[1] There were two unlicensed bars on the top two floors of 18 Denmark Place: The Spanish Rooms, a late night bar frequented by locals, including Irish and Jamaican immigrants; and Rodo's, also known as El Dandy, a salsa club popular with South American immigrants.

Both bars, being unlicensed, were obscured from the outside world by boarded up windows and the door on Denmark Street that led to the fire escape was bolted shut.

[citation needed] On the night of 16 August 1980, John Thompson, a Scottish-born petty criminal aged 42, entered The Spanish Rooms and drank there.

He returned to 18 Denmark Place, poured the petrol through the letterbox of the front door, and put a lit piece of paper through.

On Denmark Street, there was a music shop that backed onto the clubs and some patrons were found here trapped behind the security shutters.

[9] An officer from the London Fire Brigade described the scene: People seem to have died on the spot without even having time to move an inch.

Seven were at the bar and appear to have fallen as they stood, with drinks still in their hands.In May 1981, Thompson was convicted on a specimen charge of murdering one of the victims, Archibald Campbell (aged 63), and sentenced to life imprisonment.