A man has been charged with the murder of Keith Blakelock, the police officer who was stabbed and hacked to death after being surrounded by a mob during the 1985 Broadwater Farm riots.

The Crown Prosecution Service said that Nicholas Jacobs, 44, would stand trial for the murder, which took place during some of the most ferocious rioting seen in Britain.

PC Blakelock, 40, a father of three, was killed during the disorder which erupted in Tottenham, north London, following the death of Cynthia Jarrett, 49, who collapsed from heart failure after a police raid on her home. Jacobs would have been 16 at the time of the attack on Blakelock.

The decision by the CPS follows an extensive Scotland Yard reinvestigation into Blakelock's murder 28 years ago.

In a statement, relatives said: "The family of PC Keith Blakelock have never given up hope in getting justice for him. We welcome this news, and extend our eternal gratitude to the Metropolitan Police Service."

The legacy of the Blakelock case continues to haunt the Met. The way the force in 1985 hunted for his killers damaged already toxic community relations. The Met arrested more than 360 people, held children without access to a lawyer or parents, then charged six people with murder, all of whom were eventually cleared.

During the rioting Blakelock became detached from other officers and was surrounded near the Tangmere block, on the Broadwater Farm housing estate, just after 10pm on 6 October 1985.

Blakelock was part of police serial 502, a unit drawn from Hornsey and Wood Green police stations, trying to protect firefighters who were tackling a blaze endangering flats on the estate.

A group of youths, some with weapons and masked, attacked them and the officers attempted to retreat.

Blakelock was seen to slip by a grass verge. He then become engulfed by a group of up to 50 people.

He was hurt by the impact of at least three weapons, including a machete and two knives. One knife was found embedded six inches into his neck.

He was stabbed 42 times and suffered extensive injuries. Another officer, PC Richard Coombes, was also attacked that night as he tried to rescue Blakelock.

Blakelock died from his injuries while Coombes was so severely wounded he never resumed active duty. During the riots shots were fired at the police and their ferocity caused particular public shock against a background of a series of riots in urban areas in the 1980s.

The Met police investigation to find Blakelock's killers ended up pursuing the wrong men. Six were charged with the killing, including three juveniles. All were cleared finally.

Winston Silcott, Engin Raghip and Mark Braithwaite were convicted of the murder in 1987 but cleared by the court of appeal four years later over allegations that police officers fabricated evidence used to support their convictions.

New scientific tests meant Silcott's alleged confession could no longer be relied upon. There were no witnesses and there was no forensic evidence against the men.

Silcott was jailed solely on the basis of an unsigned statement police had taken in the absence of a solicitor.

On 26 July 1994 the former detective chief superintendent Graham Melvin and the detective inspector Maxwell Dingle, were cleared at the Old Bailey of fabricating evidence in the Blakelock case.

Three juveniles, aged 13 to 15, were charged over the murder but the judge threw out the case against them.

In 1999 Silcott received £50,000 in an out-of-court settlement with the Met though the force refused to admit liability. He was released from a term for another murder in 2003 after serving 17 years.

In January 2000 the Met announced a review of evidence in the Blakelock murder case. In 2003 it said it believed it had found new evidence and began a full-blown investigation.

Blakelock had three sons with Elizabeth Johnson, who later remarried and now lives near Sunderland.

Yard officers spent years sifting 10,000 statements and resubmitting exhibits for forensic testing to achieve a breakthrough in the case.

In 2010 police arrested 14 men on suspicion of involvement in the murder of Blakelock or attempted murder of Coombes. In 2011 nine of them were eliminated from inquiries.

On Tuesday the CPS said a further four of those arrested would not face charges.

In a statement Alison Saunders, chief crown prosecutor for London, who was today named as the next director of public prosecutions, said: "Following a thorough investigation by the Metropolitan police service, we have decided that Nicholas Jacobs should be charged with the murder of PC Keith Blakelock during the disorder at Broadwater Farm in October 1985.

"This decision was taken in accordance with the code for crown prosecutors. We have concluded there is sufficient evidence and it is in the public interest to prosecute."

Jacobs will appear on Wednesday before City of Westminster magistrates.