Campaigners commemorating a New Zealander allegedly killed by a British policeman have called on new Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Paul Stephenson to publish a report into the 1979 death.
Blair Peach, 33, a special needs teacher, died from a head injury as police were dispersing protesters during an anti-fascist rally in Southall, west London.
A group calling itself Inquest, which supports families of people who die in custody, has now called on Sir Paul to publish the report written by then police commander John Cass into Blair Peach's death.
Deborah Coles, co-director of Inquest, said: "We are supporting the families involved, and others, who have been trying to get the Cass report disclosed for nigh on 30 years.
Mr Peach was reported at the time to have almost certainly been killed by a police officer, his skull crushed with an unauthorised weapon as he tried to walk home from the demonstration.
The death transformed Mr Peach, an activist in the Anti-Nazi League, into a political martyr.
"I wanted privacy, but in the end I was glad it had become a public event," Celia Stubbs, his partner of 10 years, told British newspaper The Guardian.
Now 68 and living in Brighton, she said 11 witnesses claimed to have seen members of the Metropolitan Police Special Patrol Group (SPG) hitting Mr Peach in a side-street at the height of the violence. No officers were charged with the alleged attack.
An inquest recorded a verdict of death by misadventure, and police paid out stg75,000 ($NZ196,120) to Mr Peach's family in 1989.
Around the same time, lawyers were permitted to view SPG officers' notebooks, which have since gone missing.
Mr Cass, 84, has told The Guardian he is not opposed to his findings being made public.
In 1979, then Mr Cass said his team of 30 investigators spent 30,000 man hours on the Mr Peach case.
A pathologist's report said Mr Peach's broken skull was likely to have been caused by a lead-weighted rubber cash or hosepipe filled with lead shot.
Mr Cass was reported to have identified a team of six SPG officers, at least one of whom he believed must have struck the fatal blow.
Recommending charges against the officers, his report was also said to include details of how officers lied to his investigators to cover up the attack.
"They must know we've been after that report for years and we are not seeking prosecution of officers -- just the truth," said Mr Peach's brother Philip said.
"I was led to believe the Cass report was quite fair and robust, so surely now is the time for it to be made public."
