Death of Blair Peach
| Blair Peach | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
Clement Blair Peach 25 March 1946 New Zealand |
| Died | 23 April 1979 (aged 33) Southall, London, England |
| Cause of death | Head trauma |
| Occupation | Teacher |
| Known for | Death during Anti-Nazi League demonstration |
Clement Blair Peach (25 March 1946 – 23 April 1979) was a New Zealand-born teacher who died during an anti-racism demonstration in Southall, Middlesex, England. A campaigner and activist against the far right, in April 1979 Peach took part in an Anti-Nazi League demonstration in Southall against a National Front election meeting in the town hall and was knocked unconscious.
He died the next day in hospital from head injuries that he sustained. 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.
Peach was born in New Zealand. He studied at Victoria University of Wellington and was for a time co-editor of the Argot literary magazine with his flatmates Dennis List and David Rutherford. He worked as a fireman and as a hospital orderly in New Zealand before moving to London in 1969. He became a teacher at the Phoenix School in Bow, East London, a special needs school, working there from 1969 until his death 10 years later. At the time of his death he was an active member of the Socialist Teachers' Association within the National Union of Teachers, and a member of the Socialist Workers' Party.
Peach was an active member of the East London Teachers' Association, a branch of the National Union of Teachers, and became its president in the last year of his life. In 1974, he was charged with threatening behaviour after challenging a local publican's refusal to serve black customers, but acquitted.
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