PC Keith Blakelock was hacked to death during the 1985 riots in Tottenham
PC Keith Blakelock was hacked to death during the 1985 riots in Tottenham

A man has pleaded not guilty to the murder of PC Keith Blakelock, who was killed in the Broadwater Farm riots in north London in 1985.

Nicholas Jacobs, 45, is alleged to have been part of a mob that hacked the 40-year-old officer to death with knives and machetes during the chaos at the housing estate in Tottenham.

Blakelock was killed as he tried to protect firefighters tackling a blaze in a supermarket. The mob was alleged to have screamed "kill the pig" as they encircled and attacked the policeman.

Jacobs, who was 16 at the time of Blakelock's murder, was arrested in 2010 after Scotland Yard reopened investigations and charged with murder in July.

He pleaded not guilty at the Old Bailey today (Thursday) and a trial date was set for March.

The family of the murdered officer said they had "never given up hope in getting justice for him".

The disorder at Broadwater Farm followed the death of Cynthia Jarrett, who collapsed as police searched her home looking for stolen goods following the arrest of her son.

Winston Silcott, Mark Braithwaite and Engin Raghip were convicted in March 1987 of the murder but all three convictions were quashed four and a half years later.

The investigation into Blakelock's murder was reopened in 2003 by Scotland Yard after a review suggested there could be new lines of inquiry.

London