Book launch: Who Killed Oswald Grey?

Join us for the book launch of "Who Killed Oswald Grey?"

Date: Friday October 24th 2025

Time: 19:00

Location: B5 5RA - The ML2 Lounge

Hosted by Genesis Radio Birmingham and supported by a host of high-profile people of Jamaican heritage - and plenty of others too! - this is a chance to discover this forgotten piece of Birmingham history that talks to us of racism and injustice across the decades. With readings and commentary, Q&A with the author Jon Berry and a chance to mingle and socialise, this will be an evening that will appeal to anyone with an interest in the social history of race in our city.

Thomas Bates was shot in his family newsagents on Lee Bank Road on June 2nd, 1962. Less than six months later, 20-year-old Jamaican, Oswald Grey - known as Roy - was hanged for the crime at Winson Green prison. Justice was hasty and careless when it came to what was seen as a disposable young Black man. It's a story that echoes down the years. There is scandal and there is injustice. Come and hear about it in the atmospheric surroundings of the ML2 Lounge in Birmingham's Digbeth.

You can pre-order a copy here