Heroine of Hackney

 A video showing a local woman from Hackney berating looters during the 2011 England riots. Pauline Pearce is a British Liberal Democrat campaigner and anti-knife crime activist. Pearce came to prominence during the 2011 England riots, featuring in a viral video in which she chastised rioters, leading her to be dubbed the Heroine of Hackney Pearce was born in Barbados and raised in Hitchin. She attended Purwell Primary School, Hitchin Girls' School and then North Hertfordshire College. Pearce joined the Queen Mary Theatre and worked as a cleaner and care worker before launching into a jazz singing career, which included a show at the Edinburgh Fringe. In 2000, Pearce was convicted of drug smuggling. She was sentenced to six years' imprisonment and served three years. She had attempted to import cocaine hidden in pickled peppers on her return from Jamaica. Pearce described the event as the biggest mistake of her life. Upon her release, Pearce retrained in catering and ran a number of West Indian-themed restaurant businesses. She moved to Hackney in 2004. Pearce was diagnosed with breast cancer and had multiple rounds of treatment requiring her to carry a walking stick. She has two sons, two daughters and four grandchildren. Pearce auditioned for Britain's Got Talent in 2010 and 2012. During the 2020 coronavirus pandemic, Pearce was stranded in the Gambia with her 84-year-old father, with no means of returning home. She urged the government to help stranded Britons to return home. As well as English, Pearce speaks West Indian patois.