Leroy Cooper
Born1960s Edit this on Wikidata
Jamaica Edit this on Wikidata
DiedMay 2023 Edit this on Wikidata
OccupationPhotographer Edit this on Wikidata

Leroy Alphonse Cooper (born 1960 or 1961; died May 2023) was a Jamaican-born photographer, active in Toxteth, Liverpool, England, whose arrest there in 1981 sparked the Toxteth riots.

Early life

Cooper was born in 1960 or 1961 in Jamaica, and emigrated with his parents to Liverpool as a baby.[1]

Arrests and convictions

Cooper's arrest on 3 July 1981, when he was a photography student in Liverpool, sparked the first Toxteth riot, which occurred while he was in detention.[2][3][4][5] He was prosecuted, with the most serious charge being causing grievous bodily harm,[6] and held on remand in HMP Walton[6] and then at Risley for six to eight weeks, then pled guilty to assaulting three police officers causing actual bodily harm, in a trial at Liverpool Crown Court in November 1981.[5][7][8] As a result, he spent nine months in borstal.[5] In 2011 he stated that he made the guilty plea to avoid "a sentence of three to five years".[5] He also described how his conviction led to him being "blacklisted" for jobs in Liverpool.[3]

He was also sentenced to two years imprisonment in 1983 for wounding with intent, following further assaults on two police officers, one using a tree branch, and for carrying an offensive weapon, all of which he denied.[9] He was again held in HMP Walton.[1]

Career

After release Cooper continued to study photography.[2] His work, comprising over a quarter of a million images, chiefly documents and the people and culture of Liverpool.[2][10] He also worked as a performance poet[4] and as a DJ on Toxteth Community Radio, a pirate station,[3] and was a graffiti artist.[4] One of his acts in the latter capacity was to repaint Toxteth street name signs in the red, yellow and green colours of Rastafari.[4]

Cooper featured in the 25 November 1985 episode of the BBC Television current affairs programme Panorama, "Voices From The Ghetto", about Toxteth.[11]

A book, Back In The Day Vol. 1, reproducing 44 of his photographs and one of his paintings was published in 2019.[12][13]

An exhibition of Cooper's work, "A Secret Life of Liverpool", was held at the Unity Theatre, Liverpool in May 2018.[14] At the time of his death the Museum of Liverpool was hosting an exhibition of his work, "Liverpool Through the Lens".[2][15]

Death

Cooper's body was found at his home on 12 May 2023.[2] He was 62.[2] The cause of death was not immediately established.[2]

Works

  • Back In The Day Vol. 1. Capstone Media. 2019. ISBN 978-1-5272-3696-7.

References

  1. 1 2 "Toxteh—and the way Leroy sees it". Liverpool Echo. 27 August 1985. p. 13.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Ambrose, Tom (13 May 2023). "Leroy Cooper, photographer whose arrest led to Toxteth riots, dies". The Guardian. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 "Toxteth in the 1980s | Photographs by Leroy Cooper". British Culture Archive. 12 May 2021. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  4. 1 2 3 4 "Leroy Cooper, Artist and photographer". Where I Live – Liverpool. BBC. 24 July 2006. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Waddington, Marc. "Leroy Cooper: The Toxteth Riots were a wake-up call and did some good". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  6. 1 2 "Accused treated like a convict—claim". Liverpool Echo. 20 July 1981. p. 9.
  7. ↑ "Event blamed for Toxteth riots 'was misunderstanding'". Aberdeen Press and Journal. 17 November 1981. p. 2.
  8. ↑ "Attacks on Police Lead to Borstal". Liverpool Echo. 17 November 1981. p. 7.
  9. ↑ "Jailed for tree assault on PC". Liverpool Echo. 10 June 1983. p. 13.
  10. ↑ "Leroy Cooper: Tributes to artist whose arrest sparked Toxteth riots". BBC News. 13 May 2023. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  11. ↑ "Schedule - BBC Programme Index". BBC Genome. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  12. ↑ "Back in the Day - Leroy Cooper". Uncover Liverpool. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  13. ↑ "Leroy Cooper: Back in the Day". Bluecoat Arts Centre. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  14. ↑ "Toxteth riots photographer puts work on show". BBC News. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
  15. ↑ "'Liverpool Through the Lens' by Leroy Cooper". National Museums Liverpool. Retrieved 13 May 2023.
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