Fresh inquest ordered into 14 deaths at 1981 New Cross fire
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The High Court ordered a fresh inquest yesterday into the deaths of 14 young black people in south-east London 20 years ago, one of the most controversial events in the history of British race relations.
The fire at a late-night birthday party in a private house in New Cross prompted 20,000 people to take part in a mass protest and is widely seen as one of the causes of the Brixton riots later the same year.
It was widely believed at the time that the fire, which broke out at about 5.50am on 18 January 1981, had been started in a racist attack. An inquest in May 1981 recorded an open verdict.
Scotland Yard began a new investigation into the causes of the fire in 1997 after criticism of its handling of the investigation of the 1993 murder of the black teenager Stephen Lawrence, also in south-east London.
Sir John Stevens, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner, applied for a second New Cross fire inquest yesterday to consider new evidence uncovered by his officers.
Officers have compiled an 18-volume dossier after doing analytical work to identify the movement of people inside and outside the house. Investigators have also used forensic science techniques unavailable at the time of the fire.
The new police inquiry suggests that the blaze started when a naked flame, probably a match or lighter, was applied to a foam-filled armchair inside the house.
The analysis, which gives the exact minute of the start of the fire, suggests that the arsonist was present at the party, rather than an outsider. The police believe they have traced all 60 people who were in the building after 5.30am and that only 30 remained when the fire broke out.
Some individuals who have refused to co-operate with the police and denied claims from other witnesses that they were present at the party might be brought before the coroner.
Ten people died in the fire, three died later in hospital and another took his own life two years later.