In December 1910 an armed gang of Latvian anarchists killed 3 policemen while escaping from a robbery in Houndsditch, London. Nearly three weeks later, police were tipped off that two of the gang were hiding in a house in Sydney Street. So began the siege, which ended with a burning house and two dead gunmen.

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On 16th December 1910, a gang of Latvian anarchists attempted to break into the rear of a jeweller's shop. An adjacent shopkeeper heard their hammering, informed the City of London Police and 9 unarmed officers - three sergeants and six constables (two in plain-clothes) - converged on the Exchange Buildings.

The 2 sergeants entered the house and became aware of a man standing in the darkness at the top of the stairs. After a short conversation, another man entered through the yard door, and both started shooting.

Both officers were hit, with Bentley collapsing across the doorstep, while Bryant managed to stagger outside. In the street, constable Woodhams ran to help Bentley, but was himself wounded by one of the gang firing from the cover of the house, as was sergeant Tucker, who died almost instantly.

The gang then attempted to break out at the bacl, leader George Gardstein being grabbed by Constable Choate almost at the entrance. In the struggle Choate was wounded several times by Gardstein, before being shot five more times by other members of the gang, who also managed to hit their compatriot in the back. They then dragged Gardstein three-quarters of a mile to 59 Grove Street, where he died the next day.

Constable Choate and Sergeant Tucker died in separate hospitals the same day. An intense search followed, and a number of the gang or their associates were soon arrested.

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The probable leader of the group was George Gardstein, whose real name was likely to have been Poloski or Poolka; he used the aliases Garstin, Poloski, Poolka, Morountzeff, Mourimitz, Maurivitz, Milowitz, Morintz, Morin and Levi. Gardstein, who probably was an anarchist, had been accused of murder and acts of terrorism in Warsaw in 1905 before his arrival in London.

 Another member of the group, Latvian Jacob (or Yakov) Peters, had been an agitator in Russia while in the army and later as a dockyard worker. He had served a term in prison for his activities and had been tortured by the removal of his fingernails.

Yourka Dubof was another Russian agitator who had fled to England after being flogged by Cossacks.

 Fritz Svaars (Fricis Svars) was a Latvian who had been arrested by the Russian authorities three times for terrorist offences, but escaped each time. He had travelled through the United States, where he undertook a series of robberies, before arriving in London in June 1910

Another member was "Peter the Painter", a nickname for an unknown figure, possibly named Peter Piaktow (or Piatkov, Pjatkov or Piaktoff), or Janis Zhaklis (Jānis Žāklis). Bernard Porter, in a brief sketch in the Dictionary of National Biography, writes that no firm details are known of the anarchist's background and that "None of the ... biographical 'facts' about him ... is altogether reliable." William (or Joseph) Sokoloff (or Sokolow) was a Latvian who had been arrested in Riga in 1905 for murder and robbery before travelling to London. 

Another of the group's members was Karl Hoffman—whose real name was Alfred Dzircol (Alfrēds Dzirkols vai Dzirkals)—who had been involved in revolutionary and criminal activities for several years, including gun-running. In London he had practised as a decorator.

 John Rosen—real name John Zelin (Jānis Celiņš) or Tzelin—came to London in 1909 from Riga and worked as a barber, while another member of the gang was

Max Smoller, also known as Joe Levi and "Josepf the Jew". He was wanted in his native Crimea for several jewel robberies