The Roach Family Support Committee (RFSC) was a campaign set up after the suspicious death of a young black man, Colin Roach, in Stoke Newington Police Station in January 1983.
Colin died from a shotgun wound to the head while in the foyer of the police station, which a coroner’s inquest jury controversially ruled was death by suicide.
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Poster of the Colin Roach Family Support Committee.
The RFSC campaigned for a public inquiry into Roach’s death and for greater accountability of the Metropolitan Police. The RFSC was sometimes referred to by the SDS as the Roach Family Support Group. Shockingly, Special Branch opened a registry fileSpecial Branch RegistryThe Special Branch Registry is a filing system used by the Metropolitan Police, which contains files on individuals and groups which are in turn divided into political groupings, such as 'communist', 'fascist' and 'IRA'. It is normally referred to simply as 'Registry Files' (RF) system. Its oldest files date from 1880.Full page: Special Branch Registryon the group just three weeks after Colin Roach died.
Like many family justice campaigns, the RFSC was spied on by the SDS. HN106 ‘Barry Tompkins’HN106 'Barry Tompkins'HN106 ‘Barry Tompkins’ was an SDS undercover deployed between 1979 and 1983 into various left-wing groups including the Spartacus League of Britain, Revolutionary Communist Tendency and Revolutionary Communist Party and the East London Workers Against Racism. His real name has been restricted. Full page: HN106 'Barry Tompkins' reported on the RSFC in late 1983, having infiltrated the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP).Revolutionary Communist PartyThe Revolutionary Communist Party was a Trotskyist party that began in 1981. It originated from a faction that was expelled from the Revolutionary Communist Group in November 1976. It also formed front groups, such as Workers Against Racism. It was spied upon by HN106 'Barry Tompkins' between 1979 and 1983.
After Tompkins, HN19 ‘Malcolm Shearing’HN19 'Malcolm Shearing'Malcolm Shearing is the alias of an undercover officer with the Special Demonstration Squad, deployed from 1981 to 1985, first against the Revolutionary Communist Party of Britain (Marxist/Leninist) and then the Revolutionary Communist Party. In his evidence to the Inquiry, Shearing admitted knowing that HN67 ‘Alan Bond’ fathered a child whilst undercover. spied on the RFSC through the RCP until August 1985. HN96 ‘Michael James’HN96 'Michael James''Michael James' is the cover name used by a former Special Demonstration Squad undercover officer who, between late 1978 and Spring 1983, infiltrated the Socialist Workers Party in Hackney and the national leadership of the Troops Out Movement. He also spied on Red Action and the Irish Republican Socialist Party. His real name has been restricted. also filed reports on the RFSC’s relationship to the Socialist Workers Party (SWP).International Socialists (IS) / Socialist Workers Party (SWP)The International Socialists (IS)/Socialist Worker Party (SWP) is a Trotskyist political party. It started life in 1950 as the Socialist Review Group, changing its name to the International Socialists in 1962 and then to the Socialist Workers Party in 1977. The IS/SWP was of significant interest to the policing and security apparatus, spied on by at least 35 undercover officers. This profile is a stub that will updated.Full page: International Socialists (IS) / Socialist Workers Party (SWP)
HN88 ‘Timothy Spence’HN88 'Timothy Spence'HN88 'Timothy Spence' was an SDS undercover officer between 1983 and 1987. For the first two years of deployment, he infiltrated police monitoring and campaign groups in Hackney, such as the Hackney Campaign Against the Police Bill. From 1985 to the end of his deployment, he infiltrated CND. also reported on the RFSC as part of his deployment to cover the Stoke Newington and Hackney area from September 1983. Documents released by the Inquiry relating to Spence’s deployment highlight the importance of 50 Rectory Road, which housed the RFSC and other community groups. Correspondence noted a crossover between what the MI5 described as ‘subversively controlled groups’ and ‘coloured groups.’MI5 note for liaison file reporting meeting between DCI Short and F6 to discuss having an officer in Hackney/Stoke Newington, that MI5 know the officer in the RCP is well regarded there, the SDS giving MI5 printouts from the SWP computer and other SDS upd, 24 Aug 1983, MI5, UCPI0000029226.View Document
Writing the foreword to the RFSC’s inquiry into Roach’s death (1989), sociology professor and cultural theorist Stuart Hall spelt out exactly why it was suspicious. In Hall’s words, Roach’s family had been told to believe:
that a young Black man, who was not wanted in any way by the police, late one night, walked into a police station unknown to him, entered the foyer, took from a shoulder bag (which was not large enough to hold a weapon), an old shot-gun, put it inside his mouth and, without a word to anyone, blew his head off. Roach Family Support Committee, Policing in Hackney 1945-1984, Karia Publishing, 1989.
