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

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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 Gamman, Lorraine (2012). Gone shopping: The story of Shirley Pitts, Queen of thieves (2nded.). London: Bloomsbury. p.116. ISBN 978-1-4482-0971-2. She lived an unashamedly lavish lifestyle and splashed her money around. She also passed on her 'wisdom' to a future queen, Shirley Pitts. 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 rent She'd cleared the inner wall and now only the 25ft outer wall stood between her and freedom, but there were only moments to go before someone noticed she was missing.

One of their techniques was crowding around items they wished to steal and passing it around to each other as if they were inspecting them in excitement. Then one of them would hide the item somewhere beneath their clothing as the groups dispersed. A taste of freedom! Nine-year-old hostage enjoys first meal of schnitzel and mash and ice cream with his pals before the Israeli football team visit him in hospital to welcome him home after 49 days Hamas frees 17 more hostages under ceasefire deal: Nine children among fourteen Israelis and three foreign nationals handed over to Red Cross in third set of releases The only problem was that Billy Hill was cheating on the fearsome Aggie with young woman he'd employed to make sandwiches in one of his gambling dens. Keeping the two women happy - and apart from each other - required more tact than stopping rival factions of warring gangs from spilling blood.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. He later joined the notorious Richardson gang, formed by brothers Eddie and Charlie, and began carrying out more criminal activities. She would send her girls out in teams of three or four at least three days a week, to stores all over London and as far afield as Birmingham and Brighton. The gang passed on their secrets from mother to daughter, aunt to niece, so whole generations of families saw crime as a way of life.

He added: "They threw the liveliest of parties and spent lavishly at pubs, clubs and restaurants. Their lifestyles were in pursuit of those of glamorous movie stars, combined with the decadent living of 1920s aristocratic flapper society. They read of the outrageous behaviour of rich, bright young things and wanted to emulate them.” Mrs. Pitts was preceded in death by her father, R.J. Brown; mother, Frances Brown-Baker; stepfather, Ott Baker; and brother, Roger Brown. She was known to the police as one of the ‘cleverest of thieves’ and had a reputation for being quite vicious towards officers. On one occasion, she reportedly said: “Police forces are set up by governments to stop others getting a share of what they’ve got!” Shoplifter Shirley Pitts, who began stealing coal to survive the slums of Waterloo but soon became so prolific and good at theft that she was banned from many West End shops 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.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. 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. Frankie was alleged to have pulled out his victim's teeth with pliers. Nobody dared to retaliate as Eva smashed all the bottles of spirits at the bar to smithereens in a rage. By her early twenties, Pitts was one of the foremost shoplifters in Britain, running teams of "hoisters" that operated nationally. High-class shops in the West End of London were her main target, in particular Harrods, Harvey Nichols, and Selfridges, as these could supply her with the expensive clothes that she enjoyed wearing and that she could use to make a living. [2] [5] [8] She also operated on continental Europe, taking teams of thieves to Paris and Geneva. [2] Members of The Forty Thieves worked department stores including Selfridges in teams of three or four during hoisting trips up to three times a week.

During the 1940s it was not unusual for 'hoisters', a historical term for shoplifters, to be paid a hundred pounds a week - out earning men's average wages ten-to-one. According to its publicity material, “millions and millions of pounds” were stolen but “none of it was recovered. Nobody was ever arrested. The robbery made headlines for a few days and then disappeared – the result of a government D-notice, gagging the press.” Fraser himself was charged with pulling out people's teeth with pliers and sentenced to 10 years in prison.

The Aftermath

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 ] The women, who carried razors wrapped in lace handkerchiefs, were known for violent outbursts - including one furore that resulted in a woman blinding a police officer by stabbing him in the eye with her hatpin. She was jailed three times and spent a total of three years in prison. [8] She was one of the few women to escape a British prison by leaving a van that was taking her to court, ostensibly so that her daughter would not be born in prison. [1] [2] [5] She prided herself on never informing or being involved in violence. [5] Death and legacy [ edit ]

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. Is it time to think the unthinkable for Zelensky and consider a peace treaty with Putin? As counter-offensive stalls, winter sets in and the world focuses on Israel, military experts give their view Eva Fraser - the sister of notorious gangster Mad Frankie Fraser - was reputedly one of the last members of the Queens of the Forty Thieves shoplifting gang, which sold stolen goods from the likes of Selfridges to poor South London housewives.

The Key Figures

Sometimes the hoisters' lives became entangled with those of underworld bosses through affairs, family ties or marriage. Yet they fiercely guarded their right to 'earn' their own money. In the early half of the 20th century one queen, Diamond, regularly appeared in the press where she was once described as a 'tall and commanding figure with a cool demeanour'. a b c Smith, Stephen. (1997). ADDICT. London: Westworld International. p. 115. ISBN 978-0-9573185-5-7. When police switched on to the gang's methods they branched out, with trips to Southend, Brighton, Liverpool and Manchester. It was during the Second World War that he was branded 'Mad' Frankie, after he feigned a mental illness to avoid being called up to the front line.