Howard Campbell, Sunday Gleaner Writer

Edward 'Ted' O'Gilvie, former Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works, was slain 30 years ago.

THREE years ago, Assistant Commissioner of Police Keith 'Trinity' Gardner said he was travelling through Rockfort in east Kingston when he came upon a roadblock. He remembers getting a surprise when he got out of his car to investigate.

"This Syrian-looking man came up to me and shook my hand," AC Gardner recalled. "He said, 'Wha 'ppen Supe, yuh nuh rememba mi?"

"Bonero!" Gardner said he exclaimed.

'Bonero' is George Flash, an east Kingston enforcer from the 1970s and a Rockfort legend. Thirty years ago, Gardner, then Jamaica's leading street cop, arrested him in nearby Vineyard Town for the murder of Edward 'Ted' O'Gilvie, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Works.

comrade-in-arms

The 56-year-old Flash and his old comrade-in-arms, Anthony 'Tego' Brown, who is one year older, were in the news again three weeks ago when police from the Kingston eastern division arrested them in connection with an outbreak of violence in Rockfort.

The arrest of Brown and Flash was another eventful chapter in the lives of two men whose criminal links go back to the early 1970s. They not only survived the bloody political battles that typified that turbulent decade, but most of their contemporaries have been either killed or have languished in prisons overseas.

Only Tony Welsh, who led Arnett Gardens with an iron hand, has remained in the news over recent years. Welsh is currently in jail, charged with the alleged murder of Damion Hussey, in Golden Spring, St. Andrew, in January. Interestingly, in February last year, Flash and Welsh were arrested and charged with illegal possession of firearm and assault at common law, after roughing up physician Shelton Minott at his office in St. Ann. Both were cleared of the charges.

Flash showed signs of promise as a youngster. He is a past student of Ardenne High School who worked at the Jamaica Railway Corporation (JRC) and the Jamaica Telephone Company. He had ambitions of becoming a mechanical engineer, and attended day classes at Kingston Technical High School, while employed to the JRC.

Those dreams ended in October 1971 when he was sentenced to seven years in prison for robbing the Canadian Imperial Bank at Half-Way Tree Road in September 1971. The previous year, he was placed on one year's probation for driving away a car without the owner's consent.

Brown was the reputed leader of a gang that operated out of Wareika Hills in the late 1970s. He too was implicated in Mr. O'Gilvie's death, as well as shooting with intent at Detective Constable Garnet Williams in 1978.

Flash and Brown were among several heavies aligned to the People's National Party (PNP) who controlled Rockfort in the 1970s. Others were affiliated to the 'Hotsteppers Gang', whose most famous member was Dennis 'Copper' Barth, a serial murderer who was killed by police attempting to rob the Caymanas racetrack in May 1978.

Flash and Brown were on the police's most wanted list in 1980 with a $20,000 bounty on their heads. Both have lived in Rockfort since they returned to Jamaica in the early 1990s. Police believe that they fled to Cuba in 1980. Brown turned himself in to local police in April 1993. He told them he had been residing in England for the past four years, and that he and Flash had lived in Cuba for 12 years. Flash returned to Jamaica shortly after Brown.

severed diplomatic ties

The Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) Government, which came to power in October 1980, were so determined to bring the duo to justice that they severed diplomatic ties with Cuba in 1981 for harbouring fugitives.

In October 1981, east Kingston police arrested Rockfort resident and PNP activist Paul Burke.

They seized tapes and letters he had in his possession, reportedly sent by Flash and Brown to their families. One of the letters, written by Brown, was published in The Sunday Gleaner. In it, he spoke of the strict discipline and hardships of Latin America, a longing to be back in Jamaica and on the 'corners' of his beloved Rockfort.

In late October, Flash and Brown were held, along with east Kingston businessman and PNP activist Danhai Williams, and another man known only as 'Mendez'. Their arrests sparked demonstrations throughout Rockfort. They were released after four days in custody and cleared of any involvement in the gang violence.