THE COCHRANE FILES
The Kelso Cochrane Murder and The Met
One British journalist has done more than any other to keep the 1959 racist murder of Kelso Cochrane a live issue.
Mark Olden’s 20-years investigation continued pushing for transparency and justice from the Metropolitan police.
The Upsetter has previously covered the struggle of Kelso’s family to open up the official files in the National Archives, which were not scheduled for release until 2054 on the grounds the case remained open.
This newsletter more recently questioned why the Met would not support the family’s request when twenty years ago the force had made clear there was insufficient evidence to prosecute anyone.
Kelso’s likely killers had been identified by Olden in his 2011 book Murder in Notting Hill but the pair were never convicted and died - one before, the other after - publication.
Last month, a social housing block was opened in North Kensington and named by the council after the Antiguan carpenter who came to London with aspirations of being a lawyer.
Today, The Upsetter proudly publishes an exclusive from Olden on how, after legal pressure based on the journalist’s enquiries, the National Archive has been made to change its stance and open up the files to the family.
What more do these documents reveal about this landmark case with parallels to the Stephen Lawrence murder 34 years later? And what does it mean for all the other families whose cases, solved and unsolved, the state has buried in official secrecy?
