Special Patrol Group

The Special Patrol Group (SPG) was a controversial British police unit.

It was put together in 1961 to provide a centrally-based mobile squad for combatting particularly serious crime and other problems which could not be dealt with by local divisions.

The convenient presence of a disciplined, well-organised team brought the group into increased use for the control of protests and demonstrations, where their presence sometimes came to assume unwanted symbolic significance.

Their most controversial incident came in 1979 when they attended a protest by the Anti-Nazi League in Southall, London, and, during a running battle, demonstrator Blair Peach was beaten to death.

In inquiries which followed, various weaponry was found in the SPG's possession, including baseball bats, crowbars and sledgehammers.

No SPG officer was ever charged with the attack though later an internal report was leaked to the extent that the Metropolitan Police paid an out of court settlement to Mr Peach's family.

In 1982, a destructive hamster was named Special Patrol Group by its owner, the punk character Vyvyan in the BBC sitcom The Young Ones.

The SPG was disbanded in 1986.