1 00:00:00,280 --> 00:00:02,000 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class. It's a production of I 2 00:00:02,080 --> 00:00:07,520 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hi, I'm Eves and Welcome to This Day 3 00:00:07,520 --> 00:00:11,720 Speaker 1: in History Class, a show that uncovers history one day 4 00:00:11,840 --> 00:00:26,520 Speaker 1: at a time. Today is September. The day was September nine. 5 00:00:28,880 --> 00:00:32,320 Speaker 1: As staff at the Spaghetti House restaurant in nights Bridge, London, 6 00:00:32,440 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: we're collecting the week's earnings. Three armed black men burst 7 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:40,479 Speaker 1: into the restaurant and demanded the money. The attempted robbery 8 00:00:40,520 --> 00:00:42,839 Speaker 1: turned into a six day siege that led to the 9 00:00:42,880 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: imprisonment of all three of the robbers and an accomplice. 10 00:00:46,640 --> 00:00:50,080 Speaker 1: The incident made use of new policing and surveillance techniques, 11 00:00:50,440 --> 00:00:53,440 Speaker 1: and it sparked debates along racial lines on whether it 12 00:00:53,520 --> 00:00:58,520 Speaker 1: was a political or criminal act. Franklin Davies, Anthony Monroe, 13 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,639 Speaker 1: and Wesley Dick are known as Shuya Moshesh broke into 14 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:06,560 Speaker 1: the Spaghetti House early that Sunday morning. They were attempting 15 00:01:06,600 --> 00:01:10,040 Speaker 1: to rob the chain's managers as they prepared to deposit 16 00:01:10,080 --> 00:01:14,000 Speaker 1: the weekly earnings somewhere between eleven thousand and thirteen thousand 17 00:01:14,000 --> 00:01:18,120 Speaker 1: pounds at the bank. The three men took the all 18 00:01:18,160 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: Italian staff down into a basement storeroom, but one manager 19 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:26,720 Speaker 1: escaped and alerted the police. The police quickly arrived at 20 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: the scene, blocking off the area and preparing for the 21 00:01:29,760 --> 00:01:33,360 Speaker 1: incident to turn violent. As the attempted robbery turned into 22 00:01:33,400 --> 00:01:38,280 Speaker 1: a hostage situation, four hundred police officers were involved in 23 00:01:38,319 --> 00:01:42,280 Speaker 1: the seed. Davies made demands for a flight to Jamaica, 24 00:01:42,560 --> 00:01:45,360 Speaker 1: a radio, and the release of two black people who 25 00:01:45,400 --> 00:01:49,240 Speaker 1: were in prison. He was given a radio, coffee, and cigarettes, 26 00:01:49,560 --> 00:01:53,240 Speaker 1: but his other demands were not fulfilled. Over the next 27 00:01:53,240 --> 00:01:56,240 Speaker 1: couple of days, two hostages were released from the building. 28 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:00,160 Speaker 1: Police were using fiber optic cameras they had installed to 29 00:02:00,240 --> 00:02:04,680 Speaker 1: monitor the situation inside the storeroom. Dr Peter Scott, a 30 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:08,160 Speaker 1: forensic psychologist, advised the police on the mental state of 31 00:02:08,200 --> 00:02:13,200 Speaker 1: the robbers. After failed negotiations and manipulation of the robbers 32 00:02:13,320 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 1: via the press, the group surrendered on October three. Davies 33 00:02:18,200 --> 00:02:20,959 Speaker 1: had shot himself in the stomach and the police found 34 00:02:21,000 --> 00:02:23,320 Speaker 1: him lying in the basement with a note in his pocket, 35 00:02:23,680 --> 00:02:28,400 Speaker 1: but still alive. Davies was Nigerian, Dick was West Indian, 36 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:32,400 Speaker 1: and Monroe was Guyanese. In the mid nineteen hundreds, hundreds 37 00:02:32,480 --> 00:02:36,720 Speaker 1: of thousands of West Indians already British citizens migrated to 38 00:02:36,760 --> 00:02:43,120 Speaker 1: Britain in the seventies. Unemployment, discrimination, poverty, housing issues, and 39 00:02:43,400 --> 00:02:49,200 Speaker 1: racist policies led to social and