Deaths of Black people in police custody drew growing public outrage from the early 1970s to the early 1980s. Aseta Simms, Simeon Collins, Franklyn Lee, and Michael Ferreira died under disputed circumstances between 1971 and 1982. Simms also died, having been detained at Stoke Newington police station.
Roach’s death sparked protests outside Stoke Newington Police Station, leading to arrests. Five days after Roach died, a meeting of Hackney Black People’s Association (HBPA) launched the RFSC, which involved members of the Roach family.
The RFSC organised meetings in Stoke Newington and demonstrations outside local police stations, and produced the a bulletin, which provided updates on campaigners’ demands for a public inquiry and other news.
When the RFSC's demands for an official public inquiry into Roach’s death were refused, the group decided to set up its own independent inquiry. In 1989, the inquiry published its findings in a report, recommending an immediate judicial inquiry and full disclosure of all relevant documents. Roach Family Support Committee, Policing in Hackney 1945-1984, Karia Publishing, 1989.
Relationship with other groups
Political organisations, including the Revolutionary Communist Group (RCG)Revolutionary Communist Group (RCG)The Revolutionary Communist Group (RCG) is a communist, Marxist and Leninist political organisation in the United Kingdom. It was formed out of the 'Revolutionary Opposition' faction of the International Socialists (IS), (forerunners of the Socialist Workers Party). It later suffered splits itself, with a faction who later became the Revolutionary Communist Party being the most significant., the Revolutionary Communist Party (RCP), and the Socialist Workers Party (SWP), supported the family's campaign. However, the Colin Roach Family Committee remained an independent group.
The RFSC built links with many other organisations, some of which were also reported on by MI5 and the SDS, and with registry files attached. Locally, the RFSC was assisted by Hackney Legal Defence Fund, Hackney Black Women’s Group, and the Stoke Newington Defence Campaign. The committee also received funding from the Greater London Council (GLC).
In 1981, the Labour-run Greater London Council established a committee to provide greater democratic control over the Metropolitan Police. The Labour-run borough of Hackney subsequently established its own police committee in July 1982.In 1983, both unofficial and GLC-sponsored police-monitoring groups across England were the subject of a 176-page Special Branch report. The use of Special Branch resources to compile this report met with severe criticism by the Home Office.Huge report entitled ‘Political Extremism and the Campaign for Police Accountability within the Metropolitan Police District’ .
Having determined reasonable suspicion of a cover-up and noted the Metropolitan Police’s aggressive response to demonstrations by the RFSC, Hackney Police Committee passed a motion of no confidence in the Stoke Newington Police.
On 12 January 1993, the tenth anniversary of Colin Roach’s death, the Colin Roach Centre opened, assisting campaigns on local police corruption and racism. This was spied on by HN15 Mark Jenner (‘Mark Cassidy’).HN15 Mark Jenner 'Mark Cassidy'HN15 Mark Jenner (cover name 'Mark Cassidy') was a SDS undercover officer who spied-upon the Colin Roach Centre, Anti-Fascist Action, Independent Working Class Association, Republican Forum and Red Action between 1995 and 2000. He had a long-term sexual relationship with 'Alison' in his cover identity.Full page: HN15 Mark Jenner 'Mark Cassidy'
Sources
Roach Family Support Committee. Policing in Hackney 1945-1984. Roach Family Support Committee, Policing in Hackney 1945-1984, Karia Publishing, 1989.
Report on public meeting of East London Workers Against Racism on 'Hackney, an equal opportunities borough?' with speaker Judith Harrison, held at Dalston Trades Club, Dalston Lane E8 on 26 Jan 1983
Report on a picket of Hackney Police Committee by East London Workers Against Racism following the death of Colin Roach, held at Hackney Town Hall on 7 Feb 1983, inc Police Ctee docs for the meeting (attached)
Phone message stating the RCP plan to hold a street meeting to publicise their Irish Freedom Movement week of action near Archway Tube on 12 March 1983
