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

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Of true crime books, the most renowned of the genre are probably Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood and the late Gordon Burn’s Somebody’s Husband, Somebody’s Son, his account of the crimes of Peter Sutcliffe, the Yorkshire Ripper. And putting everything in context is Judith Flanders’s wonderful book, The Invention of Murder, so I’ve omitted those from the list on the grounds that they need no introduction. The gang led by Alice Diamond was unprecedented in its success and longevity but also in providing an alternative - albeit criminal - career for working class women and girls whose options were usually either to go to work in the factory or be a stay-at-home mother. Grandfather could be forced to sell his own house after spending thousands of pounds in legal planning disputes after removing his own wall

The grim terraces of Waterloo and the tenements of Elephant and Castle provided plenty of girls desperate enough to join The Forty Thieves. Brian Benham "Little Legs" Clifford (29 February 1940 - 28 September 1985) was a south London criminal and club owner who was murdered at home as he slept. His murder has never been solved. You could have a field day with the psychology of it all, but she started stealing milk and bread in Lambeth at the age of seven to feed her family. Her father, possibly the most inept criminal in South London, had spent the war years of her childhood in and out of prison, her useless mother had burnt all the furniture and sold all her ration books and there were six children to feed. No details will ever be shared with a third party unless the Member gives their expressed consent and if a membership lapses for any reason the details held will be deleted from our records.Most of the time, the women would then sell the expensive items they’d stolen for a cheaper price to people who otherwise would never be able to afford them, and with the money they made through crime, the gang members would earn an income that would be hard to come by via the opportunities available to them.

She lived an unashamedly lavish lifestyle and splashed her money around. She also passed on her 'wisdom' to a future queen, Shirley Pitts. Pitts had several relationships, which produced seven children by three fathers. [6] Five children were from her relationship with Chris Hawkins, who ran a fruit-and-vegetable stall in Hoxton market. Hawkins beat her but stopped after a warning from the Kray twins. [5] After he died, she adopted his name. [2] [7] Career [ edit ] By the 1950s, the gang were facing ever-present store detectives and had to rely more on disguises. I was de-banked by Barclays! Landlord is left ‘incandescent’ with rage after High Street bank shuts down his family business account without warning... leaving tenants unable to pay him rentIn fact, she was one of the people who spotted his talent for stealing after he pinched a cigarette machine from a hotel as a small boy. She helped him sell on his loot.

Many started as child lookouts. One such member was Lilian Goldstein, who was known as the Bob-Haired Bandit. The exploits of the women helped to inspire author BEEZY MARSH's new novel Queen of Clubs, which is released later this month.The Forty Thieves posed as wealthy housewives innocently browsing the rails of the UK's most luxurious clothing stores before shoving stolen items down their undergarments. It was this history that made Shirley Pitts take herself seriously as a criminal and believe she had a unique story to tell. It was a lifetime of negotiation with her brothers and other men involved in criminal subculture of both South and East London, that made her an astute judge of character as well as smooth talking and successful criminal. The only reason she told her story to Lorraine Gamman in the end was because of the trust between them and the fact that she knew she was dying of breast cancer and could not be prosecuted by telling her story. Members are asked to give the Membership Secretary their consent that their information may be used in this way. Their loot was always fenced on and they got a thrill from going to the shop to buy what they wanted with their ill-gotten gains. Football legend Terry Venables dies aged 80: Former England manager who led the team to Euro '96 semi-finals after a sparkling playing career with Chelsea, Tottenham and QPR, had suffered a 'long illness', his devastated family announce