Justice Jainarayan Singh Jr yesterday ruled that the joint services were hasty in their 11-hour siege of the Toucan Suites apartment building eight years ago to flush out the notorious Linden ‘Blackie’ London and awarded the owner damages and compensation for losses to the tune of $125 million.
In his last High Court sitting before his retirement Justice Singh called the actions of the joint services on the days in question (February 8 and 9, 2000) “improper and impatient”. “It mattered not whether the man came out dead or alive… the government has offered the plaintiff little or no compensation for his losses and damages to the building, but it is my view that he has every right under the constitution of Guyana to be reimbursed for his loss and the loss he continues to suffer,” the judge stated.
As the judge spoke, a sigh of relief came from Norman Trotz, the owner of the property, who had fought for years, seeking redress in the court and outside the judicial system through discussions with the government. In February 2002, two years after the incident,
Trotz filed a constitutional motion in the High Court. In response, government had argued, through the Attorney-General that the joint services were lawfully executing their duties.
Though the case took six years to be disposed of Trotz was visibly happy yesterday and his attorney, Andrew Pollard told Stabroek News that the ruling capped years of attempting to settle the issue.
“We were forced to seek a ruling in the matter because of how the discussions went,” Pollard said yesterday.
Trotz’s life was on a rollercoaster following the spine-tingling gun battle that erupted in Eccles culminating in Blackie’s death, and which destroyed his multi-million-dollar property. It was reported that he and his family were left with nothing in the aftermath.
As the discussions on compensation dried up and his court battle was prolonged, the businessman eventually sold the property, which was at the centre of one of the biggest gun battles the country had ever seen.
In his ruling yesterday, Justice Singh said there were clear indications in the matter that serious damage was done to the property at Eccles, East Bank Demerara by the Guyana Police Force (GPF) and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF). According to him, the joint services were too hasty to unleash missiles and later explosives into the building, which resulted in a devastating fire.
Referring to police forces in the US as perhaps the hastiest in the world, the judge said the local force acted more hastily in reacting to Linden London.
“In the US the police would often wait four to five days for a man they have cornered in a building to come out. He either surrenders or they figure out a way, but to use missile and weapons that resulted in damage to get the man [London] out of the building was improper and impatient,” Justice Singh said.
In addition to the $125 million he awarded to N & R Company, which Trotz owns, the court also awarded him $150,000 in costs. Interest of six per cent per annum is attached to the monies that were awarded in damages and for losses until the sum is paid.
Blackie, a former GDF officer turned seasoned criminal, was killed at Toucan Suites following a protracted gunfight that erupted on February 8, 2000 and ended the following morning. He had reportedly checked in at the hotel on February 7, 2000 and had been hiding out there with an arsenal, apparently planning a robbery.
For hours, Blackie engaged the joint services matching their firepower, despite the heavy artillery that he was up against; a fire is what eventually flushed him out the building some 11 hours after. He died in a volley of bullets as he exited the burning building set alight by armour-piercing grenades which had been fired into the building by the GDF’s 31 Special Forces Squadron. Rhonda Forde, 28, was also killed in the shoot-out between the police and Blackie under unclear circumstances.
Reports were that her lifeless body had been flung out of the apartment building during the exchange of fire. However, other reports said that she was pushed out of the building by London and the joint services opened fire when they saw the door opening, hitting her about the body. At the same time, these reports said, London returned fire and she was hit twice in the back. Forde appeared to have sustained seven bullet wounds about her body. Thousands of rounds of ammunition were expended during the confrontation with Blackie and two Rocket Propelled Grenades (RPGs) had been lobbed into the building to flush him out.
Blackie was wanted for some 14 robberies and two murders. While Blackie was in the building there had been reported discussions to burn it to the ground but Trotz had strongly protested this; going as far as to produce a floor plan of Toucan Suites and suggesting an alternative way to “get Blackie”. According to reports, this was rejected as being “too dangerous”.
Blackie was infamously known as the mastermind behind a daring robbery on an America Street cambio in September 1999, in which four heavily armed men carted away millions of dollars from D.Singh and Sons cambio. In the melee, five persons were injured—including an off-duty policeman—after the bandits indiscriminately sprayed the area with gunfire as they sped away in a car. The police chased them to a canefield on the East Bank Demerara and one of the bandits, Terry ‘Rusty’ Madhoo was killed in an exchange of gunfire with the police.
Despite cordoning off the canefield and mounting an all-night vigil, ‘Blackie’ and his accomplices eluded a police/army dragnet.
Then there was the brazen robbery at NIS headquarters in January 2000 when some $13 million was carted off. Machine guns and grenades were used to threaten the staff and Blackie was once again suspected. After he was killed the police claimed that Blackie had been planning something big.
