Roddy Kentish obituary

My husband, Roddy Kentish, who has died aged 87, was one of the "Mangrove Nine" arrested after a 1970 protest against police raids at the Mangrove restaurant in Notting Hill, west London. In the subsequent trial at the Old Bailey all were acquitted after two of the nine, Darcus Howe and Althea Jones-Lecointe, defended themselves by arguing that the prosecution had wrongly conflated black radicalism with criminal intent. The judge found evidence of racial hatred on both sides, and for the first time racial discrimination by police was acknowledged in UK law.

After the trial Roddy fought for decent housing conditions in the area, played a key role in the establishment of the Notting Hill children's carnival, and set up a project to train disaffected young people in a trade.