Download or read book Glasgow s Godfather written by Robert Jeffrey and published by Black & White Publishing. This book was released on 2011-05-22 with total page 236 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Walter Norval was a man marked by destiny to be a career criminal in one of Britain's hardest cities. As a boy he grew up in a world of illegal betting, violent canal bank pitch-and-toss schools, sleazy dance halls, brothels and bars where the denizens of the slums in the north side of Glasgow slaked gargantuan thirsts and plotted murder and mayhem. Before he had reached his teens, close relatives had died as blood was spilled in the streets. As a youngster he ran 'messages' for the toughest gangsters in the city and stood guard over the pots of cash in illegal gambling schools. It was a remarkable apprenticeship, dangerous and sometimes deadly. It honed a latent toughness and a talent for lawbreaking that saw him emerge in the Seventies as the first of a succession of Glasgow godfathers. Dressed in pinstriped style, he controlled his foot soldiers with fearsome fists and planned robberies with the attention to detail of a military general. He organised various Glasgow fighting factions into a single gang, which pulled off a spectacular series of robberies. But, unlike his successors, he abhorred drugs and drug-dealing.And, in a remarkable twist, he joined the anti-drugs war in later life. His story - told by the best-selling crime historian Robert Jeffrey - provides a fascinating insight into the making of a criminal mastermind, from boy to man.
Download or read book The Glasgow Curse written by William Lobban and published by Birlinn. This book was released on 2013-10-03 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This chilling and disturbing memoir tells the story of one of Glasgow's most notorious criminals. In his own words, William Lobban tells how he was born in Exeter Prison to a violent, schizophrenic mother. His upbringing in the East End of Glasgow was just as bleak, and he ended up in care, destined for a life of violence and insecurity. Aged only 15 he masterminded a daring break-in to a Glasgow pub, and many years of armed robberies, dealing class A drugs and gang fights followed. When he wasn't causing mayhem on the streets, Lobban was serving terms in various young offenders' institutions and prisons, where he was involved in some of the most serious prison riots of recent years. In the course of his criminal career Lobban became closely associated with the infamous Paul Ferris, who was later to incriminate him as the murderer of fellow gangster Arthur Thompson Jr. Police also believed that Lobban was the man behind the brutal double killing of Bobby Glover and Joe 'Bananas' Hanlon, but none of these charges was made to stick. Finally released from prison in 1998, Lobban decided to walk away from a life of crime, but at first it proved impossible for him to break the way of life that had moulded him, and only in recent years has he found a measure of peace and stability. In this searing expose of the Glasgow underworld he reveals the true facts behind those crimes which he really committed, and those of which he is falsely accused.
Download or read book The Ferris Conspiracy written by Paul Ferris and published by Random House. This book was released on 2012-11-23 with total page 257 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On Glasgow's meanest streets life started well for the young Paul Ferris. How did he become Glasgow's most feared gangster, deemed a risk to national security? Arthur Thompson, Godfather of the crime world and senior partner of the Krays, recruited young Ferris as a bagman, debt collector and equaliser. Feared for his capacity for extreme violence, respected for his intelligence, Ferris was the Godfather's heir apparent. But when gang warfare broke, underworld leaders traded in flesh, colluding with their partners - the police. Disgusted, Ferris left the Godfather and stood alone. They gave him weeks to live. While Ferris was caged in Barlinnie Prison's segregation unit accused of murdering Thompson's son, Fatboy, his two friends were shot dead the night before the funeral and grotesquely displayed in a car on the cortége's route. Acquitted against all the odds, Ferris moved on, determined to make an honest living. They would not let him. The National Crime Squad, MI5, the police and two of the country's most powerful gangsters saw to that. A maximum-security prisoner, Ferris is known as 'Lucky' because he is still alive. This is one man's unique insight into Britain's crime world and the inextricable web of corruption - a revealing story of official corruption and unholy alliances.
