THIS WAS an incredible year for news, with shocking events including the death of Smiley Culture and the worst rioting Britain has witnessed in a generation. Below, The Voice outlines some of the news stories that made an impact in 2011.

JANUARY

SERENA BEAKHURST

THE VOICE led an appeal that helped missing schoolgirl Serena Buckhurst to be found alive and well. It went viral, garnering support from footballer Rio Ferdinand and Sarah Brown, former prime minister Gordon Brown’s wife.

A remembrance evening was held at The Albany Theatre, in Deptford, south London, to mark the 30th anniversary of the New Cross Fire on January 18, 1981. Thirteen young black people died in the fire, initially believed to be a racist attack. Widescale black protests followed. It was a turning point for race relations in Britain.

Champion heavyweight boxer Gary Mason, 48, was killed in a motorcycle accident in south London, stirring a huge outpouring of grief for one of Britain’s best-loved sportsmen.

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FEBRUARY

LORD TAYLOR

LORD TAYLOR of Warwick, the Conservative party’s first black peer, was found guilty of making false expense claims in excess of £11,000 for listing his nephew’s property in Oxford as his main residence although he had not spent a single night at the property and lived in Ealing, west London.

British student Claudia Aderotimi, 20, died in a US hospital following an illegal buttocks enlargement procedure at a Philadelphia hotel, sending shockwaves around the world.

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MARCH

SMILEY CULTURE

Outrage erupted when reggae singer Smiley Culture, best known for his track Cockney Translation, died on March 15 during a police raid on his Surrey home. Family members rejected police claims the musician stabbed himself in the chest with a kitchen knife while in custody. His death sparked the first of several death in custody protest marches held in 2011.

On March 31, Kingsley Burrell, also died following police contact. The 29-year-old father of two, who lived in Birmingham, had called police himself for help but was then detained under the Mental Health Act and taken into custody. Somewhere between this initial contact and being detained at a mental health facility, Burrell suffered serious injuries and later died. The Independent Police Complaints Commission is investigating his death.

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APRIL

SKEPTA

Grime MC Skepta came under fire on social network Twitter and YouTube for the video to his hit song All Over The House. The film showed a couple engaging in explicit sexual acts.

Britain’s first black arts centre, formerly known as the Keskidee Centre, was honoured with a Green Plaque. Widely considered dub poetry’s birthplace, it was also where a young Naomi Campbell was filmed dancing with Bob Marley for his Is this love? video.

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MAY

SATOSHI KANAZAWA

London School of Economics (LSE) professor Satoshi Kanazawa was blasted worldwide when he published a blog claiming black women were the least attractive of all the races. He was condemned for manipulating the findings of a study to back up his offensive views.

Hundreds of mourners paid their respects to Brixton legend Cherry Groce, an innocent victim left paralysed by a police shooting 26 years ago. Her shooting helped spark the 1985 Brixton riots. Groce passed away on Easter Sunday.

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JUNE

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA AND HIS WIFE MICHELLE

Cadbury issued an apology to supermodel Naomi Campbell after comparing her to a chocolate in an advert for one of their new products. The sweet giant said it ‘did not mean to cause any offence’ following an Operation Black Vote campaign led by the supermodel herself.

President Barack Obama and his wife Michelle made an official visit to the UK. The US president was among those cooking for war veterans at Number 10 while Mrs Obama made a special visit to Oxford University with schoolgirls from Elizabeth Garrett Anderson in Islington, north London, to help broaden their horizons.

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JULY

NEW WEBSITE

The Voice launched its new multimedia website to great success. Hits have increased dramatically since the launch.

The heartbreaking story of orphan Riliwanu Balogan revealed how the 21-year-old committed suicide in a detention centre after the authorities decided to deport him back to Nigeria, although he knew no one there. He was abandoned in the UK while just a young boy and lived his entire life unloved and in care.

There was fury over the death of Demetre Fraser, 21, in Birmingham. Family members reject claims Demetre Fraser fell from the eleventh floor of a Birmingham tower block as police knocked on the door to check whether he had breached his curfew.

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AUGUST

UK RIOTS

On August 4, father of four Mark Duggan was shot dead by police in Tottenham, north London, sparking some of the worst riots the country has seen. The riots followed a peaceful protest by Duggan’s family and supporters outside the local police station. The riots spread across Britain.

A basketball star from Uxbridge won a place at Oxford University following a hat trick of top A’ level grades. Ismaila Ngum, 18, got As in politics, law and sociology, as well as a B grade in French, which he sat independently.

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SEPTEMBER

KWEKU ADOBOLI

A Voice investigation revealed how councils have dramatically reduced spending on Black History Month – with some, like Croydon council in Surrey, cancelling it all together. For example, in Lewisham, south London, the budget was cut from £14,700 to £5,000.

City trader Kweku Adoboli, 31, who was arrested and charged with rogue trading is accused of making deals that cost UBS £1.5 billion.

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OCTOBER

NOTTING HILL CARNIVAL

Mum of two Gina Moffatt, a florist who overcame being imprisoned for drug smuggling to run her own café in Tottenham, was awarded a prestigious Pride of Britain award.

Notting Hill Carnival, Europe’s biggest street party, suffered a massive blow when two of its key organisers, Ancil Barclay and Chris Bootham, resigned from the committee stating the event was untenable without necessary funding. Since its inception, the carnival has been run by a small team of volunteers.

PhD student Ssegawa-Ssekintu Kiwanuka, a Cambridge-educated chemical engineer whose research has been used by the World Bank, topped the 2011 Future Leaders’ list that profiles Britain’s most outstanding graduates of African or Caribbean heritage.

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NOVEMBER

TIDJANE THIAM

University students Nabila Nanfuka, 22, and Laurene Danielle Jackson, 19, died after being trampled at a nightclub on October 19. Laurene passed away directly following the incident and Nabila died on November 6. It is alleged the rush was caused after an announcement that coaches used to ferry students to and from the venue were about to leave.

On November 14, London’s Old Bailey began hearing the case of two men accused of murdering 18-year-old Stephen Lawrence in Eltham south London, in 1993.

Tidjane Thiam, the chief executive of Prudential, was named the most powerful black man in Britain for a second year running in this year’s Powerlist. It highlighted the 100 most influential black Brits as well as 20 rising stars under 40 who are excelling in their fields.

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DECEMBER

JOESPH KABILA

The Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) announced it was no longer continuing the investigation into Smiley Culture’s death. The organisation said it “found no evidence that a criminal offence may have been committed by the arresting police officers. The musician’s family said the explanation was “unsatisfactory”. A date for the full evidence to be heard at an inquest has been scheduled for September 2013.

A string of protests broke out in London following elections in the Democratic Republic of Congo, blasted for ‘lacking credibility’ by international observers. Anger mounted after long-standing president Joseph Kabila claimed victory with 49 percent of the vote. His nearest rival, Etienne Tshisekedi, is also claiming victory despite achieving 32 percent of the vote, according to official statistics. Critics say the result is fraudulent.