After the 25th Anniversary of the racist murder of Jay Abatan – the campaign going forward. Justice must be served!

 

Press Statement: Justice for Jay Campaign
 Immediate Release,  31^st January 2024
 

After the 25^th Anniversary of the racist murder of Jay Abatan – the campaign going forward. Justice must be served!
 

 

 Background

Jay Abatan, a black man of mixed Nigerian and British heritage, died on 29th January 1999, following an unprovoked attack by a gang of white men, in the early hours of the 24th of January in Morley Street, Brighton. He was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital with significant head injuries and never regained consciousness. He was placed on life support which was switched off five days later.

 

Twenty Fifth Anniversary events

 

29^th of January 2024 was the 25^th anniversary of the death of Jay and still no justice has been served despite the killers being known to the police. This, combined with a catalogue of failures by Sussex Police and failures in the judicial system, mean that twenty-five years on, nobody has been convicted for Jay’s murder.

 

New evidence that police officers that bungled the case holidayed abroad with suspects has come to light yet Sussex police have failed to act upon this.

 

To mark the 25^th anniversary, a  well-attended vigil was held  outside Brighton Police station the day before, on Sunday 28^th of January and a meeting in the Houses of Parliament took place on the anniversary, Monday 29^th of January, launching a pamphlet about the campaign, attended by the Abatan family,  members of Parliament, representatives from BARAC UK, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) and Brighton and Hove Stand Up to Racism,  who are part of the Justice 4 Jay Campaign, plus representatives from various campaign groups and journalists.

 

Sir Peter Bottomley MP chaired the meeting.

 

Other MPs in attendance included Bell Ribero-Addy, Claudia Webbe, Jeremy Corbyn, Kim Johnson, Richard Burgon and Annelise Dodd. Messages of solidarity were received from MPs who wished to attend but were unable to, due to other business and these included Caroline Lucas who has agreed to table an Early Day Motion, John McDonnell, Beth Winter, Barry Gardiner, Peter Kyle and Sam Tarry.

 

Speakers at the meeting included brother of Jay, who was also attacked at the same time as Jay, Michael Abatan, Zita Holbourne, Chair of BARAC UK and Hector Wesley, PCS NEC.

 

Over the 48 hours, the campaign garnered mainstream national, local and international news coverage.

 

Taking the campaign for justice forward

 

Going forward, Justice for Jay will be stepping up the campaign to ensure that justice is served.

 

There will be an Early Day Motion and a series of parliamentary questions tabled in parliament and MPs will be writing to Sussex Police.

 

There will be formal complaints lodged with the Independent Office for Police Conduct and the campaign will be pursuing a public inquiry and an investigative inquiry as well as legal action regarding the criminal aspects of the case which include the killing of Jay Abatan but also the physical assault on Michael Abatan.

 

The Alliance for Police Accountability are supporting the Justice for Jay campaign. A fundraiser has been launched, administered by BARAC UK, to raise money towards legal fees.

 

To support the campaign:

 

•      Messages of solidarity and information relating to the case, can be sent to:

justiceforjayabatan@outlook.com and barac.info@gmail.com

•      Join the Justice for Jay Facebook page   https://www.facebook.com/JusticeForJayAbatan

•      Donate towards the legal fundraiser - https://www.crowdfunder.co.uk/p/justice-for-jay-abatan

•      Write to the Sussex Police and Crime Commissioner, calling for a new public inquiry into the killing of Jay Abatan - pcc@sussex-pcc.gov.uk

•      Download the pamphlet in electronic form here; https://blackactivistsrisingagainstcuts.blogspot.com/2024/01/justice

-4-jay-25th-anniversary-event-in.html

•      Write to your MP asking them to sign the EDM 349, tabled by Caroline Lucas MP on 1st February 2024

•      Invite a speaker from the campaign to your trade union / organisation AGMs, branch meetings and conferences

 

Michael Abatan, brother of Jay Abatan, Justice for Jay campaign said:

 

 “The new witness coming forward shows that it is not too late to get justice for my brother.  I have been humbled by all the support I have received and thank everyone mentioned in this statement. It has been a long fight for the truth which is yet to come out. I will continue to keep a clear and open mind and let the evidence speak for itself. I urge anyone with any information to come forward and do the right thing. Injustice for one is injustice for all”

 

Zita Holbourne, National Chair BARAC UK, Justice for Jay Campaign said:

 

“Twenty-five years is too long for any family to have to dedicate lives fighting for justice, it is too long to wait to grieve. The Abatan family need and deserve answers, they need justice, and we need to see the killers and those who helped cover up their crime, punished. Justice must be served and we will be working as a community to support the family in ensuring that it is.” 

