Hackney siege
The Hackney siege was a criminal event that took place in Hackney, in East London, England, for 15 days from 26 December 2002 to 9 January 2003. It ended with the death of Eli Hall, a Jamaican gangster wanted by police.
Background
Eli Hall, born in Jamaica, was a 32-year-old gangster and former nightclub doorman. In the 1990s, he served a series of prison sentences for violence, possession of controlled drugs, and possession of firearms and other weapons. In 2002, Hall was wanted by police in connection with two incidents in which he was believed to have fired on police officers.[1] In the first, in August 2002, Hall was stopped by officers on foot patrol who believed he was acting suspiciously. The encounter turned violent and an officer used his incapacitant spray on Hall, who produced a handgun. Hall fired at the officers, who took cover, and escaped in the commotion. In the second, in December 2002, local officers approached a car they believed was dealing drugs on an estate in Hackney. On seeing the officers, Hall fired one shot from a handgun then sped off. Hall was identified as the perpetrator after both incidents but the police did not have a record of his address.[2]
Hall's father and older brother were both serving lengthy prison sentences for drugs-related offences at the time of the incident, and his younger brother had recently been murdered, for which a man was awaiting trial.[2]
Siege
On Boxing Day, 26 December 2002, police officers located Hall's car, a Toyota Celica, parked on Marvin Street, Hackney, near the junction with Graham Road. Officers in armed response vehicles were sent to covertly monitor the vehicle in the hope that Hall would return to it. After several hours with no sign of Hall, the police sent a civilian contractor to remove the vehicle for forensic examination. Unknown to the police, Hall was living in a flat in a large converted building on the street. Hall spotted the contractor and threatened them from a window, brandishing a firearm, before firing at the police officers who confronted him. Once reinforcements arrived, armed officers attempted to enter the building to determine its layout and Hall's location within it, but Hall heard them forcing a door and opened fire from his window. The officers retreated, several of them returning fire at Hall.[2][1][3][4] The police evacuated the other residents of Hall's building and surrounding buildings and brought in specialist officers, including snipers and trained negotiators, beginning the siege.[5]
From the outset, Hall refused to cooperate with the police and insisted that he had no intention of going back to prison. The police made contact with him at first through a megaphone and then through mobile phones. Early on in the siege, police officers reported a smell of petrol coming from the building. On the third day of the incident, the police discovered that a second man was in the building after he phoned 999, claiming that Hall was holding him hostage. Hall made no demands in relation to the man, who escaped 11 days into the siege.[6][7] Throughout the incident, residents in the affected street and immediately surrounding roads were confined to their homes for their own safety, except some vulnerable people who were evacuated. Some residents criticised the police's cautious approach, believing that the police should have taken direct action at an earlier stage to force a resolution. Commander Bob Quick defended the approach, pointing out that the hostage was released unharmed and that the only casualty was Hall, who killed himself. Quick was supported by several academics and the local MP, Diane Abbott.[8][9]
On 9 January 2003, at around 09:15, Hall fired at police positions and one officer returned fire with a single shot, wounding Hall. Hall then set fire to the flat and shot himself in the head. Police fired baton rounds at the building's windows to allow access for fire hoses. Hall was last seen at 10:50 After dark, armed police officers climbed through a window and discovered Hall's burnt body. The incident has been described as Britain's longest siege.[1][3][4]
Impact
The siege was the first police operation of its kind in London for over twenty years following the 1980 Iranian Embassy siege, and has been compared to two other major sieges in London, the Spaghetti House siege and the Balcombe Street siege, both in 1975.[10]
In April and May 2003, the Tristan Bates Theatre in the West End hosted Come Out Eli, a play based on the events of the siege and local residents' experiences.[11]
References
Bibliography
- Smith, Stephen (2013). Stop! Armed Police! Inside the Met's Firearms Unit. Ramsbury, Wiltshire: The Crowood Press. ISBN 9780719808265.
Citations
- ^ a b c "Who was the Hackney gunaman?". BBC News. 10 January 2003. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- ^ a b c Smith, p. 185.
- ^ a b Kirby, Terry (10 January 2003). "Britain's longest siege ends as burnt body is found inside Hackney flat". The Independent. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- ^ a b Cowan, Rosie (18 January 2005). "Inquest finds gunman in 15-day siege shot himself". The Guardian. Retrieved 30 May 2020.
- ^ Smith, p. 186.
- ^ Smith, p. 187.
- ^ "Siege gunman's body removed". BBC News. 10 January 2003. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
- ^ Geoghegan, Tom (10 January 2003). "Experts back police tactics". BBC News. Retrieved 9 June 2020.
- ^ "Police fire CS gas into London siege house". The Irish Times. 9 January 2003. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
- ^ "London's longest sieges". BBC News. 30 December 2002. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
- ^ "Hackney siege hits stage". BBC News. 30 April 2003. Retrieved 10 June 2020.