Families recently paid tribute to the 14 young people who died in the New Cross fire, using a service marking the 45th anniversary of the blaze to implore people to “hold one another with compassion and care”.
Every seat in St Andrew’s Church in Brockley, south-east London, was filled as more than 200 people gathered to honour the youngsters, aged between 14 and 22, who died as flames engulfed a birthday party in New Cross Road on January 18 1981. The deceased included Patrick Cummings, Andrew Gooding, Peter Campbell, Gerry Paul Francis, Steve Collins, Patricia Johnson, Rosaline Henry, Lloyd Hall, Humphrey Geoffrey Brown, Owen Thompson, Yvonne Ruddock, Glenton Powell, Paul Ruddock and Anthony Berbeck – who killed himself in 1983.
The fire, originally thought to have been started by racists throwing a petrol bomb, prompted 10,000 people to march in central London in a mass protest. Two inquests recorded open verdicts as families battled to clear up the mystery surrounding the tragedy.
At the second inquest, the coroner said that while he had concluded on the totality of the evidence that it was “more likely than not” that the fire was deliberately started by a flame being applied to an armchair, he could not be sure and was therefore unable to return a verdict of unlawful killing. Several of those who stood to pay tribute during the service referenced the continued questions and lack of accountability over the fire.
Former Playschool presenter Baroness Benjamin, who referred to the victims as “14 stars”, said: “These families have never received the justice they so clearly and desperately deserve.
“It’s as if their children’s lives don’t matter, and the trauma, depression and mental health effects families must endure each day looking for answers and closure, all of that is not important. This shameful part of history has left a stain on British society.”
Cultural historian and Windrush campaigner, Professor Patrick Vernon, said the New Cross fire “exposed how Black lives, Black grief and Black suffering were treated in this country”. Families and survivors of the fire remembered the people they lost.
Survivor Sandra Ruddock, whose husband and sister-in-law died, said: “Today is not only about mourning the loss but about recognising the love that still exists because of them – smiles, conversations and shared moments and ordinary days with them that now mean everything.
“In remembering them we keep them close. In moments like this, we are reminded of how connected we are and how important it is to hold one another with compassion and care.
“Let us follow those we’ve lost by remembering them with dignity and by caring for those who are hurting and always choosing kindness.”