 

Ends

 

Contact: justiceforjayabatan@outlook.com or barac.info@gmail.com

 

#Justice4Jay  #JayAbatan #SussexPoliceAreNotInnocent

Justice 4 Jay 25th anniversary event in parliament, vigil and legal fund appeal

29th January 2024 marks the 25th anniversary of the murder of Jay Abatan by racists in murder, still nobody has been convicted for this murder and the Abatan family are continuing their quest for justice.

To mark the 25th anniversary a meeting in UK Parliament will be held at 6pm on Monday 29th of January  at Portcullis House - please use this entrance, not the entrance for the Houses of Parliament, Portcullis House is next to Westminster tube station.  The meeting will be hosted by Peter Bottomley MP.

Full details can be accessed via the facebook event page

A vigil will also be held outside Brighton Police Station at 2pm on Sunday 28th of January.

A new pamphlet about Jay Abatan and the campaign for justice can be accessed via the link below.

Justice for Jay 25th anniversary pamphlet

Racist Murder of Jay Abatan

Jay Abatan died on 29th January 1999.  He had been attacked in the early hours of the 24th January in Morley Street, Brighton.  He was taken to the Royal Sussex County Hospital with significant head injuries and never regained consciousness.  He was placed on life support which was switched off five days later.   

Initially a group of four men were identified and arrested for the attack on Jay and his brother Michael. Two men were subsequently charged with the manslaughter of Jay, actual bodily harm (ABH) on Michael and affray and they were released on bail. On the day the case was listed for commital, the Prosecution decided to drop the charges of manslaughter against one of the men despite the case having been prepared on a “joint enterprise” basis.  Officers claimed that Prosecution Counsel asked them what their “gut feeling” was about who was most likely to be responsible for causing Jay’s death and on that   they dropped the charges of manslaughter against one of the suspects.   As a result, the court refused to commit the one remaining suspect for the killing of Jay.  Two men subsequently stood trial for ABH and affray in relation to the assault on Michael and were acquitted.    The Judge ruled that the jury were not allowed to know what happened to Jay.   When Michael  gave evidence, he was not allowed to say that as he was being hit he had already seen that they had attacked his brother and he was lying injured on the ground.  As soon as they stopped kicking and punching Michael,  he went to his brother’s aid and began trying to resuscitate him rather than focusing on the men and where they had gone.  

Twenty five years on, nobody has been successfully prosecuted for Jay's death.    We are still no clearer about how many serving police officers were present with the group the night of the attack and in the aftermath.   

Background:

Jimmy Abayomi Abatan, known as Jay, was born in Lewisham in 1956 to Michael Abatan, an electrical engineer from Nigeria and Susan Abatan, a bilingual secretary from Kent.  

On Saturday 23rd January 1999, Jay, then  42 years old, a tax specialist with Price Waterhouse Coopers, went out for the night with his brother  Michael and a group of friends to celebrate a promotion at work.

After going to Ocean Rooms nightclub in Brighton, they went to the taxi rank on Grand Parade.

There he was subjected to an attack that he was unprepared for and as a result suffered life-ending injuries.     He was kicked and punched until he was unconscious on the floor with a fractured eye socket and fractured skull.   

He was taken by ambulance to the hospital and I went with him.   He never regained consciousness and was placed on life support.   He had a significant brain injury that resulted in his death on Friday 29th January 1999.  

Campaign for Justice

The Abatan family, led by Jay's brother Michael, have been fighting for justice ever since and strongly believe there has been a police cover up. This fundraiser is being administered by BARAC UK, on behalf of the Abatan  family and Justice 4 Jay campaign  to raise funds for a legal challenge. Twenty five years is too long for anyone to have to fight for justice.

Please support Justice 4 Jay by donating.