Infamous crime lord Delroy Showers was jailed in 2009 over a plot to smuggle just over 1m worth of amphetamines into Denmark from the Netherlands. It doesn't work that way in Liverpool. Family member Lisa Whitney and gang associate Gary Edwards were each given four years while co-conspirator Michael Waters was sentences to five years and four months. Old and Famous Mobsters. Since then, Steven Gerrard has supposedly moved on. On Tuesday, Mr Boyle blamed Mr Fellows for duping him into being part of the second murder and denied any part in the killing of Massey. A well known Liverpool criminal is under pressure from powerful gangs over large drug debts, the ECHO can reveal. 9. Pacy, hard-boiled thrillers arent hard to find, but ones that are written with this precision, this memorable a voice, are a rare thing. After having a number of odd jobs from shed-painter to grave-digger, Debra loves writing about the things no history class will teach. Since dead rabbit was slang for someone who started fights, the breakaway faction decided to use that as their new name. In deciding which crimes to write about, we consider a range of issues including the severity of the crime, the threat to public safety and the wider context in which it happened. From the romantic notion of the outlaw antihero to the caricature of the psychotic mob boss, they have been portrayed in many different lights; but the unifying theme is that they live by a set of rules alien to the law-abiding public, and that makes them fascinating. By then, the death toll was enormous, and countless homes and buildingsincluding an orphanagehad been burned to the ground. The gangs favorite weapons included heavy belts and knives known as bleeders.. The crooks used vehicles featuring specially constructed 'hides' to conceal drugs and cash, so a casual observer wouldn't spot any illicit cargo. In November 2011, the family and their associates were sentenced to a total of 82 years in jail for conspiracy to supply Class A drugs, with individual sentences ranging from two to nine years. The two men have escaped justice for decades which is why the ECHO cannot name them. Some even branched out into politics, forming strong ties with the formidable Democratic machine known as Tammany Hall. As early as the 1840s, there were plays being performed in New Yorks Bowery theater, telling the probably partially accurate story of Mose Humphreys. Further, Gerrard's wife, Alex (nee Curran), used to date a well-known Liverpudlian criminal by the name of Tony Richardson, who left her for Jennifer Ellison, Steven's girlfriend at the time. When Turkish police smashed an Istanbul based drug gang, the trail began to lead back to South Liverpool. There is no evidence whatsoever that Gerrard was aware this might happen. Prosecutors launched Proceeds Of Crime Applications against the men - together with their respective wives Maria and Rachel - at Preston Crown Court. LA Confidential by James EllroyFor my money, Ellroys five-book run from The Big Nowhere to The Cold Six Thousand is as strong as any crime author has put together. Leslie Whitney's new partner Emma Mackenzie was sentenced to 834 days in prison a "significantly shorter and more lenient sentence" than she could have expected if not for her two-year-old daughter. Never mind that the defendant, John Kinsella, was a known gangster charged with tying up a security guard during a 41,000 robbery. Scratch the surface, however, and the story runs far deeper. The Lam Liam Cornett's right-hand man was Michael Rice. His only care is staying alive long enough to find the missing girls, but LA is Siegels town . Charlie Seiga, who has occupied a place at the top table of Liverpool gangsters for five decades, says: "I know Steven Gerrard and his parents very well. When the criminals' demands were not met, three shots were allegedly fired into the front door of Stretford's next-door neighbour's home on a wellappointed Cheshire estate, just 100 yards from the home of Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson. She spends much of her time distracted by her two cattle dogs. Even at the age of 13 it was common knowledge in Liverpool that Rooney was a future superstar, and in their naivety, his honest working-class parents were persuaded to sign him up to a couple of aspiring local agents. He is not alone in this. Quite simply, there were no real legitimate opportunities for young people to access. Kinsella is still on the run today, having been convicted of the robbery and handed a 14-year jail sentence in his absence. In 2018, modern slavery researcher Grace Robinson interviewed a combination of young people (aged 14-20) and people working in youth justice interventions. "So the Gerrards called in a few contacts to sort it out. Liverpool Crown Court was told gangland "fixer" John Kinsella assisted the former Liverpool and England captain when he "got into trouble". As a football mad teenager at Cardinal Heenan School in the Liverpool district of West Derby, it was common knowledge that young Steven had a glittering future ahead of him. Spending 42 years in prison, he lived a life of mayhem and violence, causing panic and concern to many people who met him. Even Mayor Thomas Swann, who had been elected with their support, tried to turn the gang away from violence. Did you know that over 200 criminal gangs are thought to be operating in London alone? In 2018-19, social services assessed 16,132 children in Merseyside County, of which 546 were deemed to be either active members of a gang, at risk of joining one, or at risk of being a victim of gang-related violence. 