Winston Silcott (born 1959),Winston Silcott: An infamous past
(

BBC News BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broadca ...

, 20 October 2003) a British citizen of

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

(

Montserrat Montserrat ( ) is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Caribbean. It is part of the Leeward Islands, the northern portion of the Lesser Antilles chain of the West Indies. Montserrat is about long and wide, with r ...

) parents, was wrongfully convicted in March 1987, as one of the "Tottenham Three", for the murder of PC Keith Blakelock on the night of 6 October 1985 during the

Broadwater Farm riot The Broadwater Farm riot occurred on the Broadwater council estate in Tottenham, North London, on 6 October 1985. The events of the day were dominated by two deaths. The first was that of Cynthia Jarrett, an Afro-Caribbean woman who died the p ...

in north London – despite not having been near the scene. The convictions of all three individuals were quashed on 25 November 1991 after scientific tests suggested the men's confessions had been fabricated. Silcott received compensation of £17,000 for his wrongful conviction. Two of the investigating police officers were prosecuted for fabricating evidence but were acquitted in 1994. Silcott received a further £50,000 in compensation from the

Metropolitan Police The Metropolitan Police Service (MPS), formerly and still commonly known as the Metropolitan Police (and informally as the Met Police, the Met, Scotland Yard, or the Yard), is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement and ...

in an out-of-court settlement which ended a civil action against the force for malicious prosecution. Silcott was convicted in 1979 and sent to prison for six months for his part in a nightclub brawl. His other convictions include murder, burglary, malicious wounding and possession of an offensive weapon. In 1979 he was tried for and acquitted of murder. In 1989, the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

Students' Union elected Silcott as Honorary President, as a protest against miscarriages of justice. Silcott served 18 years' imprisonment for the murder of

boxer Boxer most commonly refers to: * Boxer (boxing), a competitor in the sport of boxing *Boxer (dog), a breed of dog Boxer or boxers may also refer to: Animal kingdom * Boxer crab * Boxer shrimp, a small group of decapod crustaceans * Boxer snipe ee ...

and nightclub bouncer Tony Smith, for which he was on bail when Blakelock was killed. Silcott claimed that he killed Smith in

self-defence Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...

after an altercation in which he feared for his life and felt he had no choice but to attack, but was disbelieved by the jury.David Rose meets Winston Silcott
''The Observer'' He was released from Blantyre House Prison in October 2003. Silcott had also served a six-month prison sentence for assault in a nightclub prior to his conviction for the murder of Smith. In 2005, the police recruited Silcott to run a youth centre on the

Broadwater Farm Estate Broadwater Farm, often referred to simply as "The Farm", is an area in Tottenham, North London, straddling the River Moselle. The eastern half of the area is dominated by the Broadwater Farm Estate ("BWFE"), an experiment in high-density social ...

, in a bid to reduce youth crime in the area. In March 2007, he was found guilty of theft from shops for a second time since his release from prison.

References

External links

Interview
(''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'', 18 January 2004)
Silcott in bid to cut youth crime
(BBC News, 16 August 2005) {{DEFAULTSORT:Silcott, Winston 1959 births 20th-century English criminals 21st-century English criminals British people convicted of burglary British people convicted of theft British people of Montserratian descent Criminals from London English people convicted of assault English people convicted of murder Living people Overturned convictions in England People acquitted of murder People convicted of murder by England and Wales Place of birth missing (living people)