The Brixton Riots of 1981

Brixton Riots

A burnt out car lies on its side in Railton Rd

An overturned and burnt out police van in Railton Rd. Locals in the house behind look on, they were there for most of the afternoon.

Poorly equipped and ill-prepared police officers look toward the centre of rioting at the far end of Railton Rd.

Although things got really nasty later in the day, in the initial stages the violence was directed exclusively at police and local people were relatively safe. In this shot the shower of bricks and petrol bombs pauses temporarily while a resident walks past the police barricades to his house further up the road on the left. Brixton, April 1981

Coldhabour Lane; more burnt police vehicles.

$Coldharbour Lane later in the day as things start to turn really nasty.The police had taken to making snatch raids on suspected ringleaders using vans, which in those days had no riot protection. Sometimes the raids worked, often they didn\'t and this is one van the rioters got to keep.$ Police gather at the fork of Railton rd and Mayall Rd behind a burnt out police vehicle. Brixton, April 1981

Police gather at the fork of Railton rd and Mayall Rd behind a burnt out police vehicle. Brixton, April 1981

$Police with riot shields block access to the main area of rioting further up Railton Rd. Up to this point they\'d been using dustbin lids, sheets of ply, anything they could lay their hands on for protection. These riot shields had only just arrived. Locals carry on with their shopping along Coldharbour lane. Brixton, April 1981$ Residents from nearby houses look on as a car burns.

Residents from nearby houses look on as a car burns.

Rioters gather in a deserted and rock-strewn Railton Rd. To the right, an abandonded police van.

Police and onlookers move back rapidly as another vehicle explodes in a shower of rocks and firebombs.

$Local people survey the wreckage in Railton rd. In the early stages of the riot members of the public were surprisingly safe and wandered unhindered in areas the police couldn\'t get to.$ A local man walks across the street in relative safety as police look on.

A local man walks across the street in relative safety as police look on.

A rather straggly police line at the intersection of Kellet rd and Talma rd.

During the riots the Times used the shot of a police officer being taken here by as a header for its articles. Many were hurt during the riots but this officer seemed to be quite enjoying his spot of limelight.

Just over 29 years ago, shopping in Brixton, I stepped out of a greeting card shop and two hundred yards up the road a car burst into flames. And so began the 1981 Brixton riots, against a background of poverty, tension between police, the black population and a Thatcher government ignited. I had a camera with me, the pictures you see here are my take on events as they unfolded.