The Beauty Queen Riots

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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.

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The Beauty Queen Riots: 2. Refuge in the Church

The Beauty Queen Riots Sounds series image

2. Refuge in the Church

BBC Radio 4 - The Beauty Queen Riots, 2. Refuge in the Church

Church leaders and police seek to diffuse tension before a shocking revelation.

In October 2005, rumours 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 20 years on? 


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

A Burning Bright production for BBC Radio 4

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The Beauty Queen Riots

2. Refuge in the Church

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