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Fun Loving Criminal: The Autobiography of a Gentleman Gangster: The Autobiography of a Gentle Gangster (Hardcover)

by Dennis Stafford; Stafford Hildred (Author) "The dog's chain used to hang on the back of the kitchen door in our house in Hackney ..." (more)
3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 255 pages
  • Publisher: John Blake Publishing Ltd; illustrated edition edition (4 Jun 2007)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 1844544117
  • ISBN-13: 978-1844544110
  • Product Dimensions: 23.4 x 15.7 x 2.8 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 68,272 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in this category:

    #49 in  Books > Society, Politics & Philosophy > Social Sciences > Law & Disorder > Issues > Gangs

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Product Description

Synopsis
Chameleon, fugitive, playboy, criminal, political prisoner, con man, comedian - Dennis Stafford was born two street and two months apart from the Kray twins, but his extraordinary life is worlds away from typical East End violence and racketeering. In his dramatic, but above all, honest, autobiography, Dennis tells of daring prison escapes, living on the run in the Caribbean and South Africa, how he survived a shooting attempt by a jealous girlfriend, and, for the first time, the full story on the miscarriage if justice surrounding the One-Armed Bandit Murder. An entrepreneur at an early age, the charismatic young Dennis was running minor scams before he masterminded a big Bible-selling con. Fascinated by the intricacies of robbery, Dennis' first major career was country house burglary before he graduated to the club scene. Dennis loved the showbiz set and enjoyed a passionate affair with actress Jill Bennet. At the age of 22, he received a seven year prison sentence for burglary but what followed would make a wonderful movie script - in fact it was Dennis' conviction for the murder of Angus Sibbet that inspired the film "Get Carter".

Married three times and linked with dozens of glamorous women, Dennis rubbed shoulders with everyone from cabinet ministers to cutthroats, prostitutes to TV personalities. From growing cannabis at Parkhurst prison to throwing a missile at Oswald Mosley, this is truly an unforgettable, funny, touching and endlessly fascinating story of a unique life.

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The dog's chain used to hang on the back of the kitchen door in our house in Hackney. Read the first page
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Fun Times While Doing The Crimes, 14 Jan 2008
By ianrmillard - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)   
This is the story of Dennis Stafford, real name Stegenberg, the product of a Jewish father and Irish mother, born in East London. The mother is appalling. As the author (plus ghostwriter) says "what kind of mother makes her 9 year old son float down the Thames on a rubber boat, stealing from barges?", not to mention slipping easily between the bars of the Royal Mint (then near Tower Bridge) to steal sacks of half-crown coins! And after he worked hard for ages to save £20 (a lot of money in about 1945, probably equivalent to at least a thousand pounds, if not two or more), his mother simply stole it, telling him it was to teach him a lesson never to trust anyone. She was the creature mainly responsible for this person becoming a career criminal.

Contrary to the book blurb and the Amazon synopsis, he never did throw a missile at Oswald Mosley, but was arrested for throwing a brick at Jeffrey Hamm (the editor of Mosley's newspaper 'Action', though that is not explained in the book).

After National Service in Korea with the Black Watch (he had asked to be put in the Pay Corps, for pretty transparent reasons!), operating behind enemy lines at times, Stafford (as he became) concentrated on business (not always "kosher") and on targeted country house burglary, doing well at both, until given 7 years for burglary (technically almost a "first offence", apart from the brick-throwing conviction) by Her Honour Susan Norwood, a somewhat weird and very tough female judge, in front of whom I remember appearing (as Counsel) as late as 1994! (my client was acquitted, however!). He criticizes her giving him 7 years straight off. It has to be said though, that she was a sharp old (then, not so old, of course) cookie!

He escaped from both Wormword Scrubs and Dartmoor. Before, after and in between these events, he had innumerable women including Jill Bennett, the actress, whom his father called "mouth organ mouth"! Brilliant description!

It is obvious that his main occupation was villainy mixed with semi-legitimate business. He never had anything that could be described as a job, yet always had plenty of money. When he was eventually put away for "life" it was for a murder in County Durham, which he says (plausibly) he never committed. With many changes, that was used as the basis for the film Get Carter, in which he was played by Michael Caine (John Osborne, another Bennett boyfriend, played the gangster boss, Stafford says implausibly). That conviction was never quashed on appeal, though eventually (despite never admitting to the crime) Stafford was paroled, after 13 years. He then drove through Africa and ended up in South Africa where he married (outside the Republic) a South African Indian (from the photos, of mixed origins). Meanwhile, he bought an 18th C house based on a castle, in Hertfordshire. Who said crime cannot pay? He did serve another 6 (in reality, probably 4) year sentence, for forgery, though, in the 1990's. He seems to have done about 20 years actually inside.

There are a few things about the book I did not like, apart from the not very prepossessing character of its subject. Firstly, it is really not so well written, despite having a ghostwriter on board (he writes, though, for The Sun's TV magazine...hm...); far too much hopping backward and forward in time and there are a number of easily spotted mistakes: the village by Dartmoor Prison is Princetown, not Princeton, for example. Again, there is a photograph in the book of Stafford leaving what the caption calls "Bow Magistrates"...while there IS a Bow Mags, the photo is that of Bow STREET Magistrates' Court by Covent Garden (recently closed after 200 years), a very different locale indeed. It does seem to show the carelessness with which the book was prepared by the publisher and ghostwriter, but then, writing for THe Sun is hardly likely to induce accuracy in reportage...

Reasonably interesting, overall.

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars Fun Loving Criminal, 7 Sep 2007
By Dennis Scott "The Quill" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This is one of the books I could not put down, once I had started. It takes you into the persons personality. As if he was talking directly to you. It's a very good and entertaining book.Why I have not read any reviews on this book, I fail to understand?
As it is the same character on which the film 'GET CARTER' is based, And that's a cult film.

Take a chance it's a great read!!
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