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'Robin Hood' lucks out at 23
1970s criminal killed May 23 on 23rd birthday
BY KARYL WALKER Sunday Observer staff reporter [email protected]
Sunday, December 16, 2007
PERHAPS the most dangerous, vile criminal and political enforcer to have evolved out of the politically turbulent decade of the 1970s was Derrick Adair, who was known in the criminal underworld as 'Shabba'.
Shabba was a leading Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) enforcer who was born on May 23, 1955 in the community of Fletcher's Land in downtown Kingston, and grew into one of the infamous 'chuckies' of that violent era.
According to Shabba's brother, who spoke on condition of anonymity, he grew up with a hatred for police officers because he had suffered brutal beatings from a policeman who lived with his stepmother.
"Him never grow with him real mother; him grow with him father and him woman. Him father and the woman mash up and she start live with a policeman, who use to ill-treat him, beat him regularly till him have to run away," Shabba's brother said.
The regular beatings seemed to have pushed Shabba over the edge and, according to his brother, his burning hatred for law enforcement officers grew.
Shabba was a staunch Labourite, whose hatred for the then governing People's National Party (PNP) grew larger after he was reportedly conned out of a parcel of land he inherited in Fletcher's Land.
"They were trying to convert Fletcher's Land into a PNP stronghold and in the process he was cheated out of his land. That only made his hatred for authority grow stronger," Shabba's brother said.
Although there is no official tally, criminal operatives of that era blamed Shabba for the murders of at least 20 police officers
and soldiers.
"He may have been the man who is responsible for killing more security officers in the history of criminality in this country," one police source said.
"Him hate the police and soldier and anytime him see one, them dead," his brother said. "Them man deh never run from police, a police run from them," he added.
Racehorse jockey gone bad
But while Shabba is best remembered for his acts of criminality, he was once a popular racehorse jockey, who won his fair share of races at Caymanas Park. But his career in horse racing came to an end in 1974 when he quit racing and embarked upon his plunge into criminality.
His last winning mount was Fair Prospect in the same year.
"They never liked him in racing circles because he was a gambling man and would set up his own business," his brother recalled.
Shabba then became a daring armed robber who would target banks and payrolls and make off with the loot.
His brother compared him to Robin Hood, and praised him for the way he treated poor people.
"Is a whole heap of poor people benefit from those robberies. My brother was too generous. The bad men in those days did not operate like how them youth yah deal with people now; they used to treat people right and, because of their kindness to the poor and unfortunate, they were well protected. Poor people were their strength," he said.
Shabba was a notoriously slick dresser
Shabba has been described as a slick dresser.
"Them man deh never carry themselves like them youth yah today. Him wear three-piece suit and felt hat with a feather. The man dress like a businessman, and when him go rob many times people get caught unaware because him used to dress so sharp," one former resident of Trench Town, who claimed to have known Shabba, said.
His exploits as a robber earned him the respect of former most wanted fugitive Dennis 'Copper' Barth and the two soon became partners in crime.
Interestingly, although Copper was an enforcer from the other side of the political fence, both were bounded by their
criminal exploits and politics never came between them.
According to Shabba's brother, most of the top political enforcers of the time were close associates who never had ill-feelings towards each other. Most never lived in the garrison communities they controlled for their political bosses.
"Bad man never live in the ghetto, them live in places like Forest Hills and Cherry Gardens and most of those people never knew say them dangerous man deh was living among them. I went to a party at a place Shabba owned in Cherry Gardens and saw some well-known enforcers, including General Starkey, Natty Kunda, Terror Dog and the twins from building 13 in Tivoli," the man said.
He said his brother warned him to avoid politics when he attempted to hide from the political enforcers out of fear.
"He said 'no man, we are enforcers. We don't hurt each other. Leave politics alone because is only the poor people get killed'," Shabba's brother said, "They were protected by persons in high places."
Police corruption, which has been a source of concern in recent times, was just as prevalent then.
"Even though he was known to be a cop-killer and bank robber, there were still some officers who would come check him and give him information about raids and collect their cut from the money he robbed," Shabba's brother said.
Shabba has been fingered as the robber behind the heists at the Tinson Pen Aerodrome, Victoria Pier and the Oceana Hotel in the mid-1970s.
"He always got the money," his brother said.
But one robbery which went afoul was the famous attempt to rob the Caymanas Track in 1978. The gang of hoodlums who embarked on the robbery was made up of gangsters from various garrisons with different political allegiances.
"It was not about politics, they were trying to get money and share it among the various areas where only poor people lived," one elder man who claimed to have lived in West Kingston at the time said.
The gang, which the man said numbered at least eight, carjacked two Fiat motorcars to transport them to and from the racetrack.