economic turbulence, including uprisings, riots, 40 00:02:49,240 --> 00:02:54,480 Speaker 1: and violence directed at black communities by white people. Davis, Monroe, 41 00:02:54,560 --> 00:02:58,639 Speaker 1: and Dick were all part of black liberation organizations. Monroe 42 00:02:58,720 --> 00:03:02,600 Speaker 1: ran a supplementary school for black children, Dick attended the 43 00:03:02,639 --> 00:03:05,800 Speaker 1: sixth pay in African Congress in Tanzania in nineteen seventy 44 00:03:05,840 --> 00:03:10,520 Speaker 1: four and volunteered at the Institute of Race Relations. And 45 00:03:10,600 --> 00:03:14,160 Speaker 1: Davies had tried to enlist in armies fighting against colonialism 46 00:03:14,160 --> 00:03:17,919 Speaker 1: in Africa. He had already served a sentence for armed robbery. 47 00:03:19,040 --> 00:03:21,200 Speaker 1: They told police that they were part of the Black 48 00:03:21,240 --> 00:03:24,960 Speaker 1: Liberation Army and that they were resisting capitalism and black oppression, 49 00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:28,840 Speaker 1: but the police dismissed the racial component and political aims 50 00:03:28,840 --> 00:03:31,840 Speaker 1: of the robbery, claiming that it was just a criminal 51 00:03:31,919 --> 00:03:36,760 Speaker 1: robbery gone wrong. Newspaper articles, editorials, and letters to the 52 00:03:36,840 --> 00:03:41,080 Speaker 1: editor were published concerning the siege. Mainstream media presented the 53 00:03:41,120 --> 00:03:44,960 Speaker 1: three men as criminals with no clear motivation who represented 54 00:03:45,040 --> 00:03:48,920 Speaker 1: the larger problem of race danger. While many people in 55 00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:52,120 Speaker 1: the black community recognized the incident as an effort in 56 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:55,320 Speaker 1: the fight against a racist society that owed its dues 57 00:03:55,360 --> 00:03:59,080 Speaker 1: after years of oppression and theft. Less than a week 58 00:03:59,120 --> 00:04:02,400 Speaker 1: after the siege in did the spaghetti house reopened for business. 59 00:04:03,520 --> 00:04:06,240 Speaker 1: The trial for the siege began in June of nineteen 60 00:04:06,280 --> 00:04:09,640 Speaker 1: seventy six. Dick, Monroe, and Davies, as well as three 61 00:04:09,640 --> 00:04:14,680 Speaker 1: of their accomplices, were charged with armed robbery, holding people hostage, conspiracy, 62 00:04:14,800 --> 00:04:18,920 Speaker 1: and assisting the robbery. The three robbers chose not to 63 00:04:18,960 --> 00:04:23,320 Speaker 1: have legal representation during the trial. They turned their backs 64 00:04:23,320 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: on the judge and held up a poster in protest. 65 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:28,960 Speaker 1: They were then sent back to their holding sales, where 66 00:04:29,000 --> 00:04:33,560 Speaker 1: they remained until the verdict and sentencing. Monroe, Dick, and 67 00:04:33,640 --> 00:04:37,720 Speaker 1: Davies got seventeen, eighteen and twenty one years, respectively in prison. 68 00:04:38,839 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: The nineteen seventy six play A Hole in Babylon by 69 00:04:41,600 --> 00:04:45,000 Speaker 1: Horace Ova and the nineteen seventy eight novel The Siege 70 00:04:45,000 --> 00:04:48,520 Speaker 1: of Babylon by Farouke Dondee were inspired by the conflict 71 00:04:48,560 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: surrounding the Spaghetti House siege. I'm Eves Jeffcote, and hopefully 72 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:55,599 Speaker 1: you know a little more about history today than you 73 00:04:55,640 --> 00:04:58,760 Speaker 1: did yesterday. We love it if you left us a 74 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:03,640 Speaker 1: comment on Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook at t D i 75 00:05:04,240 --> 00:05:08,719 Speaker 1: h C podcast, thanks for joining me on this trip 76 00:05:08,760 --> 00:05:18,640 Speaker 1: through history. See you here, same place tomorrow. For more 77 00:05:18,680 --> 00:05:21,200 Speaker 1: podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app, 78 00:05:21,240 --> 00:05:23,839 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.