# 1985 Handsworth riots > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/1985_Handsworth_riots > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/1985_Handsworth_riots.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Handsworth_riots > Source revision: 1343247084 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) 1985 riots in Birmingham, England 1985 Handsworth riots West Midlands Police officers equipped with riot gear in Handsworth during the civil disorder in 1985 Date 9-11 September 1985 Methods Rioting, looting, arson Casualties and losses 2 deaths 2 people unaccounted for 35 injured The **second Handsworth riots** took place in the [Handsworth](/source/Handsworth%2C_West_Midlands) district of [Birmingham](/source/Birmingham), [West Midlands](/source/West_Midlands_(county)), from 9 to 11 September 1985. The riots were reportedly sparked by the arrest of a man near the Acapulco Cafe, [Lozells](/source/Lozells), and a police raid on the [Villa Cross public house](/source/Villa_Cross_public_house) in the same area. Hundreds of people attacked police and property, looting and smashing, even setting off fire bombs. Handsworth had been the scene of a less serious riot four years earlier, when a wave of rioting hit more than thirty other British towns and cities during the spring and summer of 1981. Racial tension and friction between the police and the local ethnic minority communities was seen as a major factor in the riots. Handsworth had been predominantly populated by black and Asian communities for around thirty years by 1985. Handsworth also had one of the highest unemployment rates in Birmingham. Two brothers (Kassamali Moledina, 38, and 44-year-old Amirali)[1] were burnt to death in the [post office](/source/Post_office) that they ran.[2] Two other people were unaccounted for, 35 others were injured, more than 1,500 police officers were drafted into the area, about 45 shops were looted and burnt, and there was a trail of damage running into hundreds of thousands of pounds.[3] As well as racial tension, unemployment was seen as a major factor in the riots; fewer than 5% of black pupils to have left school in the summer preceding the riot had found employment. The riots were the subject of [John Akomfrah's](/source/John_Akomfrah) award-winning documentary film *[Handsworth Songs](/source/Handsworth_Songs).* Filmmaker and artist [Pogus Caesar](/source/Pogus_Caesar) extensively documented the riots; his photographs have been exhibited at ICA, London, TATE Britain, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery, and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, USA.[4] They were depicted in reggae artist [Pato Banton's](/source/Pato_Banton) song *Handsworth Riots*,[5] and they were witnessed by [Goldie](/source/Goldie) and Bronx graffiti artists [Brim](/source/Brim_Fuentes), who documented the devastation in the documentary *Bombin'* (1987)*.* The riots were the first of a series of similar riots across the country during the autumn of 1985, notably including the [Broadwater Farm riot](/source/Broadwater_Farm_riot) in London, which also resulted in a fatality (the murder of policeman [Keith Blakelock](/source/Keith_Blakelock)). ## See also - [Broadwater Farm riot](/source/Broadwater_Farm_riot) - [1985 Brixton riot](/source/1985_Brixton_riot) - [1981 Handsworth riots](/source/1981_Handsworth_riots) - [1991 Handsworth riots](/source/1991_Handsworth_riots) - [2005 Birmingham riots](/source/2005_Birmingham_riots) ## References 1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["From the Archives: Police parking ticket sowed seeds for riots"](https://web.archive.org/web/20121002000255/http://www.birminghammail.net/news/crime-news/2011/07/14/from-the-archives-police-parking-ticket-sowed-seeds-for-riots-97319-29053622/), *Birmingham Mail*, 14 July 2011. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** [\[1\]](http://www.newsint-archive.co.uk/pages/S.asp?pubsel=TIM&SrchText=handsworth+and+riot&DateFromDD=01&DateFromMM=Sep&DateFromYY=1985&DateToDD=31&DateToMM=Dec&DateToYY=1991&ResultListMax=100&head=&byline=§=&Caption=&edn=&page=&SortOrder=Asc&SortField=SDate&Submit1=Search&BackDD=Day&BackMM=Month&BackYY=Year&source=thetimes&SortField=Pub&SortOrder=asc&SortField=EDN&SortOrder=asc&SortField=Page&SortOrder=asc&ST=NS&SortSpec=&ResultMaxDocs=100&Site=ALL&Collection=NI&ResultCount=20&summreqd=yes&indexkey=48625459815003314420&advsrch=0&QueryText=%28handsworth+and+riot%29+%3CAND%3E+%28PUB%3DTIM%29+%3CAND%3E+%28%28SDate%3E%3D9%2F1%2F1985%29+%3CAND%3E+%28SDate%3C%3D12%2F31%2F1991%29%29&_P=1)[*[permanent dead link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*] 1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["The Drum: Events Diary"](https://web.archive.org/web/20080522135659/http://www.the-drum.org.uk/event_info.php?id=328&eid=56). Archived from [the original](http://www.the-drum.org.uk/event_info.php?id=328&eid=56) on 22 May 2008. Retrieved 24 September 2011. