David Oluwale came to England from Lagos in 1949. He was nineteen years old. He settled in Leeds, found work, built a life. And then, over the years that followed, the city that was supposed to be his home turned on him.

By the 1960s, David was homeless and vulnerable. And two Leeds City Police officers, Inspector Geoffrey Ellerker and Sergeant Kenneth Kitching, decided he was their target. What they did to him is documented and deeply disturbing.

In 1971, both officers were convicted. It was the first time in British legal history that police officers had been convicted of a criminal offence against a Black person.

David Oluwale was thirty-seven years old when his body was found in the River Aire. He never saw that verdict.

This episode is part of our Black History Month 2026 series — Honouring Our Communities. The communities that were told they did not belong here.

The Unrecorded : True Crime is a Black British true crime podcast covering the cases the mainstream media ignored.

If this episode affected you, Black Minds Matter UK offer free mental health support for Black people in the UK — blackmindsmatteruk.com. The Samaritans are available 24/7 on 116 123.

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