Murder of Rolan Adams

The immigration of black people to England increased in general in the late 1940s and 1950s, leading to racial tensions in the following decades.

In the areas around Thamesmead, certain housing policies were put in place which favored white people and created a hostile environment for people of color.

Rolan Adams (21 March 1975 – 21 February 1991) was a Black British boy who was murdered as the result of a racist hate crime which was committed in 1991.

He is frequently associated in connection to Stephen Lawrence, another teenager from a neighboring area in Southeast London, who was later killed in a similar incident.

The death of these teenagers influenced the public view of racially motivated attacks in Southeast London, England at the time.

Their deaths also influenced activist movements in other areas, including the United States.

Those who knew Rolan described him as a good student, dedicated football player, and talented musician.

At the time of his death at age 15, Rolan was preparing to take his pre-university exams, had been scouted by a professional football club, West Ham United, and was working on recording original music he wrote.

Rolan's family moved to Abbey Wood, an area in Southeast London, five years prior to his death.

At the time of the crime, Rolan was responsible for taking care of his younger brother, Nathan, and his younger sister, Lauren, while his parents were at work.

Thamesmead, where Rolan was murdered, was predominately populated by white families with some Asian and Caribbean families scattered throughout.

These often dangerous groups grew between the 1980s and 1990s.

One main gang called the Goldfish was also known as the NTOs, Natty Turn-Outs, and then later evolved into the Nazi Turn-Outs.

This group is attributed as being Rolan's assailants.

Reported racially-motivated violence in Southeast London was increasing in the 1990s, and Thamesmead itself had started to develop a reputation for being "racially charged."

This is also in part due to the headquarters of the far-right British Nationalist Party being nearby Welling.

The extremist party had a reputation for fascist or racist ideologies, encouraging that kind of behavior in those with aligning views.

Adolescent gangs with these views developed in areas throughout Southeast London depending on how the land was naturally divided.

On Friday 21 February 1991, Rolan Adams and his brother Nathan, fifteen and fourteen years old, respectively, were unknowingly being followed as they were walking from Thamesmead's multicultural Hawksmoor Youth Centre.

They had finished playing table tennis and were walking towards a bus stop to get to their home in Abbey Wood, Southeast London.

Upon arrival at the bus stop, they were surrounded by a large group of 12-15 older white youth, members of the NTOs, who had been drinking at the Wildfowler Pub.

While Rolan and Nathan were being harassed and racially abused, one gang member, nineteen-year-old Mark Thornborrow, stabbed Rolan in the neck with a butterfly knife.

In an attempt to flee, Rolan started to run while yelling at Nathan to run as well.

The two got separated.

The gang members were chasing and yelling profanities and racial slurs at them, including, "'niggers'".

Nathan managed to escape, but Rolan shortly collapsed and died after.

When Nathan returned to the bus stop, he saw his brother dead.

From the start of the trial, there was hesitation to admit that the crime was racially motivated.

The police and the CPS (Crown Prosecution Service) instead determined that the crime was a battle over gang territory.

Nathan and Rolan were not seen as victims but identified as guilty parties by the police, because of what some believed to be the racist stereotype that "Black boys cannot be innocent."

As a result of this harmful generalization, Nathan was treated poorly by the authorities.

Although he was also attacked, none of the gang members were prosecuted for assaulting him.

Eight of the youth who were participants in the murder were arrested on charges of violent disorder.

Only Mark Thornborrow stood trial, was charged, and convicted of murder.

The sentencing judge, Judge Kenneth Richardson, eventually concluded that the murder was racially motivated and sentenced Mark Thornborrow accordingly.

Rolan's family expressed that local officials and authorities displayed a lack of support following his murder.

Rolan's family received threatening phone calls where some individuals were gloating about Rolan's death.

At one point, they received a letter with the message, "glad a nigger is dead."

The harassment of the Adams and their friends and family was getting extreme, and there was an absence of any police protection.

Eventually, the local authorities and the local Commission for Racial Equality advised them that they were in danger.