Series from 2012
Meet the villains, gangsters or 'faces' - as they prefer to be known - who have made headlines over the past 50 years for all the wrong reasons. The m…
Bernard O’Mahoney begins his journey in Glasgow, an epicentre for criminal activity over the past 50 years. Bernie meets the city's first Godfather of crime, Walter Norval, former leader of the XYY gang, who talks of Glasgow's underworld during the 50s and 60s. Walter discusses his eventual arrest and trial, which was abandoned after the High Court was blown up by his daughter and her partner in order to destroy evidence.
One of Manchester's most infamous gangs, formed in the 60s, was the Quality Street Gang. Named after the advert which showed a group of well-dressed men walking into a pub with a certain swagger, the gang was well known for supposedly sending the Krays 'packing' from Manchester when the brothers tried to expand their operations. Bernie chats to three of the members: Jimmy ‘The Weed’ Donnelly, whose fame is such that Thin Lizzy wrote the song Jimmy The Weed about him, and Terry Barlow and Arthur Donnelly.
With a history rich in crime activity, England's capital gives Bernie the chance to meet numerous 'faces' that have shaped London's colourful past, as well as present day names. Mad Frank Fraser talks about Jack Spot and 1950s London up until he joined the Richardson gang in the early 60s. We meet gangster Eddie Richardson, younger sibling of crime boss Charlie Richardson. The brothers operated in scrap metal and fruit machines, businesses that were fronts for underworld activities, which included fraud, protection rackets, usury, theft and stolen goods. Eddie was sentenced to 25 years for drug dealing in 1990. Here, he talks of London's gangland past during the 60s, a time when the city bathed in glamorous nightclubs, and the relationship he had with the Krays.
Panda Anderson will tell the story of the Krays visit to Newcastle. (To purchase gaming machines from a man named Vince Landa). We meet Billy Robinson, a man who recruited every top villain and fighter in Newcastle to work as doormen. One of these men was Viv Graham, something of a cult hero, who was gunned down on New Year's Eve in 1993.
The 70s and 80s saw a change in activity for criminal fraternities. Following the 'harsh' sentencing of the Krays, many turned to armed robbery to earn a living. Villains saw the banks and armoured cars that transported huge amounts of cash around the UK as relatively easy pickings. Bernie talks to Danny Woollard and Angelo 'Festus' Hayman, two men who carried out the Snow Hill Robbery in 1995. The robbery was the most lucrative heist since the Great Train Robbery 32 years earlier. The two held up a security vehicle at gunpoint, stealing £7 million in bearer bonds and £400,000 in diamonds. Both men were charged and sentenced to lengthy terms of imprisonment.
In the final episode of the series, Bernie attempts to answer the age old question "Does crime pay?" For many 'faces', the initial adrenalin thrill of fast money and high rewards leads to decades of violence, prison life, destruction, fear and loss of life. Drugs and guns led to more murders, leading to government initiatives to crack down on crime organisations and the tougher prison sentencing. Many of the old guard saw the wheel of fortune turn against them, and Bernie examines the personal devastation a life of crime has had on the 'faces'.
