Will she ever get justice?
PC Blakelock’s widow sobs after not guilty verdict
SHE greeted the verdict in stunned silence, her head dropping gently into her hands.
Keith Blakelock’s widow quietly left the court as the man accused of killing the constable in the 1985 Tottenham riots was cleared yesterday.
Only outside did Elizabeth Johnson’s composure falter. Sobbing, she rested on a bench while the three sons she had with PC Blakelock tried to comfort her.
The accused, 45-year-old Nicky Jacobs, greeted the Old Bailey verdicts with less restraint. ‘Yes, yes, yes,’ he screamed as the jury found him not guilty of murder and a lesser charge of manslaughter by a majority decision.
He sobbed in the dock as PC Blakelock’s sons glared at him. His supporters clapped and cheered from the public gallery and were rebuked by the judge for their insensitive behaviour. One shouted: ‘See you back in Tottenham, brother.’
The policeman’s family face the heartache of knowing those responsible may never be caught despite two criminal trials and three separate investigations thought to have cost up to £30million.
The Crown Prosecution Service and the police face awkward questions over a trial which contained ‘significant holes in the prosecution case’. Their case hinged on the evidence of three men who claim they saw Jacobs, who was 16 at the time, stabbing the policeman.
But the evidence of the trio, who appeared under the pseudonyms John Brown, Rhodes Levin and Witness Q, was riddled with inaccuracies and mocked by the defence. All three have addictions to alcohol or drugs – or both – and have an array of criminal convictions which further hampered their
‘Stabbed by a baying mob’
credibility. Brown and Levin admitted kicking the policeman repeatedly as he was stabbed by a baying mob shouting ‘kill the pigs’.
They were granted immunity from prosecution because they had not used weapons.
The pair were also paid around £5,000 in 1994 as a reward for helping police and for ‘the disruption to their l i ves which were turned upside down’. All three could receive lifelong protection at the taxpayers’ expense.
Courtenay Griffiths, QC, who represented Jacobs, said both the CPS and police have questions to answer.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s PM programme, he said: ‘I just find it astonishing that so many of the mistakes made in the initial investigation were repeated in the subsequent investigation.’
He said the quality of evidence from the three main witnesses was extremely shoddy. Mr Griffiths said the CPS and the police put forward ‘vulnerable witnesses’ whose evidence had ‘so many contradictions and inconsistencies’. He added: ‘It was an insult to a court for them to place a case of that nature before an English jury.’ Tottenham MP David Lammy said his thoughts were with the Blakelock family. But he added: ‘Over the course of the trial, it has become clear there were significant holes in the prosecution case.
‘Testimony of key prosecution witnesses included inconsistencies and inaccuracies, as well as revelations of police payments to witnesses.’
Last night the Blakelock family used a statement to express their disappointment, saying: ‘We viewed this trial as an opportunity to see some form of justice served for Keith. There were many people involved in a murder on that night of October 6, 1985, and it is regrettable that no one has yet to be found guilty despite the number of people with knowledge of the
‘They were in the middle of a riot’
events of that night.’
They expressed the ‘hope more people are able to come forward so that some of those guilty can be brought to justice in the future’.
Scotland Yard insisted it would continue to investigate, issuing a fresh appeal for witnesses.
Some senior officers privately believe the chances of bringing anyone to justice for the murder are remote.
Despite the problems with the case, the prosecution was supported by PC Blakelock’s family. Mrs Johnson and her sons attended every day of the five-week trial.
Metropolitan Police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said: ‘In an ideal world we’d have witnesses of perfect character but unfortunately we don’t.
‘They were in the middle of a riot. You’re not going to get the lovely old lady out walking her dog with the perfect memory.
‘We will not give up on bringing Keith’s killers to justice.
‘ There are people who know exactly who took part in the attack on Keith and people who took part themselves. It is not too late to come forward.’
PC Blakelock was stabbed 43 times as he lay helpless during the riots on Broadwater Farm. A knife was embedded in the 40-year-old officer’s neck in a failed attempt to decapitate him.
He was among 11 officers attacked as they tried to protect firemen putting out fires on the estate.