2. Fortnite v bucks no human . Woodrell has never wasted a word, and this is no different: the local crime boss, for instance, measured five foot seven standing on your neck. ", Mr Greaney said: "He's quite a well-known person. He fled to Spain where he lay low while his relatives were gradually rounded up by Merseyside police. By the time the next election came around, the gang had fallen by the wayside. A bug, which was planted by SOCA in their family home on Edale Road, recorded the brothers bickering in front of their mum about who was the better drug dealer. The dialogue with Smith's killers has already started, police believe. . Steven George Gerrard MBE - captain of Liverpool Football Club, occasional captain of England and role model to millions of impressionable youngsters - wished it to be known that he had "the utmost respect" for the man who stood in the dock. But while the gang fought in the gutters, they were also a power in the political world. Top 10 Liverpool Gangsters Are: They were no strangers to violence, and many stories abound about how they dealt with their rivals, including beheading one of their dogs with a machete. Rather than get his hands dirty, he directed others to produce, store, collect and distribute drugs to gangs across England and Scotland. When the two brothers fell out with a rival crime group gang it resulted in a spate of shootings. But theres a literary quality to it that elevates this above the norm, and the later stages evoke Cormac McCarthys works set in the same border badlands. Painted as a larger-than-life Bowery Boy on the stage, its pretty certain that his real-life career was more along the lines of running protection rackets with his division of the gang. After Hours by Edwin Torres. Mayor, then 37, went to extraordinary lengths to avoid arrest, even hurling 2kg of heroin out of his Mercedes car window while being chased by police. It was also said that the gangs would beat and rob someone for nothing more than a penny. The gangs had been at war for years with them both being formed during the 1985 Handsworth riots, and were named after their respective hangouts, a burger bar and the Johnsons Cafe, based only a mile apart in Handsworth and Aston respectively. He was executed in the kitchen of Charlie Seiga, a legendary Liverpudlian gangster who was later acquitted of his murder. , updated 3. Find your nearest vaccination centre by entering your postcode below. Why we're doing this story - We have a mix of stories, many of them hugely positive about the city. The cocaine is in containers and the main port of entry is Liverpool," said one Mexican official. My first novel, The Dark Inside, was based on the Texarkana Moonlight Murders, a 1946 serial-killing case. In 2009, sociologist Hannah Smithson and colleagues examined the extent, nature and causes of young peoples involvement in gang and gun crime. The vicious rumours about her links with gangsters are still hanging around like a bad smell.". According to popular legend, the Peaky Blinders were named after their weapon of choiceflat caps with razor blades sewn into the brim. Seiga, as we shall see, is another underworld figure with links to the Gerrards. Live By Night by Dennis LehaneThis is the other side of the coin: Lehanes sweeping novel charts the rise of Joe Coughlin from the streets of Boston to Florida mob boss. These are some of the city's most prolific crime families, many of whom lived lavish lifestyles off the back of their ill gotten gains. The Krays ruled the London underworld along with their bitter rivals the Richardsons, who they were in constant war with. They were made famous by a documentary they starred in made by journalist Donal Macintyre, made shortly before the death of Dessie in 2005, who was fatally stabbed near his home. Four years ago, Gerrard's multi-million pound transfer to Chelsea was called off at the eleventh hour because of intolerable pressure being placed on his family by "certain elements". Recognizing that he was beaten, the leader of the Rocks Push handed control of the gang over to Foley. Epic in every sense, the book lays bare the violence, futility and hypocrisy of the policy, and is made all the more striking by its grounding in true events. In an interview, Fraser once said: Down south, we viewed Glasgow as the Wild West. Over the next 20 years, there were a rash of gang-related rapes and murders (perpetrated, in large part, by other groups), which forced law enforcement to crack down. A former heavyweight amateur boxer, he became a doorman and went on to protect many of the North East's late night drinking establishments. He threw his lot in with the Richardson gang in the 60s, as in his mind they were the much superior gang to the Krays who were more interested in drinking with celebrities than making money. The climax sees a wounded man begging for a bullet before the crabs can eat him alive. A car filled with 4 East Liverpool Police officers was also on hand as a gunfight broke out, with various descriptions of the course of events. They included a pair of criminal brothers who ran international drugs operations, as well as mafia matriarchs who watched over their kids' criminal empires. Taking their name from a notorious shoal in the Hampton Roads, the Rip Raps dominated Baltimore in the 1850s. In the 90s Liverpool doormen were hand picked from gyms and boxing clubs, unlike today. 