Siege ends as man burned to death after setting building on fire

BRITISH police said the Hackney siege was finally over yesterday after the death of the hostage-taker who was “determined not to be taken out alive”.

Commander Bob Quick said that Eli Hall, who had been holed up for 15 days, “gave indication that he was determined not to be taken alive or that he’d take the life of a police officer during the gunfight”.

Mr Quick confirmed that the charred remains of Hall were found in the rear of the building after he set it alight and was engulfed in the flames.

Hall had spent much of his life in jail and was described by neighbours as having “mental problems“.

The 32-year-old Jamaican-born gangster had grown dreadlocks and believed he had the Rastafarian God Jah on his side.

Throughout the 1990s he was in and out of prison for offences including violence, drugs and possessing guns and other weapons.

He is thought to have been jailed on at least half a dozen separate occasions.

One police source said: “He was one of those people who as soon as he got out he would go and do something which put him back in again. He had a record as long as your arm.”

His family was well known to police and one of his brothers died after being shot in south London.

Before the siege Hall was already wanted for attempted murder after shooting at police officers on two occasions in London last year.

In August he fired a gun at police who tried to arrest him in Soho.

Then in December he opened fire again on officers who stopped him in a car from which they believed he was dealing drugs.

Inside the flat, he had built up a small arsenal of guns and ammunition and showed his experience of using guns as he exchanged shots with teams of expertly-trained firearms officers.

His decision to take a neighbour hostage and hold a gun to his head showed police that he would go to any lengths and as hours of negotiations continued they discovered how determined he was.

Hall’s only demand was that he did not want to go back to jail again but having fired at police out of the window, this was not a possibility.

Towards the end, with his hostage gone, food running out, no electricity and little sleep his behaviour became more erratic until he began firing at police, determined to kill as many as possible.

A police source said: “He was a violent man who met a violent death.”