Roberts and his mother found life in England difficult, as with most post-war immigrants; securing housing was hard due to racial prejudices at the time.
As a result, Norwell instead went to the local secondary modern school in Bromley, where the older sixth form students dropped him head first to the ground in order to see the colour of his blood.
[1] In 1959, his mother remarried and moved to Camden Town, North London, where Roberts went to Haverstock Hill Comprehensive School.
Having passed O-Levels in Religious Knowledge and Chemistry, Roberts started work as a scientific laboratory technician in the Botany Department at Westfield College, University of London.
In 1966, while working at Westfield College, Roberts responded to a newspaper advertisement and completed the police recruitment application form.
He found the police station so hostile he would avoid eating with fellow officers, preferring to visit members of the community that invited him in for tea.
Roberts crossed the road into the police station opposite and reported the incident immediately to the Chief Superintendent who responded, "what do you want me to do about it?".
[citation needed] He was disciplined verbally once for driving with fellow officers around the West End with a toilet roll hanging from the police van radio aerial.
His every move whether walking the beat or holding back protesters in Trafalgar Square hit newspaper headlines at home and abroad.
In 1969, Roberts was photographed linking arms with his colleagues during protests on the arrival of the South African rugby team at Twickenham.
[10][11] Roberts received police commendations on three occasions, one of which was for his involvement in 1985 when he was part of a squad who arrested five people in six days for a contract killing.
[12] On 15 March 1996, Roberts attended Buckingham Palace where he was presented with the medal by King Charles III, then the Prince of Wales.