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Who are Liverpool's feuding gangs? From smuggling drugs across international borders to ruling the city's streets with violence and intimidation, their crimes shocked Merseyside. Their mum Christine, who admitted laundering 180,000 drug cash found hidden beneath floorboards in her Mossley Hill home, was jailed for two years. Its estimated that she and her gang handled merchandise that would today be worth somewhere around $200 million. Steven, sources say, buckled under the pressure. Their multitude of surveillance cameras and alarm systems didn't stop the criminals finding a way in. "We do things our own way around here. A mob enforcer who was later shot dead in a gangland execution by an assassin nicknamed "Iceman" had helped Steven Gerrard, a court has heard. Still, it could have been worse. The then 36-year-old told Liverpool Crown Court he went off the rails after his brother Billy Gee, 38, was tragically found hanged in 2016. By the 90s, Curtis Warrens drug trafficking and supply business had grown so much it is estimated that he owned over 300 houses in the North West of England, as well as offices, factories and even a football ground. Tony Tucker is one of Liverpool's most notorious gangsters. Like many urban areas in the UK, Merseyside has a long and notorious history of street gangs. Gee then stole the victims car, but left a can of Coke on the sideboard, revealing his DNA. Across Merseyside, many young people involved in street gangs have become embroiled with adult organised crime groups as part of the county lines phenomenon a form of exploitation in which gangs of adults coerce children and young people to carry drugs to rural or coastal areas of the country. Starting out in the early 80s, by the late 80s Dessie, along with Dominic and his other brothers controlled 80% of the doors in Manchester, and were at the very centre of Manchesters underworld. She was subsequently released from court, having already served half her sentence on remand. The High Rip Gang stalked the streets of Liverpool in the 1880s. Ordinary families had to look the other way as local gangsters tried to turn a residential estate into an enclave exempt from the rule of law. They subsequently negotiated a hugely lucrative transfer from his hometown club of Everton to Manchester United. They built criminal empires which left a trail of misery and violence. Investigations reveal this is not just bravado. So the net to snare them began by taking out the levels below, stripping each rung before eventually reaching the top. Whether this fundamentally decent man will ever find himself in a position to do that is another question entirely. However, it is known that, at the time, a number of leading gangland figures in Liverpool were determined that their football club's prize asset should not be lost to the city - at any cost. 10. In the case of gang members, values become bound around deviant group formation and offending as a way of escape from continuing poverty and deprivation. Lara Keay News reporter @LaraKeay Friday 26 August 2022 22:36, UK Yet, for all his demonstrable qualities, not to mention a personal fortune of 15 million, he has not been able to shake off the criminal elements he has known since childhood in the tough Liverpool district of Huyton. Stephen Kelly, 42, known as 'the Belly' was jailed for 20 years in February for. If you think that London was violent in the 60s with the Krays and their enemies the Richardson gang, it had nothing on Glasgow, and this came straight from the mouth of the notorious Mad Frankie Fraser. The Power of the Dog by Don WinslowWinslows novel chronicles the first 30 years of the USs war on drugs. Those they didnt kill were often left badly beaten and permanently disfigured. They are perhaps best known for the being the gang that Ricky and Danny Preddie were members of when they killed 10 year old Damilola Taylor, an innocent young boy whose jacket they tried to steal. Some of our region's most notorious criminal cases have involved families who flooded the streets with drugs and ruled their neighbourhoods through violence and intimidation. Viv Graham Was the most famous hard man and gangster to come out of the North East of England. With a big wage increase in the offing, he even text-messaged then Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho to say he was looking forward to working with him. 7. He often prophesied that he would never make 40, and this was to prove true, being gunned down in an attack organised by one of his many enemies. 10. Overnight, Paul Stretford, Rooney's new agent, became the target of a campaign of extortion which left him in such fear that he employed bodyguards for several years. It was accused of glorifying criminals, but I prefer Ellroys own explanation: this is a story of three men crushed by the weight of their own evil. The Rules of Wolfe by James Carlos BlakeBlakes tale of Texan gun runners starts with one of the most breathless action sequences Ive read an arms deal at sea goes bad, resulting in a showdown with cartel killers in a pitch-black coastal lagoon. Wayne Rooney, who grew up five miles down the road from his England team-mate in Croxteth, had a narrow escape of his own in his teens. The writing is taut and spare throughout, the tension never lets up, and this is as dark as noir gets. Showers always denied the allegations and wrote of the squalid conditions of the Istanbul prison and his lack of faith in the Turkish justice system. The Noonans are a group of brothers who were based around the Moston and Whalley Range areas of Manchester. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. At some point around 1825, the pickpockets and thieves who frequented a certain shabby storefrontone that sold cheap vegetables, cheap food, and even cheaper rumrealized that they would be more effective if they banded together to do their dirty work. 8. Speaking at the conclusion of the Whitney gang sentencing, Detective Chief Superintendent Tony Doherty from Merseyside Police said: This family is so dangerous that guns and drugs are part of their daily business.. Fuck off those that fuck off you. Hillier served a stint in jail for attacking his enemies with a butcher knife, and street-fighting was an extremely regular occurrence. He had his own drivers and issued instructions, with phone records revealing significant contact between him and drug dealers. Meanwhile, Swann used his office to establish a professional police department and fire brigade.