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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On the 18th of January 1981, fourteen young Black people were killed in a fire at a birthday party in New Cross, South London. They were between the ages of 14 and 22. Most of them had grown up on the same streets. They knew each other.

What followed was one of the most significant, and most ignored, moments in Black British history.

The press barely covered it. The government said nothing. And so 20,000 people took to the streets of London in what became the Black People's Day of Action, the largest Black civil rights march Britain had ever seen.

The cause of the fire was never established in law. No one was ever charged. The inquest returned an open verdict. And the fourteen names have never been given the public recognition they deserve.

In this episode, I'm telling the story of the community that refused to be silent, even when the rest of the country was.

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Bibaa Henry was forty-six years old. A social worker who spent her life advocating for vulnerable children and families. A sister.

Nicola Smallman was twenty-seven. A freelance photographer . A close friend said when she walked into a room she was like a nightlight - subtle, protective, warm.

On the evening of the 5th of June 2020, they were celebrating Bibba's birthday in Fryent Country Park, Wembley. At 1:05AM, Nicole sent her boyfriend a text message. She and Bibaa were dancing in a field.

Those were the last words anyone received from either of them.

The police took thirty-six hours to attend.

Two officers sent to guard their bodies, photographed them and shared the images on WhatsApp. Their killer received a life sentence. The two officers received two years and nine months.

Their mother, Mina Smallman, Britain's first Black female Archdeacon, publicly named the media's silence. Her daughters were Black. The coverage reflected that.

This episode is their full story.

Missing People UK: 116 000 (free, 24 hours)

Two Daughters - BBC iPlayer

Alliance for Police Accountabiity - allianceforpoliceaccountability.co.uk

INQUEST - inquest.org.uk

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