Burning questions linger on London's weapons, booty By Patrick Denny Stabroek News February 9, 2001 A year ago today notorious bandit Linden London, better known as 'Blackie', [ please note: link provided by LOSP web site ] held off the police and army units from a ground floor apartment at the Toucan Guest House, at Eccles for more than eleven hours. The standoff ended when, with the building set alight by the Police, London emerged from the building hands in the air only to be cut down in a hail of bullets. Besides London, a woman, Rhonda Forde, who was with him at the time, was also killed. A soldier, LCpl Lennox Harvey was shot in the eye when he bravely attempted to open a door leading into 'Blackie's' hideout. He subsequently lost the eye and had to be sent overseas for treatment. He is still with the army. London left behind a veritable arsenal, the source of which has still not been revealed by the police even though there were reports that some of the weapons had been assigned to the Guyana Police Force. Among the weapons found in the burnt out apartment from where he held off the police were a Sterling sub-machine gun capable of firing automatically; a pump-action shotgun made short for easy handling; an AK 47 rifle with its butt removed and with its magazines taped together for rapid exchange; a .22 revolver and a 9mm pistol. Some of these weapons, the Police said, were used in various robberies. In his robbery spree, London was believed to have amassed some $100 million in cash and jewellery. The last of the 14, he pulled off was the daring $13 million early morning robbery at the National Insurance Scheme headquarters on Brickdam mere weeks before he was killed. Another spectacular robbery was the mid-morning one in September '99 of the America Street cambio from which he reportedly netted some $3 million. Another large haul was said to be the one from the Panday residence in Bel Air. Stabroek News learnt through unofficial sources that the Sterling sub-machine gun London was found with was sent to the Presidential Guard from the army. There is no paperwork indicating when it was forwarded from the Presidential Guard to the Police. Ballistics tests place the Sterling gun at robberies in Vryheid's Lust, Cummings Lodge and Industry, East Coast Demerara, committed during August and September, 1999. The Mossberg shotgun was placed at an Industry, ECD robbery as well. The official told Stabroek News that during the days of the Ministry of National Development weapons were regularly transferred through this agency to the Linden Constabulary. However, he observed that when the Ministry was wound up, there was no trail to establish the movement of the weapons. There was a suspicion too about the AK 47 but the army pointed out that it was not the model in use by the army. The AK 47 was placed at the July 1998 robbery at Chelsea Park, Mahaica. As far as the official was concerned the investigation into the source of the arms had been concluded and procedures put in place to more accurately record the movement of weapons between the agencies and between branches within the respective agencies. He did not care to comment on whether the investigation was conducted jointly by the army and the police as had been announced by then Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon. However, Stabroek News has been informed by the army that it did not take part in the investigation but provided information as requested of it. The whereabouts of London's booty, police sources say, is still a mystery. They, however, say that they heard that some of it had been used to do some work in the West Coast Demerara village where he grew up and that he had also helped out some friends. It is known that he had a house at Grove. (Back to Top) 'Blackie' siege exposed flaws in police/army coordination By Patrick Denny It was clear to everyone present that the manner in which the 11-hour siege ended on February 9, 2000 pointed to a breakdown in coordination among the officers of the Guyana Police Force and the Guyana Defence Force present at the Toucan Guest House at Eccles, East Bank Demerara. This breakdown should have led to a review of the protocol for joint operations between the Police and the Army to put in place more precise procedures for ensuring the unity of command that was notably absent at Eccles. While the Police and the Army recognise the need for reviewing the procedures, Stabroek News has been reliably informed that the two services are yet to undertake a comprehensive review. But Stabroek News understands that the two services have instituted joint exercises under the auspices of the local Inter-Services School for Internal Strategic Studies. It comprises the Guyana Police Force, the Guyana Defence Force, the Guyana Fire Brigade and the Guyana Prisons Service. The exercises were designed to foster a better appreciation of each other's roles in various situations. Because of the way the siege ended, a number of questions were left unanswered and still are a year after the event. Among them are who was in command of the troops engaged in taking the building? Who gave the order to fire after Linden London emerged from the burning building with his hands in the air? Was there a decision taken by the Police that London would not have been taken alive? Another burning question is what did the post-mortem examination performed on Rhonda Forde who was with London at Toucan Guest House reveal. Was she shot by London in the back as the Police claim? Or was she killed in the crossfire between London and the officers of the Target Special Squad (TSS) as she came out of the hotel room? London was cut down in a hail of bullets, as gunfire erupted when he emerged from the building, hands in the air. There was a command of "Hold your fire" but Home Affairs Minister, Ronald Gajraj, has questioned the timing of this command. He suggested in an interview with the Stabroek News on February 10 that the command came after the shots had been fired. What is not questioned was that London emerged with his hands in the air. Both the Police and the Army after the incident said that they were prepared to take London dead or alive. The Police said that was not to be interpreted to mean that their officers would shoot London on sight but that they were authorised to use force to effect an arrest. However, the Police would have been very aware of his exploits when cornered on Kaieteur Top where he escaped from the Police by diving into the river but not before shooting at them as he did so. Crime Chief Floyd McDonald told a press conference on the day `Blackie' was killed that Police would have preferred to have arrested London "but he apparently thought otherwise and as a result of his actions he was killed". The army said that it would not have been bothered if London had been killed in resisting arrest if in doing so he posed a danger to the lives of the troops involved. In its statement issued on the same day as the Police press conference, the army said forces at the scene had neutralised the dangerous and heavily armed London to a point where he decided to negotiate a ceasefire. "The GDF conducted the negotiation and was able to induce London to come out of hiding when he was shot and killed." The officer in command of the overall exercise was the then Commander