Michael Groce

Michael Groce is a poet, community worker and former criminal. He indirectly caused the Brixton riots of 1985 when his mother, Cherry Groce, was shot in a dawn raid in search of him. He is now a published poet, having won the Cheltenham Festival, and actively engages in self promotion with young people to inform them of his own experiences.

Early biography

Groce was brought up in on Tinworth House, a rough housing estate in Vauxhall, England. Much of his early life was spent in residential care, He was involved with street gangs, and had been exposed to guns from his childhood. He fluttered in and out of prison - through his life, he accrued 50 convictions and 15 different spells in prison.

Role in the riots

A few days before the riots, Groce was involved in a domestic dispute with his girlfriend. In frustration, he fired a gun. Shortly afterwards, he heard a knocking on the door, and went down to answer it, believing it to be a neighbour complaining about the gunshot. Instead, he found a police officer, enquiring if he was Michael Groce. Groce attempted to close the door, but the police officer would not let him, and only left after Groce put the gun into the officer's mouth.

Following this incident, Groce fled his mother's house, and took up residence with his sister. After three days of hiding, when he turned on the television, he was presented with a picture of his mother accompanying a news story about her shooting and subsequent paralysis from the waist down. She had been shot in a police raid in search of him.

Her shooting triggered the riots. Groce handed himself in to the police shortly afterwards.

Community work

Following the riots, Groce attempted to repair the damage he had done to society with his criminality. He ran a youth football team to try to provide an alternative to crime for fun. However, he was not entirely reformed: he continued to deal in cocaine and commit other crimes while ostensibly doing public service. It was not until he was confronted by a rebellious teenager, whose despairing mother had asked Groce to talk with, that he made a commitment to abstain from all criminality.

He now runs poetry workshops in schools, and gives talks to dissuade others from making mistakes similar to those he made.

Poetry

Groce is also a poet. He wrote poetry in prison, often at the request of other inmates to send in letters to partners or family. He won the Cheltenham Festivals, against expectations, and owns his own performance club.

References

• "A Brixton Renaissance" (HTML). Retrieved 2006-11-16.

• "'My mum got caught in the crossfire'" (HTML). Retrieved 2006-11-16.

• "Leaving a life of crime" (HTML). Retrieved 2006-11-16.

• Taking Care - Rough Diamonds (Documentary). BBC. 2003.