Criminal past of gangster

 Add your view

Eli Hall: Determined not to be taken alive

The appalling criminal past of Hackney gunman Eli Hall emerged today after Britain's longest-running siege ended as it began, in confusion and gunfire. Desperate not to return to prison, Hall, 32, taunted police throughout the 15 days with shouts of "you won't take me alive".

His charred body could be seen this afternoon in the house in Marvin Street which contains bedsits in which he had set up barricades. But the building was too badly damaged by the blaze to enter until it had been made safe.

Hall's family are known to police in Jamaica, where he was born, and in south London where he spent much of his life.

Hall's brother, Ermias, 17, was shot dead in a Mitcham school playground last July. A man is awaiting trial accused of murder.

Another brother, Dean, 24, is serving eight years for drugs and firearms offences. Dean Hall was part of a 10-strong Yardie drugs gang - nicknamed the African Crew - who were linked to a bloody gang war that police believe led to the deaths of five people across the capital and the attempted murder of 18 others. At Dean Hall's home in Barnet officers found heroin and a bedroom which was being used as a drug factory. There was a machinegun and pistols in his car.

The Hall brothers' father Ranford once ran a fruit stall but abandoned that in favour of crime and is serving three years in prison for drug offences.

Eli Hall's mother is thought to have stayed in Jamaica, leaving him without a formative influence during his childhood in Battersea. He has never held down a job and the only way he knew how to make money was to peddle drugs.

A police source said: "He has a record as long as your arm."

Eli Hall was well known to the detectives from Scotland Yard's Operation Trident which investigates black-on-black gangland crime.

In August he is thought to have fired at police who tried to arrest him in Old Compton Street, Soho. Four months later, when police suspected Hall was dealing drugs from a car in Hackney, he opened fire when they tried to stop him. He was wanted for attempted murder for both incidents.

Hall was determined to die in the house, the officer in charge of the operation said today. Commander Bob Quick said: "All the indications to us were that this man was an extremely volatile, determined and dangerous man who gave indications that he was determined not to be taken alive."

Mr Quick stressed that Hall was never a threat to the public while in the flat, adding: "Mr Hall was contained by police." He added that the cause of death was not yet known.

This afternoon as some of the police cordons surrounding the flat were lifted, the full devastation caused by the fire could be seen.

As residents resumed their normal lives one woman said of Hall: "He was a friendly guy and I saw him every morning buying a paper. But you could tell he had mental problems from the way he talked. He was emotionally wasted."

The operation will go down as one of the Met's most difficult. On Boxing Day, police in Marvin Street, near Hackney's Empire theatre, spotted a foreign- registered Toyota Celica they had wanted to find since August.

But as they brought in a towtruck to take the car away Hall started threatening them. Within 10 minutes a cordon was in place and by 3pm residents had been evacuated.

Twenty minutes later, armed police stormed the bedsit in the house where Hall lived. It should have been a swift end to a minor stand-off.

But Hall did not follow the usual pattern of surrendering. Instead, he shot back and police came under such heavy fire that they retreated - a move which cast the die for the rest of the siege. Immediately armed officers, who returned fire, withdrew. They were unwilling to risk serious casualties.

Scotland Yard's elite tactical firearms unit, SO19, which carries the firepower of a small army, then arrived in force.

However, the SAS-style outfits and equipment, the dog squads, the armoured Land Rovers, the helicopter hovering overhead and the lights trained on the house failed to intimidate Hall, or even persuade him not to fire at police.

During 11 days of the standoff Hall held a man hostage before he managed to slip away. So petrified was the man held inside that he complied with Hall's order to be so totally silent that it was three days before police realised he was there. Once the hostage escaped and Hall was on his own police chiefs raised the stakes. He had already been deprived of heating and electricity.

Officers then stopped his food altogether and began playing air raid sirens at night to keep him awake and reduce his "comfort factor".

Still Hall did not crack. Setting fire to furniture in the house to keep warm, he raided all the fridges in the five bedsits for food.

Police began drawing up plans to use force to end the stand-off. One option was pumping CS gas into the flats and then sending in specially trained dogs to disarm him. Another scheme involved flooding the house from the roof.

Police were still reluctant to use tough tactics. One senior officer said: "He had at least two guns and we knew he was happy to use them.

"If we tried and force him out it was likely he would come out shooting on the street.

"There was no reason for us to risk anyone."

Yesterday afternoon police pumped in gallons of water after Hall started a fire following an exchange of shots and the siege reached its tragic endgame.

 

What's on today   What's on tomorrow

Receive our newsletter