following a street battle in Houndsditch between City of London Police and a group of Latvian anarchists during which three policemen died, the police laid siege to a building at 100 Sidney Street; gang were armed with semi-automatic weapons and police called for back-up; Winston Churchill (1874-1965) then Home Secretary, ordered a detachment of Scots Guards to assist police; eventually the gang set fire to the house, two burned to death; 5 people were later put on trial but acquitted;