Most people don’t know the name of Britain’s worst single event mass killer, whose actions led to the deaths of so many on August 16 1980.
By JON AUSTIN
How could the “worst mass murderer in British history” who killed 37 people after two clubs in London’s Soho were set ablaze because of a petty argument, remain largely unknown to most?
Most people don’t know the name of Britain’s worst single-event mass killer John Thompson, whose actions led to the deaths of so many in 1980.
No pictures of him come up during a Google search, and the “Denmark Place” tragedy 44 years ago has largely been forgotten, despite having the capital’s largest death toll from a fire since the Second World War.
John Withington, who investigated the blaze called it “the worst fire in London since the Blitz”.
The author described how the fire, caused by an arsonist pouring petrol through the letterbox, spread at such a ferocious rate that “people seemed to have died with drinks still in their hands”.
Speaking in a 2015 interview, he said: “It was also striking how quickly the fire took hold. Means of escape were poor and they couldn’t get out, although some managed to jump out of windows.
“Another of the features that stood out with this case was emergency services found people leaving the scene and not wanting to talk to them, even those badly injured.
“The other important factor to remember was this was a devastating fire caused by a criminal aspect. A man was convicted.”
The blaze had very little publicity compared to, for example, the better-known Kings Cross station fire in 1987, which killed 31.
Despite being the worst one-off mass murder in UK history, up until recently there was no mention of the Denmark Place tragedy on Wikipedia and there are still very few entries on Google about the disaster, which took place on August 16, 1980.
Mr Withington, who looked into the fire for his book London’s Disasters, claimed the lack of records may have been due to the clubs being unlicensed and allegations that many of those inside were here illegally, which may explain why they fled.
He claimed: “You don’t get much of a human angle if there are no actual accounts of what happened and all journalists need that to keep the story going.
The deaths did make front page news on The Observer (Image: The Observer)
“But another reason for the disparity in coverage compared to Kings Cross was down to the vast amount of investigations into the station blaze.
“There were many recommendations for safety improvements made out of the fire and there were inquiries.
“With Denmark Place, the feeling was because it was an illegal unlicensed premise the reason for so many deaths was that it just wasn’t inspected.
“In fact, it was due to be closed down by police the Monday following the fire.”
In another book which mentions the tragedy, Salsa for People Who Probably Shouldn’t, Matt Rendell said witnesses insist there were very few illegal immigrants at the clubs.
He claimed the second floor of the building was full of British, Irish and Jamaican patrons – “some of them unsavoury and well known to the police”.
