A passage from the book reads: "Roy bashed up one of the twins' so-called big minders and word on the street in the East End was there was going to be serious repercussions because the twins seen this as Roy “mugging them off” and they couldn’t be seen to let it go." In 1978, Bindon was tried for the murder of London gangster Johnny Darke. Bindon pleaded self-defence and was acquitted, but the case damaged his reputation, and that, coupled with being seen by directors as difficult to work with, meant his acting career declined. In the 1980s, Bindon became reclusive; he died in 1993. During his time in Broadmoor, Shaw again encountered Ronnie Kray. He also spent time with such people as Ronnie Biggs and Charles Bronson at other prisons. By 1974, Shaw had already spent around 18 years in more than 22 different prisons. [2] Unlicensed boxing career [ edit ] Royston Henry Shaw (11 March 1936 – 14 July 2012), also known as Roy "Pretty Boy" Shaw, Roy "Mean Machine" Shaw and Roy West, was a property investor, author and businessman from the East End of London who was formerly a criminal and Category A prisoner. During the 1970s–1980s, Shaw was active in the criminal underworld of London and was associated with the Kray twins. Shaw is best remembered today for his career as a fighter on the unlicensed boxing scene, becoming an arch-rival of Lenny McLean. [ citation needed] Early life [ edit ]

Media reports of the trial, along with the Oakland incident, seriously damaged Bindon's reputation and he found it increasingly difficult to find work in the entertainment industry. [ citation needed] Later years and death [ edit ]Morton, James (25 January 1999). "Obituary: Sir William Mars-Jones". The Independent. London . Retrieved 6 May 2010. He moved to Uttoxeter when he was 20 and lived for a while in the former pit town of Rugeley but is best remembered for his time in Uttoxeter where there is a plaque commemorating his achievements. John Dennis Arthur Bindon [1] [2] (4 October 1943 – 10 October 1993) was an English actor and bodyguard who had close links with the London underworld. The son of a London cab driver, Bindon was frequently in trouble as a youth for getting into fights, and spent two periods in borstal. He was spotted in a London pub by Ken Loach, who asked him to appear in his film Poor Cow (1967). His was a violent world from the off. During a 1953 Boxing Day gathering at a bar in Exhall, Stratford-on-Avon, the young Bartley witnessed his uncle’s death. He was killed by a single blow from a showman enraged after his drink was spilled.

I will never fight a normal man,” said the scrapper, unbeaten in 25 years of brutal warfare, “because I am liable to kill him with one punch.” On his release from prison, Shaw started fighting unlicensed (i.e. not sanctioned by the British Boxing Board of Control) [3] boxing matches in 1978, aged 42, and gained many infamous victories, including one over Donnie "The Bull" Adams. Shaw also beat former world heavyweight contender Ron Stander, who had also previously fought Joe Frazier for the heavyweight title. Stander however broke a rib before the fight with Roy Shaw. Shaw would later say in his book that he kept hitting Stander with punches which had no effect on Stander – until he found his broken rib. In Shaw's words if Stander had not broken his rib he would have 'mullered me'. Bartley was enjoying a pint when Mexicana Webb, a giant with a wiry, unkempt head of hair that looked like a busted sofa, threw down the gauntlet. The crowd cleared the tables to give the two men fighting room, and warned the landlord not to ring the police.Although his grandfather and great-grandfather were gypsy boxing champs, his dad, Samuel, was deeply religious and shunned fighting. Christina now lives alone in their flat, the entrance to which Tommy never managed to finish carpeting. She speaks delicately of the man who was broken by his son's death and who hated his past. 'Tommy was trying to avoid old places and people he knew,' she recalls. 'It all hurt him. We bumped into an old friend one afternoon. He simply said: "Hello, how are you, Tommy?" As we walked away, I could see he was drenched in sweat.'

Clarkson, Wensley (2005). Bindon: Fighter, Gangster, Actor, Lover – the True Story of John Bindon, a Modern Legend. London: John Blake. ISBN 1-84454-116-9 Gerard, a friend of "celebrity gangster" Ronnie Knight and the Kray twins, was gunned down on his daughter's 11th birthday as he got into his car near his home in Stratford, east London. Shaw co-wrote a book with Kate Kray, the widow of Ronnie Kray, entitled Roy Shaw: Unleashed (2003). The book is a collection of stories and anecdotes about the criminal underworld of London in the 1970s/1980s, as well as Shaw's boxing career. Shaw's autobiography, entitled Pretty Boy (2003), was also co-written by Kray. It goes into further detail Shaw's early life, personal and private life, time in prison, and also expanding on stories begun in his previous book. In 2000, Shaw was one of the best known mourners to attend the funeral of Reggie Kray, a lifelong friend. Shaw said of Kray: "Kray came from an era before drugs became common currency, when there was honour among thieves and few criminals double-crossed their friends. In those days there was loyalty. Nowadays they are all having each other over all the time." [1]Court transcript, Regina -v- John Dennis Arthur Bindon, Central Criminal Court of England and Wales, 29 October 1979 In 2010, Bindon was the subject of Ten Men: The Lives of John Bindon, a one-man verse play written and directed by Franklyn McCabe, with Matthew Houghton playing Bindon. The play was performed at the Open House pub theatre as part of the Brighton Fringe Festival in 2010. [15]