When the robbers arrived, they entered the compound unnoticed. They congregated in an area where the day's take was stored, but a policeman recognised Copper - who was the island's most wanted fugitive at the time. The officer immediately opened fire, hitting Copper in the stomach.
Reports are that Copper, knowing that his wounds were fatal, threw a sub-machine gun he was carrying to Shabba. Copper then took a Magnum revolver and fired back at the police, injuring two of them, while his cronies beat a hasty retreat.
"Copper knew he would not make it and gave them the 'chopper' so they could shoot their way out. He took the Magnum and fired until he collapsed," another source said.
One of the policemen later died.
A few months after the botched attempt to rob Caymanas Park, Shabba's four-year tenure at the pinnacle of the criminal underworld would come to an end.
According to Shabba's brother, he was set up by a sister of one of his children's mother who had stolen $20,000, which Shabba had earlier robbed at gunpoint.
"She was a bad mind gal who knew her sister was pregnant for my brother, but set him up because she thought Shabba was going to kill her over the money she stole," Shabba's brother said.
Shabba shot dead
Shabba was killed by police officers on
his 23rd birthday, which ironically was May
23, 1978.
A cop, who was on the trail of the dangerous criminal, was contacted by the woman and informed of his whereabouts in Tivoli Gardens. The cop is said to have dressed in women's clothing and called him over to the car.
"He loved women, and he was drinking a lot of brandy so he never realised what was going to happen... he tried to back off, but it was too late," his brother said.
During a brief shoot-out, Shabba was hit. He then fled into a high-rise building in a section of Tivoli Gardens, but the police raided the building and, with the aid of guard dogs, found the fugitive suffering from the gunshot wound in an apartment.
Those who claimed to have witnessed the killing, told Shabba's relatives that although he was shot, he did not die of injuries caused by a bullet.
"People who were there say when the police officers found him, they tied a rope around his neck and dragged him down the stairs until he was dead. Is not gunshot kill him," Shabba's brother said.
The day following Shabba's demise at the hands of the police, a number of police officers were shot in the Corporate Area. At least two succumbed to their injuries. One cop was shot on Charles Street, while the other was killed at the Coronation Market, one source said.
The woman who reportedly tipped off the police, had to leave the area. She was eventually issued with a US visa and fled
the island.
At the time of his death, Derrick 'Shabba' Adair was said to have sired at least 20 children with women in Matthews Lane, Rema, Trench Town, Spanish Town and Fletcher's Land.
1970s criminal killed May 23 on 23rd birthday
BY KARYL WALKER Sunday Observer staff reporter [email protected]
Sunday, December 16, 2007
PERHAPS the most dangerous, vile criminal and political enforcer to have evolved out of the politically turbulent decade of the 1970s was Derrick Adair, who was known in the criminal underworld as 'Shabba'.
Shabba was a leading Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) enforcer who was born on May 23, 1955 in the community of Fletcher's Land in downtown Kingston, and grew into one of the infamous 'chuckies' of that violent era.
According to Shabba's brother, who spoke on condition of anonymity, he grew up with a hatred for police officers because he had suffered brutal beatings from a policeman who lived with his stepmother.
"Him never grow with him real mother; him grow with him father and him woman. Him father and the woman mash up and she start live with a policeman, who use to ill-treat him, beat him regularly till him have to run away," Shabba's brother said.
The regular beatings seemed to have pushed Shabba over the edge and, according to his brother, his burning hatred for law enforcement officers grew.
Shabba was a staunch Labourite, whose hatred for the then governing People's National Party (PNP) grew larger after he was reportedly conned out of a parcel of land he inherited in Fletcher's Land.
"They were trying to convert Fletcher's Land into a PNP stronghold and in the process he was cheated out of his land. That only made his hatred for authority grow stronger," Shabba's brother said.
Although there is no official tally, criminal operatives of that era blamed Shabba for the murders of at least 20 police officers
and soldiers.
"He may have been the man who is responsible for killing more security officers in the history of criminality in this country," one police source said.
"Him hate the police and soldier and anytime him see one, them dead," his brother said. "Them man deh never run from police, a police run from them," he added.
Racehorse jockey gone bad
But while Shabba is best remembered for his acts of criminality, he was once a popular racehorse jockey, who won his fair share of races at Caymanas Park. But his career in horse racing came to an end in 1974 when he quit racing and embarked upon his plunge into criminality.
His last winning mount was Fair Prospect in the same year.
"They never liked him in racing circles because he was a gambling man and would set up his own business," his brother recalled.
Shabba then became a daring armed robber who would target banks and payrolls and make off with the loot.
His brother compared him to Robin Hood, and praised him for the way he treated poor people.
"Is a whole heap of poor people benefit from those robberies. My brother was too generous. The bad men in those days did not operate like how them youth yah deal with people now; they used to treat people right and, because of their kindness to the poor and unfortunate, they were well protected. Poor people were their strength," he said.
