Gone Shopping: The Story of Shirley Pitts - Queen of Thieves

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Thug, 41, who strangled his disabled partner, 50, with a dog lead and left her body to be found two days later by her son is jailed for life John “Goldfinger” Palmer, who was acquitted of similar Brink’s-Mat offences – he duly blew a grateful kiss to the jury – was also in reality a fairly ruthless operator, who moved to Tenerife and took advantage of gullible souls, who were conned into investing in timeshare apartments. Not long after being released, Hughes was involved in the ­Lambeth riot of Christmas 1925, when the home of Bill Britten was stormed. She was ­sentenced to five months. Pitts was born in south-east London, in Lambeth Walk, Lambeth, [1] to Harry Pitts, who died in Parkhurst Prison in 1962, [4] and Nell Taylor, an alcoholic. [5] One brother, Henry "Adgie" Pitts, became a bank robber who died aged 29 in a car crash. She disowned another brother, Charlie, after he took part in a kidnap plot, for which he received a 15-year jail sentence. [1] [2]

The Key Figures

Brian Clifford was born on 29 February 1940 [1] in Lambeth, London. [2] In 1960, he married Rhoda R. Katz in Stepney, London. [3] The couple had children Karon (born 1961), [4] Deborah (born 1962) [5] and Bernard (Bernie) (1968-2017) who was the manager of the Groucho Club in Soho. [6] Career [ edit ] Ms Marsh said it 'was time to reappraise London's gangland' when she wrote The Queen of Thieves. 'It was not just a man's world, despite the countless column inches still spent poring over the phenomenon that was the Kray Twins,' she added. At 17 he was sent to Borstal for breaking and entering a hosiery shop in Waterloo and was then given a 15-month prison sentence for shopbreaking. Rishi Sunak snubs talks with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis following demands for the Elgin Marbles to be returned

Rishi Sunak's great reset stalls as new poll shows Labour extending its lead to 20 points despite tax-cutting Autumn Statement - and Reform UK hits a new high amid Tory infighting over immigration Pitts's architect son, Chris Hawkins, writes of his mother: ``She was the woman who was always in your corner, who never let you down and who was always absolutely genuine. If you hurt, she would hurt twice as bad, and if it concerned her children and it came to a fist fight, she would throw the first punch. It was incredibly subversive to go against the class system and steal furs and luxury items and swan about like they were rich - but that is exactly what they did.

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She lived an unashamedly lavish lifestyle and splashed her money around. She also passed on her 'wisdom' to a future queen, Shirley Pitts.But her children adored her, and she never let them down. Pitts would say that she'd worked hard all her life (and she classed shoplifting as a job) so that her children would never go without; if she died penniless, it was because she gave all her money away. This biography makes illuminating reading and it's not that Pitts's moral code is the inverse of society's (her concern for the welfare and unity of her family would make a Tory conference weep). Shirley Pitts said in her memoirs that Clifford ran several night clubs in London's west end [8] while "Mad" Frankie Fraser described him as a "mover, a buyer of gear" (a fence) who shot Johnny Mangan twice in the head in 1979 and was tried for attempted murder but acquitted. [9] Stephen Smith described an occasion on which he flew with Clifford to Switzerland and successfully exchanged forged U.S. dollars for genuine British currency in the banks there. [7] Death [ edit ] What we do not learn is that, having served his bullion sentence, Noye came out of prison and stabbed 21-year-old Stephen Cameron to death in a road rage case in 1996, fled to Spain with a new identity, but was extradited and jailed for life, eventually serving another 18 years. a b c Gamman, Lorraine. (2013). Gone shopping: The story of Shirley Pitts, Queen of thieves. London: Bloomsbury. p.121. ISBN 978-1-4482-0971-2.