Thirty years ago today, three days of rioting ended in the wake of the execution of two men convicted of five murders between 1972 and 1973. Royal Gazette Reporter Ruth O'Kelly-Lynch examines the riots and their impact.

It was 10.10 p.m. when lawyer Julian Hall emerged fromSupreme Court and gave the waiting public the thumbs down signal Larry Tacklyn would hang for two murders the following morning.

Seconds later the first explosions could be heard around Hamilton as three days of intense riots began, resulting in the death of three people; millions of dollars in damage; the arrival of British troops and the world's intense glare.

Today marks the 30th anniversary of the last day of those riots.

Some say it was a catalyst for change, which brought the Island's racial inequalities and the polarisation of the white and black communities into sharp focus.

"I remember I came out of the court that night and was surprised to see this enormous crowd," Mr. Hall, who was Dame Lois Browne Evans' junior counsel in the attempt to save Tacklyn's life. "There were people as far as the eye could see.

"Someone shouted out 'what is the verdict?' and I just gave the thumbs down signal to tell them we had lost, without evening thinking.

"Within in 15 seconds explosions started. "I never intended, with a innocuous hand sign, to start the riots, but they were based on long simmering anger not just that day's events.

As the angry crowd erupted Dame Lois who had led the appeal against Tacklyn's conviction of the Shopping Centre murders of Victor Rego and Mark Doe headed for the AME Church on Court Street to start an all-night prayer vigil.

Meanwhile her junior counsel ended up being hustled into a Police car, for his protection, with members of the Crown Prosecution.

"It became very dangerous and I remember I was rushed to a Police car," Mr. Hall said. "As we were driven to a safe house Molotov cocktails were being thrown at us and people were screaming.

"It was like a dark cloud descended, you could smell the anger and feel it. There was a feeling on the streets that the white establishment had decided to kill these black young men, come what may."

"By the time we reached Harbour Road, ten minutes later, Hamilton was ablaze. "I went to bed thinking all of Hamilton would be smouldering when I woke."

Though the city was not burned to the ground, hundreds took to the streets while 40 riot Policemen carrying long batons and shields marched to meet them. Uniformed Police stood behind to back their comrades up.

But the events that led up to the 1977 riots started more than four years before Dame Lois lost the legal fight.

It began with the murder of Bermuda's Police Commissioner George Duckett on September 9,1972, by Tacklyn's good friend Erskine (Buck) Burrows.

Six months later came the murders of Governor Sir Richard Sharples and his 25-year-old aide-de-camp Capt. Hugh Sayers, also committed by Burrows and allegedly involving Tacklyn and a senior unidentified member of the Black Beret Cadre, a small but active Black Power cell then operating on the Island.

Burrows and Tacklyn were charged but only Burrows was convicted.

Next came the murders of businessmen Victor Rego and Mark Doe during an armed robbery at the Shopping Centre on Victoria Street in April 1973.

Both Burrows and Tacklyn were convicted and sentenced to death for these crimes.

It took five years for the final decision to be made, that the two would hang.

Each phase was fraught with difficulties; from the investigation, to the trials, to the political wrangling and fallout.

But within minutes of the final verdict the frustrations of hundreds and anger with Bermuda's racial inequalities were vented.

It did not stop for three days.

The crowd smashed windows at the Supreme Court and House of Assembly, overturned cars and set fires. Parliament and Victoria streets were a sea of glass after the crowd marched through smashing everything in its way.

At the Transport Control Department a bus was rammed into the building.

Waving banners protesting the hangings, rioters left a trial of destruction in their wake.

MP Dale Butler was 24 at the time, he lived on Angle Street in the middle of where the riots were happening and was one of the junior founding members of the National Committee Against Capital Punishment.

The group had appealed for clemency through petitions, peaceful protests and meetings with the Government.

He vividly remembers hearing that the appeal was lost andwatched hundreds of black men aged 16-60 take to the streets within minutes.

"I was scared,"he said. "There were all these people running around and the lights were out, they had all been smashed. There was always the possibility that there could be a fire in your home, many buildings were ablaze.

"Molotov cocktails were flying and, even inside my house, you could feel the sting of the pepper spray (from riot Police).

"There was a glow from all the buildings and people running around in masks.

"I went out and screamed 'Stay calm, go home' but people just ignored me. There was this immense frustration and they were taking out anything that represented white privilege, some buildings just went up in smoke."

Some of the businesses targeted and set alight were Bristol Cellars and Bermuda Air Conditioning.

While the rioters wrecked Hamilton a large group had gathered at the AMEChurch on Court Street for an all-night prayer vigil.

Dame Lois was there and at times came out to appeal to the crowds to remain calm and go home.

Meanwhile, preparations had gathered pace at Casemates.

Declassified reports revealed that as the two condemned men walked from their cell to a holding cell beside the newly constructed gallows the prison went wild.

Waiting in a tiny execution chamber was the visiting British hangman and his assistant from Trinidad, since Bermuda had no executioners.

The two were old friends: they had performed the same task often enough in the Caribbean.

At 4 a.m. on the morning of Friday, December 2, 1977 Burrows, self-styled 'former Commander in Chief of all anti-colonialist forces in the Islands of Bermuda' was hanged.

Tacklyn went to meet the hangmen at 4.40 a.m.

Some miles away a rumour was rumbling, the hangman was a guest on the top floor of the Southampton Princess.

This prompted a hotel worker to jump on an elevator and douse the top floor's carpets with gasoline.

Fire swept through the Southampton Princess, two tourists and a hotel worker were burned to death.

Later a man was convicted and sentenced to prison for the arson.

And that was just the first night of the riots.

Friday morning saw the mob grow larger. A state of emergency was declared and an Island-wide curfew from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m. was imposed.

But the curfew stopped few.

In the course of the day, Gosling Brothers warehouse, Piggly Wiggly supermarket in Shelly Bay and Sunshine Company were gutted.

Twelve fires blazed across the Island throughout the day and night. Several buildings were ruined in the process, many of them had white owners.

Saturday saw no end in sight.

A handful of white people walking on Court Street were attacked by the angry mobs. The mob grew to 400 people and 23 Regiment officers dressed in riot gear were called in.

Again Molotov cocktails flew, fires were started and windows were broken. The Police used pepper spray and restraint in retaliation. They were praised for their calm in reports after the events.

Across the Island panic, fear and anger flared while the Government attempted to regain control.

By now Police and Firemen had been working three days with no sleep.

With few reinforcements there was a concern they would not be able to manage if the riots continued.

Premier David Gibbons asked the Governor to call in British troops.

Miraculously a rainstorm came just before the 6 p.m. curfew and much of the mob dispersed, seeking cover from the downpour.

News that the British were coming spread as rapidly as the fires had 24 four hours earlier.

On Sunday, December 4 a squad of 250 British troops arrived, some from the jungles of Belize, and the streets of Hamilton were quiet.

The Royal Gazette examines the immediate causes of riots today the 30th anniversary of the last day of rioting and the legacy they had on the Island tomorrow.

Were you involved in the riots? Did you witness them? If so contact Ruth O'Kelly-Lynch at roklynch@royalgazette.bm.