‘Blackjack’ may have killed Blair Peach

Press, 10 May 1980, Page 3

‘Blackjack’ may have killed Blair Peach

NZPA London The independent pathologist who examined Blair Peach’s body pinpointed an American-made “blackjack” yesterday as the type' of weapon that probably killed Mr Peach. On the fifth day of the inquest into Mr Peach’s death, Professor Keith Mant ruled out to the jury a range of alternatives. None of (he assortment of coshes, clubs, knives, whips, crowbars, land regulation truncheons taken from the lockers of Special Patrol Group policemen could have inflicted the isingle blow which severely and fatally fractured Mr Peach’s skull, Professor Mant said. Nor could the injury have been inflicted by a police radio or riot shield, or by a kung fu “rice flail” taken from a or by any of the bricks, bottles, stones, or other debris found in the relevant area the morning after the Southall riot on April 23 last year. Mr Peach could not have fractured his skull in such a fashion by running into a signpost or by colliding with another person. The lead-weighted, flexible, leather-covered blackjack made by the American firearms manufacturer, Smith and Wesson, and obtained for demonstration by the Peach family lawyers, could have caused the injury. “It would have left no mark, but it would kill,” Professor Mant said. Mr Peach had suffered no injury, major or minor, other than the severe fracture of the skull that caused his death. Questioned by the Coroner (Dr John Burton), Professor Mant agreed it was most unusual for there to be no sign of any grazes or bruises. If the report was taken

completely in isolation and read by experienced people, would they not say: “This is a person who has been hit on the head while sitting in a chair?” Dr Burton asked. They could. Professor Mant replied, or they could assume that if the dead man was stationary, he could have collapsed gently. He agreed with the Coroner that a person who died from a heart attack while walking invariably showed some other minor injuries such as scratches or grazes that occurred when he fell. There was no sign that he had run into anyone or that he had been moving at all. “If he was hit running, someone must have held him up and let him down,’’ he said. To counsel for the Peach family, Mr Stephen Sedley, professor Mant said the weapon that had caused the injury was unusual because it had done so much damage within the skull, without breaking the skin. Any of the weapons, official or unauthorised, or the debris collected by the police investigation, would certainly have broken the skin. Told that some witnesses had reported seeing a man seated on the pavement with his back against a wall, Professor Mant agreed that his conclusions could be consistent with a man collapsing slowly into that position after being hit. Professor Mant told counsel for the police, Mr Brian Watlin, that Mr Peach could not have been struck, several blows. Told that an earlier witness, Amanda Leon, had said she had seen Mr Peach with his arms up, trying to shield himself from blows, Professor Mant said: “No, this was just one blow.”