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Martin Parr Foundation: Pogus Caesar Handsworth Riots 1985"](https://www.martinparrfoundation.org/prints/pogus-caesar-handsworth-riots-1985/). [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20210417111703/https://www.martinparrfoundation.org/prints/pogus-caesar-handsworth-riots-1985/) from the original on 17 April 2021. 1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Pato Banton: Handsworth Riots"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPNSDOaxq4w). *[YouTube](/source/YouTube)*. [Archived](https://web.archive.org/web/20120102182637/http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPNSDOaxq4w&gl=US&hl=en) from the original on 2 January 2012. ## Sources - *[Handsworth Songs](/source/Handsworth_Songs)*, [Black Audio Film Collective](/source/Black_Audio_Film_Collective)'s 1986 film examining the roots of social disorder in Britain - "Handsworth Riots 1985" – [Pogus Caesar](/source/Pogus_Caesar) / OOM Gallery Archive/Artimage/DACS extensive collection of archive photographs taken during the 1985 Handsworth riots - "Handsworth Riot" – a song by reggae singer [Pato Banton](/source/Pato_Banton) depicting the events of the riots, with lyrics including first-person accounts from blacks and Asians ## External links - [- Burning Images Exhibition 2005](https://www.flickr.com/photos/sch01ar/sets/72157616377620601/) - [Digital Handsworth photographs of the 1985 uprisings in Handsworth, Birmingham](https://web.archive.org/web/20190820042056/http://digitalhandsworth.org.uk/) - [BBC Birmingham - Your Community - Handsworth Riots](https://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/content/articles/2005/09/05/handsworth_riots_20years_feature.shtml) - ["A Different Reality"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110926234420/http://www.warwick.ac.uk/CRER/differentreality/) at Warwick University. - Gordon Weaver, ["Young Blacks, Political Groups and the Police in Handsworth".](http://www.theplebeian.net/docs/newyoungblacks.pdf) v t e Riots in England 12th–17th centuries 1189–1190 Massacres of the Jews The revolt of 1196 1355 St Scholastica Day riot 1381 Peasants' Revolt Treason Act 1381 1517 Evil May Day 1668 Bawdy House riots 18th century 1710 Sacheverell riots 1714 Coronation riots 1715 England riots Riot Act 1766 food riots 1766 Nottingham cheese riot 1768 Massacre of St George's Fields 1769 Spitalfield riots 1780 Gordon riots 1791 Priestley riots 1793 Bristol Bridge riot 1795 Revolt of the housewives 19th century 1809 Old Price riots 1816 Spa Fields riots 1816 Ely and Littleport riots 1819 Peterloo Massacre 1821 Cinderloo Uprising 1830 Swing riots Captain Swing 1831 reform riots 1831 Bristol riots 1832 Days of May 1838 Battle of Bossenden Wood 1842 Pottery Riots 1865 Leeds dripping riot 1866 Hyde Park demonstration 1887 Bloody Sunday 1896 Newlyn riots 20th century 1900s–1940s 1907 Brown Dog riots 1919 Epsom riot 1919 Battle of Bow Street 1919 Luton Peace Day riots 1932 Old Market riot (Bristol) 1932 National Hunger March 1936 Battle of Cable Street 1943 Battle of Bamber Bridge 1944 Park Street riot 1945 Aldershot riot 1950s–1970s 1958 Notting Hill race riots 1968 student riots 1970 Garden House riot 1974 Red Lion Square disorders 1975 Chapeltown riot 1977 Battle of Lewisham 1979 Death of Blair Peach 1980s 1980 St Pauls riot 1981 England riots 1981 Brixton riot 1981 Chapeltown riots 1981 Toxteth riots 1981 Moss Side riot 1981 Handsworth riots 1985 Handsworth riots 1985 Brixton riot 1985 Broadwater Farm riot Murder of Keith Blakelock 1987 Chapeltown riot 1989 Dewsbury riot 1990s 1990 Poll Tax riots 1990 Strangeways Prison riot 1991 Meadow Well riots 1991 Handsworth riots 1992 Hartcliffe riot (Bristol) 1993 Welling riots 1994 Criminal Justice Bill riot 1995 Manningham riot 1995 Marsh Farm riot 1995 Brixton riot 1996 Trafalgar Square riots 1999 Carnival Against Capital riot 21st century 2000s 2001 Bradford riots 2001 Oldham riots 2001 Harehills riot 2005 Birmingham riots 2009 G20 London summit protests Death of Ian Tomlinson 2009 Upton Park riot 2010s 2010 UK student protests 2011 Stokes Croft riot (Bristol) 2011 UK anti-austerity protests 2011 London anti-cuts protest 2011 England riots Killing of Mark Duggan House of Reeves fire Timeline 2020s George Floyd protests in the United Kingdom Actions against memorials in the United Kingdom during the George Floyd protests 2022 Leicester unrest 2024 Harehills riot 2024 United Kingdom riots Reports 1981 Scarman report Related Riots in Leeds Riots in London Riot Act Public Order Act 1986 Territorial Support Group --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [1985 Handsworth riots](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Handsworth_riots) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1985_Handsworth_riots?action=history)). 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