Shabba was a notoriously slick dresser
Shabba has been described as a slick dresser.
"Them man deh never carry themselves like them youth yah today. Him wear three-piece suit and felt hat with a feather. The man dress like a businessman, and when him go rob many times people get caught unaware because him used to dress so sharp," one former resident of Trench Town, who claimed to have known Shabba, said.
His exploits as a robber earned him the respect of former most wanted fugitive Dennis 'Copper' Barth and the two soon became partners in crime.
Interestingly, although Copper was an enforcer from the other side of the political fence, both were bounded by their
criminal exploits and politics never came between them.
According to Shabba's brother, most of the top political enforcers of the time were close associates who never had ill-feelings towards each other. Most never lived in the garrison communities they controlled for their political bosses.
"Bad man never live in the ghetto, them live in places like Forest Hills and Cherry Gardens and most of those people never knew say them dangerous man deh was living among them. I went to a party at a place Shabba owned in Cherry Gardens and saw some well-known enforcers, including General Starkey, Natty Kunda, Terror Dog and the twins from building 13 in Tivoli," the man said.
He said his brother warned him to avoid politics when he attempted to hide from the political enforcers out of fear.
"He said 'no man, we are enforcers. We don't hurt each other. Leave politics alone because is only the poor people get killed'," Shabba's brother said, "They were protected by persons in high places."
Police corruption, which has been a source of concern in recent times, was just as prevalent then.
"Even though he was known to be a cop-killer and bank robber, there were still some officers who would come check him and give him information about raids and collect their cut from the money he robbed," Shabba's brother said.
Shabba has been fingered as the robber behind the heists at the Tinson Pen Aerodrome, Victoria Pier and the Oceana Hotel in the mid-1970s.
"He always got the money," his brother said.
But one robbery which went afoul was the famous attempt to rob the Caymanas Track in 1978. The gang of hoodlums who embarked on the robbery was made up of gangsters from various garrisons with different political allegiances.
"It was not about politics, they were trying to get money and share it among the various areas where only poor people lived," one elder man who claimed to have lived in West Kingston at the time said.
The gang, which the man said numbered at least eight, carjacked two Fiat motorcars to transport them to and from the racetrack.
When the robbers arrived, they entered the compound unnoticed. They congregated in an area where the day's take was stored, but a policeman recognised Copper - who was the island's most wanted fugitive at the time. The officer immediately opened fire, hitting Copper in the stomach.
Reports are that Copper, knowing that his wounds were fatal, threw a sub-machine gun he was carrying to Shabba. Copper then took a Magnum revolver and fired back at the police, injuring two of them, while his cronies beat a hasty retreat.
"Copper knew he would not make it and gave them the 'chopper' so they could shoot their way out. He took the Magnum and fired until he collapsed," another source said.
One of the policemen later died.
A few months after the botched attempt to rob Caymanas Park, Shabba's four-year tenure at the pinnacle of the criminal underworld would come to an end.
According to Shabba's brother, he was set up by a sister of one of his children's mother who had stolen $20,000, which Shabba had earlier robbed at gunpoint.
"She was a bad mind gal who knew her sister was pregnant for my brother, but set him up because she thought Shabba was going to kill her over the money she stole," Shabba's brother said.
Shabba shot dead
Shabba was killed by police officers on
his 23rd birthday, which ironically was May
23, 1978.
A cop, who was on the trail of the dangerous criminal, was contacted by the woman and informed of his whereabouts in Tivoli Gardens. The cop is said to have dressed in women's clothing and called him over to the car.
"He loved women, and he was drinking a lot of brandy so he never realised what was going to happen... he tried to back off, but it was too late," his brother said.
During a brief shoot-out, Shabba was hit. He then fled into a high-rise building in a section of Tivoli Gardens, but the police raided the building and, with the aid of guard dogs, found the fugitive suffering from the gunshot wound in an apartment.
Those who claimed to have witnessed the killing, told Shabba's relatives that although he was shot, he did not die of injuries caused by a bullet.
"People who were there say when the police officers found him, they tied a rope around his neck and dragged him down the stairs until he was dead. Is not gunshot kill him," Shabba's brother said.
The day following Shabba's demise at the hands of the police, a number of police officers were shot in the Corporate Area. At least two succumbed to their injuries. One cop was shot on Charles Street, while the other was killed at the Coronation Market, one source said.
The woman who reportedly tipped off the police, had to leave the area. She was eventually issued with a US visa and fled
the island.
At the time of his death, Derrick 'Shabba' Adair was said to have sired at least 20 children with women in Matthews Lane, Rema, Trench Town, Spanish Town and Fletcher's Land.
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