Death of David Oluwale

David Oluwale (1930–1969) was a British Nigerian who drowned in the River Aire in Leeds, West Riding of Yorkshire, in 1969.

The events leading to his drowning have been described as "the physical and psychological destruction of a homeless, black man whose brutal, systematic harassment was orchestrated by the Leeds city police force."

Oluwale's death resulted in the first successful prosecution of British police officers for involvement in the death of a black person.

The precise sequence of events that led to Oluwale entering the river—whether he was deliberately thrown, chased or fell accidentally—have never been officially established, although two independent witnesses testified that they saw uniformed police officers chasing a man that could well have been him close to the river on the night he is believed to have drowned.

Oluwale was born in Lagos, Nigeria, in or around 1930.

Under the British Nationality Act 1948 Oluwale was considered a British subject and not an illegal immigrant, but he was charged as a stowaway under the Merchant Shipping Act 1894.

He was sentenced to 28 days' imprisonment, served in Armley Gaol, Leeds, and Northallerton Prison, Northallerton.

In August 1949, he hid on board SS Temple Bar, a cargo ship destined for Hull, England.

When the ship docked in Hull on 3 September 1949, he was handed over to the authorities.

Following his release from prison on 3 October 1949, Oluwale—who had served an apprenticeship as a tailor in Nigeria—headed to Leeds where there was a large textile and clothing industry.

In 1953, Oluwale was charged with disorderly conduct and assault following a dispute over the bill at the King Edward Hotel in Leeds City Centre.

He subsequently served a 28-day sentence.

In prison it was reported he suffered from hallucinations, possibly because of damage sustained from a truncheon blow during the arrest.

He was transferred to Menston Asylum in Leeds (later called High Royds Hospital, now closed) where he spent the next eight years.

He was treated with a variety of techniques, allegedly including electroconvulsive therapy and various drugs (hospital records have since been lost).

Upon release Oluwale was unable to hold down a job and a permanent residence, and quickly became homeless.

Friends reported that he was a shadow of his former self, and had lost all confidence.

As a black immigrant in 1960s Britain, his choices of lodging and employment were also limited in his lifetime (the Race Relations Act outlawing discrimination in both only received Royal Assent in October 1968).

During this time he moved between London and Sheffield but mainly lived in Leeds.

He found himself in trouble with the Leeds police again several times and accused the police of harassing him.

In late 1965, he was returned to High Royds Hospital, where he spent another two years.

Following release he was once again homeless and lived on the street.

The jury returned unanimous verdicts of guilty relating to four assaults which took place between August 1968 and February 1969.

Ellerker was sentenced to three years' imprisonment, and Kitching to 27 months.

Contemporary police records show that 1968 saw his first recorded contact with Sergeant Kenneth Kitching and Inspector Geoffrey Ellerker in Leeds.

The actions of the two officers would allegedly lead to Oluwale's death, although several other police officers were also involved in harassing Oluwale during this time.

In the subsequent enquiry and manslaughter/assault trial against Kitching and Ellerker, it was stated that they regularly beat up Oluwale, often kicking him in the groin and, on one occasion, urinating on him.

Often they made him bow before them on his hands and knees, during which they would kick away his arms so his head hit the pavement.

They referred to this as "penance".

They also verbally abused him, referring to him as a "lame darkie".

On several occasions they drove him out of Leeds in police vehicles, abandoning him on the outskirts in the early morning.

Their intention was to force Oluwale to leave Leeds and not return.

However, he viewed Leeds as his home and made his way back each time.

Oluwale's body was recovered from the section of the river between Knostrop Weir and Skelton Grange Power Station on 4 May 1969.

The death was not treated as suspicious by the police or the coroner.

In October 1970, Police Cadet Gary Galvin, a whistleblower within Leeds City Police, revealed that Oluwale had been the victim of serious and sustained mistreatment by senior officers at Milgarth Police Station, Leeds, and an investigation, led by Chief Superintendent John Perkins of London's Scotland Yard, was opened.

It was discovered that Oluwale had been subjected to "systemic, varied and brutal" violence by at least two officers, which "would often occur in the presence of other [officers], who made no effort to intervene."

In November 1971, former-Inspector Geoffrey Ellerker—by this time already serving a prison sentence for his involvement in covering up the circumstances of the death of a 69-year-old woman—and Sergeant Kenneth Kitching went on trial for the manslaughter of Oluwale.

The trial received national media coverage, but justice and civil rights campaigners considered it to be a whitewash, presenting a deliberately negative portrait of Oluwale as "a wild animal" and "a menace to society", while failing to call any of the witnesses whose testimonies challenged this narrative.

During the trial, the judge, Mr. Justice Hinchcliffe—who at one point described Oluwale as "a dirty, filthy, violent vagrant"—directed the jury to find the defendants not guilty of manslaughter, perjury and assaults occasioning grievous bodily harm.