LITMIR.BIZ

       BACKGROUND

      I’m an EastEnder, from Forest Gate, Stratford. My dad’s Maltese and my mum’s English. I’ve got one brother. I left school and went into engineering, but it wasn’t for me.

      I met a girl from a place called Wanstead and she took me to her house – it was absolutely beautiful. It was at that point I noticed rich from poor. From that moment on, I decided I didn’t want to end up like my dad, working every day that God sends and still ending up saving only £1 a week in the Post Office. That’s not knocking my father, it’s just not how I wanted to live.

      I was always into combat sports: karate, kick-boxing, a little bit of this and a little bit of that. Then I found out about a thing called a gun and away I went.

      I started off robbing building societies when I was 17. It was quick and easy money and I loved it.

       LIFE OF CRIME

      I was 20 years old when I was first put on remand, for stabbing. All my offences have been for shooting and firearms. I’ve been acquitted for two attempted murders. When I go to prison I don’t get a day off for parole. I go in category A and come out category A. I do not concede to the prison system. I’ve just completed a 12-year sentence.

       WEAPONRY

      I’ve been convicted of stabbing and shooting. Who dares wins!

       TOUGHEST MOMENT

      My toughest moment was being sentenced to 48 years for helping a so-called friend. I took the rap for taking three hostages, whilst on an armed robbery. My so-called mate had been shot. I could have put a bullet through his head and walked away, but I didn’t.

      The hardest point was going on a visit and explaining to my family why I gave up my life for a friend. They couldn’t understand it. In retrospect, neither can I.

       IS THERE ANYONE YOU ADMIRE?

      Anyone with good principles. Men of the old school, like Joey Pyle. He’s a man of his word.

       DO YOU BELIEVE IN HANGING?

      No. Hanging is a terrible way to die. While I was in prison, I found six people hanging in their cells. One inmate, a man called Jimmy Collywood who’d served 14 years, was in the cell opposite mine and he hanged himself. In the morning I found him. For a time, it affected me badly. The image of Jimmy hanging in his cell, with his tongue hanging out and his eyes bulging, stayed with me for a long time. It’s something I’ll never forget.

      Another reason why I don’t believe in capital punishment is if an innocent man is hanged. It’s no good granting them a pardon if they’re dead. There are many innocent men serving life imprisonment for crimes they haven’t committed. One that springs to mind is a bloke called Warren Slaney, he’s serving life and he is innocent. I’ve nothing to gain by lying. It’s the truth.

       IS PRISON A DETERRENT?

      No, prison is not a deterrent. When a man commits a crime, especially the act of murder, he doesn’t worry about going to prison, he doesn’t even think about it.

       WHAT WOULD HAVE DETERRED YOU FROM A LIFE OF CRIME?

      Money; if I was born in to a wealthy family. I never want to take second best. I’ve been chasing money since I was 17 and I probably always will.

       WHAT MAKES A TOUGH GUY?

      To get respect, you’ve got to be nice. If you’re a dog, no one likes you. I don’t class myself as a nasty person and I don’t attack people for nothing, but if you go through the penal system and come through it unscathed, you’ve got to be fairly tough. It’s all right being tough on the streets, but if you’ve got 30 screws outside your cell all with riot shields and batons and you’re not frightened to steam into them, that sorts the men from the boys.

       VIC’S FINAL THOUGHT

      I’m not a nasty person. Believe it or not I’ve got a conscience; if I was having a row, I would stop if it went too far but only if I knew I’d won. But if I thought I was going to get a kicking, then I’d take you out of the game. No question. That’s one of the reasons why I gave up the guns. If I’m gonna die, I’ll take a lot of people with me.

       HARD BASTARD

       John Daniels

       Still active

      JOHN DANIELS

       ‘Kinda broad at the shoulders and narrow at the hip. And everybody knows you don’t give no lip to Big John…’

      That’s a line from a song that springs to mind every time I see John Daniels. The man is a mountain, an immovable object. He’s 6ft4ins and weighs 30 stone. He looks every bit what he is – Big Bad John.

      The first time I saw John Daniels was in March 1995. The reason that date is so prominent in my mind is because it was the day I buried my husband Ronnie Kray. John was the man assigned to guard Ronnie’s body in the Chapel of Rest at Bethnal Green, east London. At the time, I didn’t get to speak to John or even acknowledge him; in actual fact, I never saw him again until the day I saw a photograph of him in Nigel Benn’s autobiography Dark Destroyer.

      Through a friend of a friend, I found out his name and managed to track him down to Luton, Bedfordshire. I telephoned him and explained about the book. John was softly spoken, he wasn’t loud, brash or aggressive. He didn’t try to be something he wasn’t; he didn’t have to. John is what he appears to be – a hard bastard.

      John agreed to meet me and talk, at a pub in Shooters Hill in South London. I’ve done quite a few interviews at this particular place but each time I’ve felt a strange atmosphere there. On this particular day, it was worse. Out of politeness, I asked the lady serving if I could take some photographs in the bar. There was no moment of consideration, just a flat ‘No’. I didn’t feel that was a problem, it was her pub and she could do what the hell she liked. John eventually had his photographs taken in a subway in South London.

      When we returned to the pub to do the interview, I switched on my tape recorder and we started to talk. Almost immediately, music blared from a sound system. It was The Commitments blasting out their version of ‘Mustang Sally’. The noise was deafening; we could barely hear ourselves speak. At first, we ignored the loud music. This just irritated the landlady and she turned it up to full volume. We battled on against all odds to do the interview.

      Once

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