of the Police A Division, Assistant Commissioner, Henry Greene. Maj Gen Joseph Singh, Chief of Staff of the Guyana Defence Force was at the scene but informed sources said that he was there to see what was going as his troops were involved. He was not there in any command capacity though his advice would have been sought from time to time during the operations. The other police officers who led the initial attack to dislodge London were Senior Superintendent Steve Merai and Superintendent Leon Fraser. They are the commanders of the Target Special Force, known as the "Black Clothes Police". For the army it was Capt Fitzroy Ward who led a detachment of between 20-25 soldiers from the Special Forces Squadron, called up from Timehri as a result of the vigorous resistance put up by London. Under the army's operations procedures, once elements of the 31 Special Forces Squadron were on the ground its commander would have taken control of the immediate tasks of taking the building and London. The building was set on fire after the .82mm rocket-propelled grenades did not end the siege. The expectation was that with the use of such weaponry there would be no question as to whether London would be killed or not. LCpl Lennox Harvey was shot through the left eye when he forced open a door leading to `Blackie's hideaway. Police Constable Lincoln Fraser was shot in the right arm during the exercise. With the building ablaze above him London was persuaded by Capt Wycliffe McAllister, the army's Public Relations Officer, who was videotaping the siege because the army refused to endanger the life of a civilian cameraman. Capt McAllister, then a sergeant, had trained London when he was a member of the GDF and was assigned to the Special Forces. He persuaded London not to come out shooting but instead to throw out his weapons, with the implied assurance that he would not be killed. London believed that the soldiers would not shoot him as long as they were convinced that his surrender was not an act of deception nor posed any danger to them. Sources point out he could not have been sure of the reaction of the TSS which was left with egg on its face after he eluded it when surrounded by Police and some units of the army in the Mocha canefield after the America Street robbery months earlier. The negotiations between Capt McAllister and London were conducted in the hearing of the police, soldiers and spectators at the scene. All heard the command "hold your fire. No one has claimed that London was armed when he emerged from the burning building. Everyone heard the gunfire when it erupted. All saw the reaction of the Police. (Back to Top) 'Blackie' siege A year on, Toucan owner still in quest for $81M compensation By Patrick Denny A year after the security forces destroyed his Eccles, East Bank Demerara, guesthouse, in their efforts to capture the notorious bandit Linden London, Norman Trotz the owner of the Toucan Guest House is preparing to move to the courts for compensation. So, too, are his neighbours the Bisrams on the other side of the road from the hotel and from which the rocket propelled grenades were launched at Trotz's establishment. Neither Trotz nor the Bisrams have heard anything about the claims for compensation for the damage done to their properties. Trotz's claim for compensation which he submitted to the Office of the President was to the tune of $81 million. It has risen substantially now as with the loss of revenue he has suffered the amount could be nearer $100 million. The Bisrams told Stabroek News that they spent $2.3 million repairing the damage which had been done to their home by the Police who took up positions there during the siege. They have asked for this amount to be repaid to them. Trotz believes that one reason why the Government has not moved to settle his claim were allegations made by the Commissioner of Police, Laurie Lewis that he had been harbouring London. But he told Stabroek News that he had spoken to Lewis and the matter had been cleared up. However, Stabroek News understands that the Police are still mulling to bring charges against Trotz. Trotz asserts that the guest house was managed by an employee while he worked on his farm on the highway. Andrew Pollard, Trotz's attorney, told Stabroek News that the Police had established that London had registered during the afternoon, paid for the apartment and departed. He later returned by a taxi carrying two bags which in no way aroused the suspicion of the staff. Trotz told Stabroek News that he had been led to believe that the matter would have been settled amicably by former Head of the Presidential Secretariat, Dr Roger Luncheon once he had received the advice of the Attorney General to whom he had sent the reports from the Police and the Guyana Defence Force on the incident. Recounting his efforts to have his claim settled, Trotz said that on the advice of the Commissioner of Police, he wrote President Bharrat Jagdeo on April 26, 2000 and again on September 11, 2000. In between he has written to Dr Luncheon on July 26, August 24, September 7 and December 21. All he has gotten are acknowledgements of his letters. He told a press conference yesterday at the site of the burnt out guesthouse that he has since been sued by his bank for non-payment of his mortgage. He told Stabroek News that the bank had been granted judgement and that he had been able to have the Court stay the execution of the judgement. Dr Luncheon at various news conferences where the issue has been raised has said that it was not unusual for the Attorney General's Chambers to take some time to offer legal advice to the Office of the President. Trotz argued that the Police would not have destroyed Le Meridien Pegasus if London had been holed up in that hotel. He referred to an incident at one hotel where some implements for making counterfeit money were found, pointing out that the management of the establishment was not in any way held responsible. Trotz asserts that he never gave permission for his hotel to be set on fire nor was he told that the security force intended to do so as a last resort in their drive to flush out `Blackie'. He recalled that the only mention of "burning it down" was a jocular reference by Police "A" Division commander, Assistant Commissioner, Henry Greene as they pored over the plans he had provided for the police. Pollard said that while there was no legal obligation on the part of the security services to seek Trotz's permission to destroy the building, "having done so, they should have done the right thing immediately." The Bisrams like Trotz are awaiting responses to letters they sent to the Commissioner of Police and President Jagdeo. The letter to the Police, Doreen Bisram said was sent by post from London and the one to President Jagdeo was hand delivered. She said that when they came back from London, where she and her husband were at the time of the incident, an official from the Police visited herself and husband and asked for an estimate for the repairs they had carried out. Since then, she said, they have heard nothing else. Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today If you do not see the 'Guyana: Land of Six Peoples' drop-down menu on the left then please click here to enter through the front door which will give you additional options and information.