Download or read book Scotland and the 19th Century World written by and published by Brill. This book was released on 2012-01-01 with total page 276 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The nineteenth century is often read as a time of retreat and diffusion in Scottish literature under the overwhelming influence of British identity. Scotland and the 19th-Century World presents Scottish literature as altogether more dynamic, with narratives of Scottish identity working beyond the merely imperial. This collection of essays by leading international scholars highlights Scottish literary intersections with North America, Asia, Africa and Europe. James Macpherson, Francis Jeffrey, Walter Scott, Robert Louis Stevenson and John Davidson feature alongside other major literary and cultural figures in this groundbreaking volume.
Download or read book The Contemporary History of Drug Based Organised Crime in Scotland written by Robert McLean and published by Emerald Group Publishing. This book was released on 2024-10-07 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Contemporary History of Drug-Based Organised Crime in Scotland provides insight into the development of drug based organised crime in the region, and how this process has subsequently shaped the wider criminal landscape of Scotland.
Download or read book The Godfather of Rock written by T. O. M. RUSSELL and published by Beard Books. This book was released on 2016-10-19 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: TOM RUSSELL gives us a behind the scenes look at his life in rock and radio. He uncovered some of the great rock bands to come out of Scotland and has interviewed and spent time with some of the absolute legends: Robert Plant, Ozzy, ACDC, Genesis, Judas Priest, ZZ Top, Iron Maiden, Bon Jovi, Metallica, Guns N Roses, Rush, Motley Crue, Journey, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Black Stone Cherry, Alterbridge and many many more. The Godfather of Rock is a fantastic read and great insight into the emergence of rock through the 60's, 70's, and 80's. Tom is still immersed in the business and remains a major influence right up to the present day.
Download or read book Gangs Drugs and Dis Organised Crime written by Robert McLean and published by Policy Press. This book was released on 2019-08-21 with total page 256 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Drawing upon unique empirical data based on interviews with high-profile ex-offenders and experts, this book sheds new light on drug markets and gangs in the UK. The study shows how traditional methods of tackling gang violence fail to address the intertwined nature of those criminal activities which can overlap with other organised crime spheres. McLean sparks new debate on the subject, offering solutions and alternatives.
Download or read book The Quaker written by Liam McIlvanney and published by Europa Editions. This book was released on 2019-09-17 with total page 309 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Washington Post Best Book of the Year: Based on true events, “a solidly crafted and satisfying detective story” set in 1960s Glasgow (The Guardian). It is 1969 and Glasgow is in the grip of the worst winter in decades. But it is something else that has Glaswegians on edge: a serial killer is at large. The brutality of The Quaker’s latest murder— a young woman snatched from a nightclub, her body dumped like trash in the back of a cold-water tenement—has the city trembling with fear, and the police investigation seems to be going nowhere. Duncan McCormick, a talented young detective from the Highlands, is brought into the investigation to identify where it’s gone wrong. An outsider with troubling secrets of his own, DI McCormack has few friends in his adopted city and a lot to prove. His arrival is met with anger and distrust by cops who are desperate to nail a suspect. When they identify a petty thief as the man seen leaving the building where the Quaker’s last victim was found, they decide they’ve found their killer. But McCormack isn’t convinced . . . From ruined backstreets to deserted public parks and down into the dark heart of Glasgow, McCormack follows a trail of secrets that will change the city—and his life—forever. “Intricately plotted . . . gorgeously written.” —Toronto Star “A terrific novel, dark, powerful . . . I finished it a while ago, but I’m still haunted.” —Ann Cleeves, bestselling author of Shetland
Download or read book National Index of Parish Registers Sources for Scottish genealogy and family history written by Donald John Steel and published by . This book was released on 1966 with total page 344 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Ecclesiastical Chronicle for Scotland written by James Frederick Skinner Gordon and published by . This book was released on 1867 with total page 316 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Scotland s Wildest Bank Robber written by Ian Macdonald and published by . This book was released on 2020-12-18 with total page 298 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a young man in Glasgow's underworld, Ian 'Blink' MacDonald earned a reputation for fighting and stabbing his enemies. After refusing to work for Arthur "The Godfather" Thompson, he tried to steal £6 million in a high-risk armed bank robbery. While serving 16 years, Blink met the torture-gang boss Eddie Richardson, the serial killer Archie Hall, notorious lifer Charles Bronson and members of the Krays. After his release, his drug-fuelled violent lifestyle created conflict with the police and rival gangsters. Rearrested several times, he was the target of a gruesome assassination attempt. During filming for Danny Dyer's Deadliest Men, a bomb was discovered under Blink's car and the terrified camera-crew members fled from Scotland. In Scotland's Wildest Bank Robber, Blink provides a jaw-dropping account of how he survived gangland warfare, prisons, stabbings and bombs.
