violence' Sir Robert Mark, Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, 1972-77 The inquest into acan, winch took place in a lilly room at Hammersmith coroners' produced a verdict week of "death by misadventure'. Amanda explains how the jury in the inquest came to this conclusion.
'An inquest is not like an ordinary designed to establish the circumstances death rather than whether a person is gulity or innocent, identity of the person who killed Socialist Challenge 5 June 1980 Page 6 Blair's constructed dialogue discrepancy in the evidence of the SPG. After driving carrying SPG Unit 1, number '1' on the map.
of the SPG driver, had another story ITV's London Programme last Friday refrom the Blair Peach inquest. It revealed an interesting and unexplained through the crowd, the van led by Inspector Alan Murray, parked on the corner of Beechcroft Avenue and Orchard Avenue - marked by the This is exactly where Blair received the fatal Court that a men had been arrested and placed Coroners' in the back of the van. But PC Raymond White, According to White the van had turned right at the hottom of beechcrof t Avenue into the cul-de-sac end of Orchard Avenue. White had no recollection of a prisoner being put in the back of his van and he was unable to explain why every other officer claimed that the van was in Beechcroft Avenue.
White is the only SPG officer who has been claimed, or did he get out of his van to strike a demonstrator on the corner of Beechcroft and Orchard avenues?
There is no doubt that the jury, despite the way their verdict was presented in the press, believed that Blair was killed by a member of the SPG.
The coroner told them that the killing of Blair Peach was lawful if he was struck by a policeman who reasonably believed him to be a rioter. such circumstances, declared, the jury would have to bring in a verdiet of death hy misadventure even Was White sitting in his van as ho ranks. the coroner 'I think the police would have as. This would have verdict.
Amanda says.
could nOL be decided who killed Blair Peach. The day following the verdict evenewson expressed disquiet over the role of the police, though many them thought the police may have been justified in employing the tactics which led to Blair's death.' The Friends of Blair Peach are not daunted by the verdict of the inquest. Scotland Yard, the so-called upholders of the law, cannot be allowed to get away with harbouring murderers in its Amanda says that the committee will be continuing to call for a public inquiry, while their
It is now 15 years since SPG units were form-