photo-journalist David Hodge had died, 43 civilians and 10 police officers were hurt. Amongst a number of fires, one building had been destroyed, 55 cars had been burnt out, and 58 burglaries had been committed including acts of looting.

In March 2014, the police eventually apologised for the wrongful shooting of Mrs Groce. In July of the same year, an inquest jury concluded that eight separate police failures had contributed to Mrs Groce's death, for which the present Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe subsequently "apologised unreservedly for our failings" to the family.

The community of Lambeth, after the 1981 Brixton riot, had lost trust in the Metropolitan Police, with many of the mixed race but mainly Afro-Caribbean population believing the police to be institutionally racist.

Twenty-one-year-old Michael Groce was one of six children born to Dorothy "Cherry" Groce, who had immigrated to the area from Jamaica when she was in her early teens. From aged six much of his life was spent in residential care, brought up in Tinworth House, on a rough housing estate in Vauxhall. Michael was involved with street gangs, and had been exposed to guns during his childhood. He spent time in and out of prison throughout his life, and by 1985 had accrued 50 convictions and 15 different spells in prison.