General Features

Blackbird Leys. Summer 1991

There has being a car related problem on Blackbird Leys for a number of years. About 2 years ago a large number of persons were arrested for car stealing and car ringing offences.

During the summer of 1990 displaying had been taking place for some considerable time, mostly at about 3am. Groups of 30/40 gathered at the shops to watch and cheer the car displays.

On a number of occasions I went to the Cowley Police Station to complain. It seemed at the time the senior officers lacked the will to get to grips with the problem. Finally at a Police Authority meeting I said to the Chief Constable "The people of Blackbird Leys are coming to the conclusion that the Chief Constable had lost the ability to maintain law and order on the estate". The outcome was that the police became very positive, a high police profile was maintained, youths were moved on, and with the coming of winter and bad weather the problem went away.

Displaying started up again round about March '91. At this time the extent of the displaying had spread to other parts of the city, but the Leys was still the Mecca. The police were now being subjected to stoning from youths whenever they pursued the stolen cars used for displaying. A new trend now started to emerge, the displaying now started at about 10/11pm, more people turned out to watch. By August '91 displaying on the Leys had turned into a spectator sport, people turned out to watch, bringing their children with them on a number of occasions. The police were making arrests for car related offences, but their efforts were hampered by associates of the car thieves/displayers who followed the stolen cars and picked up the thieves when they decamped. They also scanned the police radio, posted lookouts, and continued to stone the police. A number of stolen cars were now set alight after they had been used - some of these torched cars were set alight on main roads on the estate.

On Thursday 29th August matters started to come to a head. A car was overturned on Barton, following a display, soon after a police officer was injured by a piece of flint fired from a catapult causing serious eye injuries. Later that night a police car that was stationary was deliberately rammed on Blackbird Leys.

On Friday 30 August the police entered the estate in force. They were not dressed in public disorder gear, there were 19 arrests following efforts by the police to break up the crowd, 17 of the persons arrested came from Blackbird Leys.

On Saturday the 31 August all was quiet on the Leys. On Sunday the 1 Sept there was a number of rumours around the Leys to the effect that something was going to happen that night. During the evening there was a high police presence on the Leys, at about 10.15pm a police car which was going to investigate the reported cache of petrol bombs behind the Blackbird public house was attacked by bottles and forced to retreat. At about this time another police officer was injured in a missile-throwing incident. There was a large crowd of people around the public house, shops area at this time. The police entered the estate some short time after 11pm; they were dressed in protective clothing. Petrol bombs were recovered from behind the Blackbird public house. Following the non-compliance of the police request for the crowd to disband a number of arrests were made. A large police presence was maintained overnight.

On Monday 2nd Sept there was a number of police on the Leys during the day. These officers were on foot and dressed in shirtsleeve order, they were making contact and talking to people. It is my belief, based on what people told me, this was much appreciated by the people of Blackbird Leys.

During the day there was a large media presence. This in turn attracted a larger than usual number of persons on the streets - there was one incident a police officer had paint sprayed in his face but fortunately he was wearing glasses.

Police again wore protective clothing during the evening and night-time operations.

On Tuesday 3rd Sept the same pattern was repeated. A large police presence was maintained during the following days. During the three days of public disorder a number of incidents occurred that became the subject of rumour and speculation. A serious assault took place - this is the subject of a police investigation and possible charges so it would not be proper for me to comment on that.

It is said that the display that took place during the trouble was financed by the media. This is of course pure speculation and rumour, however from my meetings with people there is a strong feeling that the media helped to fuel the situation. I am not convinced that is the case, we had problems before the arrival of the media, however I will cite two cases were I thought the reporting based more on the need to be sensational than to worry too much about the facts.

First a reporter on local radio reported that

"POLICE RAMPAGED AROUND THE CORNER CARRYING ROUND SHIELDS AND DRESSED IN JACKBOOTS"

There was an emphasise on the word "jackboots".

It is interesting to note the definition of the words

Rampage

(1) To rush about in an angry, violent or agitated fashion.

(2) Angry or destructive behaviour.

Jackboot

(1) An all leather military boot extending up to or above the knee.

(2) Arbitrary. Cruel and authoritarian rule.

Second, the front page of the Oxford Mail 10/10/91, a week after the troubles, carried a picture of the Chairman of the County Council visiting Blackbird Leys to meet youth workers to help plot the way forward. Behind The Chairman it showed the tower block, a readily identifiable landmark for the Leys. The banner headline read "TERROR ON HOUSING ESTATE." The story was about the riots that were taking place on a housing estate in South Shields. I believe that front page story had more to do with selling newspapers than it did for presenting news

There are many theories put forward why the disorders started : depravation, unemployment, lack of amenities, boredom.

I do not believe that Blackbird Leys is a deprived area. It is true that there are many people in need of support from the Social Services, such as single parent families and young unmarried mothers, and whilst there may be some contributory elements to be found there I do not believe it to be a significant factor.

Unemployment does not appear to be higher than other areas. The estate has as many amenities as any other part of the city or county. These include a youth club, adventure playground, leisure centre, swimming pool, library and community centre.

Boredom, by persons not wishing to avail themselves of these facilities may have played a large part in the lead up to the troubles.

Lack of parental control must be a prime factor. One of the most disturbing features is that of the number of youth and children that were on the streets till the early hours of the morning.

I believe that this was a problem that started in a small way and was allowed to grow, until it was out of hand. By that time the only way it was going to end was either as a result of a serious accident or by confrontation.

Where do we go from here? That is not a question easily answered, I believe that bridges between the young people and the rest of the estate must be rebuilt. That requires the involvement of the Community Youth Service - it will need resources to provide a full time youth worker, something not easy to obtain in the present climate of public spending cutbacks.

Some idea of the task before us can be gained by referring to the incident that happened when a number of agencies met to chart and plan a way forward. Even as the meeting was going on a car of one of the persons taking part was vandalised with £3000 worth of damage done to the car.

About the role of he police in the affair? There were 83 arrests, and 4 complaints made against the police. The vast majority of the people have expressed nothing but thanks and appreciation for the job they did and the way that they did it.

Comparisons have been made with the public disorder offences that happened on other estates at about the same time. I do not believe this was a case of copycat happenings, each event had different ingredients. Newcastle had the death of two youths to fuel the unrest, and it would appear from the paper reports that in Cardiff there was a degree of racial involvement. The one common dominator was possibly the weather, urban unrest would seem to rise with the rise in temperature, and all these events happened at the end of a long hot summer.

Kate Stratford is Chair of Leys Neighbourhood Action Group and tells us about the positive action being taken in the present day...

The Leys Neighbourhood Action Group (NAG) was set up in summer 2005 to take problems raised by the community and works to help make life better for people who live and work on the Leys.

The NAG is a national policing initiative, and in Oxford the first pilot was started on The Leys.  It is now being rolled-out in other parts of the City.

Anyone can join.  Current members are made up from residents, the police, PCSOs, officers from the city and county councils, the parish council, housing associations, Street Wardens, Park Rangers and other interested and relevant groups.

The NAG consults residents regularly and asks them to tell us what the problems are in the area, to identify the issues that are important to the residents. 

The NAG takes the top 3 problems (as voted for by the residents) and work together to try and solve them, inviting relevant “experts” to work with the NAG.