The Beauty Queen Riots

Original version

BBC Radio 4 LW

Factual: History

Factual: Crime & Justice

Factual: Real Life Stories

How one spark made a neighbourhood explode in Birmingham in 2005.

Journalist Amardeep Bassey returns to Birmingham 18 years on to investigate the Lozells and Handsworth riots of 2005. Why did people take to the streets with such force?

In October 2005 news about a rape in a shop filled the pirate radio airwaves. The allegation was that South Asian shopkeepers had assaulted a schoolgirl of Jamaican heritage. The story struck a nerve and soon people were protesting outside the shop - a hair and beauty supply shop named Beauty Queen. Over the subsequent days, the protests would morph into something else entirely, a riot which brought hundreds to the streets and left two people dead.

Beauty Queen Riots is a five-part series looking at the Lozells and Handsworth riots of 2005 in Birmingham. It’s a story that takes us into the conflicting and sometimes uncomfortable world of interethnic conflict in modern Britain. Journalist Amardeep Bassey returns to investigate a story he first covered 18 years ago. What happened and what did we miss back then which might have explained why people took to the streets with such force? And what lessons can be learned almost 20 years on? This series looks at how one spark can make a neighbourhood explode.

A Burning Bright production for BBC Radio 4.

BBC Radio 4 FM

The Beauty Queen Riots: 3. A Riot Rages

The Beauty Queen Riots Sounds series image

3. A Riot Rages

BBC Radio 4 - The Beauty Queen Riots, 3. A Riot Rages

Rioting starts on the streets of Lozells, and Isaiah Young-Sam is murdered.

Journalist Amardeep Bassey returns to Birmingham 18 years on to investigate the Lozells and Handsworth riots of 2005. Eyewitnesses describe the scale of the violence.

Amardeep Bassey speaks to eye-witnesses who describe the scale of violence that took place that evening. And we hear of the heartbreak of one family. Isaiah Young-Sam’s cousin remembers the moment he heard how Isaiah was stabbed and killed while trying to make his way home that night. He was an innocent young man trying to avoid the anger and the rage. In the aftermath of the violence, a mediation team attempts to calm the situation down.

Beauty Queen Riots is a five-part series looking at the Lozells and Handsworth riots of 2005 in Birmingham. It’s a story that takes us into the conflicting and sometimes uncomfortable world of interethnic conflict in modern Britain. 

Journalist Amardeep Bassey returns to investigate a story he first covered 18 years ago. What happened and what did we miss back then which might have explained why people took to the streets with such force?  And what lessons can be learned 20 years on? 


Producer: Ben Tulloh
Executive Editor: Bridget Harney
Music and Mix: Alex Portfelix

A Burning Bright production for BBC Radio 4

BBC Radio 4

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

Accessibility links

Programme Index

The Beauty Queen Riots

3. A Riot Rages

Genres

Brand

BBC Radio 4 LW

About BBC Radio 4