The morning `Blackie' eluded a police dragnet in Berbice
By Daniel DaCosta
Infamous ex-GDF soldier Linden London called `Blackie' was once based at Corriverton on the Upper Corentyne as a fugitive from where he launched periodic attacks with a three-member gang on local and Surinamese businesspersons. This was disclosed recently by active and former members of the Guyana Police Force who were stationed at Springlands during the late 1980's in separate interviews with Stabroek News. The ranks who requested anonymity were all involved in an attempt to apprehend London and his gang which reaped mixed results. According to the officers, one of London's gang members who was held after an armed robbery committed on a Crabwood Creek businessman, subsequently revealed details of the plan made to execute the robbery. The day was February 16, 1989. The businessman earlier in the day had transported a large sum of money in his car truck to the old Springlands stelling for dealers to purchase foreign currency on his behalf. According to the accomplice's statement they had observed the large sum of money and noted the owner of the car and subsequently ascertained his address. The gang, he disclosed included Oswald McBean called `Cornbread' of number 35 Village; London and himself. The accomplice who provided the police with the information was also known as `Chubby' and hailed from Alness. At 0200 hrs on the morning of February 17, 1989, the three men armed with .38 revolvers led by London with an Uzi sub-machine gun attacked the businessman's home. They first broke into the car trunk and collected the money stashed therein before kicking down the door of the house and relieving the businessman and his family of an undisclosed amount of local and foreign currency and jewellery. The police station at Springlands was notified of the attack at approximately 0230 hrs and a party of 5-6 policemen responded to the report. But by this time the bandits had escaped into the nearby canefields. According to one of the ranks an ambush was set along the Number 79 sea wall in an attempt to apprehend the gang. "At around 0330 hrs we saw them approaching along the sea wall with London who was wanted by the police in front" recalled one policeman. "On seeing us London shouted `back-off' and began firing shots forcing us to take cover. Three of the men escaped by jumping into the Corentyne river, but `Chubby' concealed himself in a clump of bush." The ranks recalled that some 50 cane-cutters on their way to work on hearing the shots and commotion joined the search for `Chubby'. "They began weeding down the bush and discovered a gun before exposing `Chubby' who later revealed the plan which included converging at a home at Dukestown," one rank told Stabroek News. The squad of policemen then proceeded to encircle the home in another attempt to capture the remaining bandits. Oswald McBean called `Cornbread', however, decided to make a run for it and began firing at the policemen. He was pursued by the squad and shot and killed at Princetown while another was arrested with the assistance of Guyana Defence Force (GDF) soldiers based at Number 63 also in the vicinity of Princetown. London, however, escaped the dragnet and reportedly returned to Number 79 Village where he joined a gang of cane-cutters in a truck travelling to Skeldon estate. Information reaching the police after the confrontation indicated that London subsequently joined a tapir and then a mini-bus en route to New Amsterdam. The police later learnt that London had strapped his gun and the bag of money to a beam on the Skeldon estate wharf. About one month later he sent a friend to retrieve the money. The Uzi sub-machine gun was, however, rented to would-be robbers who shuttled between Guyana and Suriname. This was revealed after three men were held with a similar weapon on the Number 79 foreshore en route to Suriname. According to one rank who participated in the exercise, it concluded around 1100 hrs almost nine hours after it began two miles away from No.79 at Princetown. London was killed earlier this year after a marathon gun battle with police ranks and members of the Guyana Defence Force at a hotel at Eccles on the East Bank of Demerara.
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