Download or read book The Globe Encyclopaedia of Universal Information written by John M. Ross and published by . This book was released on 1879 with total page 616 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Peterhead written by Robert Jeffrey and published by Black & White Publishing. This book was released on 2013-09-24 with total page 214 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Robert Jeffrey, author of the bestselling "Barlinnie Story" and other true crime books, now tells the remarkable story of the infamous Peterhead Prison in Scotland's far north-east. Built in the 1880s as part of an ambitious humanitarian plan to use convict labour to construct a 'harbour of refuge' on the town's wild, storm-battered coast, it became what some call Scotland's gulag. A cold and brutal place, it has held down the years some of Scotland's most violent criminals and most infamous prisoners, convicted of the most heinous of crimes. In the early days, convicts were controlled by men as hard as their charges. The wardens carried swords and were quick to use them if necessary. And when convict labour was used to build the harbour, they worked with rifles trained on them at all times. Peterhead's wardens were clearly not to be crossed. Throughout the history of the prison, riots and breakouts have made headlines, with the SAS involved in restoring order at one point.Peterhead also had the reputation of being so secure that escape was impossible, with the notable exception of Johnny Ramensky, the safeblower turned war hero who went back to his criminal ways and spent more than forty years of his life in prison, many of them in Peterhead. He became the first inmate to escape and repeated the exercise four more times, often for his own satisfaction and amusement, each time being recaptured after a short taste of freedom. "Peterhead - Scotland's Toughest Prison" tells the remarkable inside story of a truly grim institution with a fearsome reputation.
Download or read book Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland Preserved in Her Majesty s Public Record Office London written by Great Britain. Public Record Office and published by . This book was released on 1888 with total page 738 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Gangsters Killers and Me written by Gerard Gallacher and published by Black & White Publishing. This book was released on 2011-11-08 with total page 430 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gerard Gallacher served as a police officer in Glasgow from the 1980s and three decades onwards. It was the time when drugs seized hold of the city and a new set of ruthless criminals were threatening to take control. There was still the usual violence of the city to deal with, including domestic violence, gang warfare and robbery, but it was the huge increase in drug use that defined the times and led to many of the most notorious incidents in the city's criminal past. And Gerard Gallacher was in the thick of the action. As a detective, Gallacher knew and dealt with all the major criminals of the times; including Arthur Thompson and his son Arthur Jnr, Tam McGraw, Paul Ferris, Joe Hanlon and Bobby Glover. He gave evidence at Ferris' murder trial, he discovered that Arthur Thomson was a Security Services asset and was the first detective on the scene when Hanlon and Glover were murdered. He delivered the police warning to infamous criminal Frank McPhie to tell him that his life was in danger, a warning that went unheeded.Gallacher was also involved in countless other high profile investigations, including the notorious drugs feud between former friends Tony McGovern and James Stevenson which ended in assassination. This is a compelling account of a police career at the sharp end of the action by a detective who wouldn't toe the line. And as well as giving his forthright views on the less than exemplary conduct of some senior officers, Gallacher now reveals what really happened behind the scenes in some of the country's most high profile cases.
Download or read book Trainspotting written by Irvine Welsh and published by W. W. Norton & Company. This book was released on 2002 with total page 360 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "The best book ever written by man or woman...deserves to sell more copies than the Bible."--Rebel, Inc.
Download or read book Calendar of Documents Relating to Scotland 1357 1509 addenda 1221 1435 written by Great Britain. Public Record Office and published by . This book was released on 1881 with total page 738 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
