Linda Calvey was behind bars for 18 years. For 30 years she was a mainstay of the London underworld. As a young woman, she met the infamous Kray twins. She was later called the Black Widow. The most dangerous men fell for her, and things ended badly for everyone. Those who were lucky ended up in prison. The others died in a hail of bullets and she is said to have executed her true love herself. Now her biography is being published – the book is presented in style in the pub where gangster king Ronnie Kray shot gangster George Cornell in 1966.
Linda Calvey became involved in the criminal milieu of the East End as a young girl. At the end of the 60s, at the age of 19, she fell in love with bank robber Mickey Calvey. A career criminal who bled to death in a shootout with police in 1978. “I married a bank robber when I was 22 because I fell in love with him,” she says today. “I knew Mickey Calvey was a gangster when I met him at his party after his release from prison. I went into that world with my eyes wide open.”
She started her career as a getaway driver but quickly moved up to a gunman. It was only after Mickey Calvey’s death that her own criminal career really took off. Calvey swore on his coffin that she would provide for the family. She said: “My love for him drove me crazy. On the outside I was me, on the inside I was a demon.”
She separated from her children and became a leading figure in the underworld. In total, she is said to have stolen more than a million pounds in 30 robberies. The police have referred to their boys as the “Black Widow gang.” She herself is said to have insisted on being called “Lady Boss” and led a wild life – in nightclubs, with closets full of furs and with men. Her name “Black Widow” alludes to her violent nature and erotic appeal. She proudly says: “I was a seductress. I lured men into my web. And I always knew which one I got.”
As queen of the London underworld, she met the gangster Ronnie Cook, whom she is later said to have murdered. When Cook was imprisoned in 1981, Calvey had his name tattooed. He got 16 years for his part in a robbery that netted the gang a staggering £26 million.
While in prison herself, she had contact with the kingdom’s most notorious criminals. She imprisoned her with Myra Hindley and ten-time serial killer Rose West. Until her death, Myra Hindley was the most hated woman in the kingdom because of her involvement in horrific child murders; Calvey cut her hair in her cell. “Myra was very picky about her hair as it was the only control she had left. She sent me Christmas cards and called her mother to say she had a lovely girlfriend.” Calvey doesn’t call Myra Hindley a friend, she believes that Hindley was twisted and insane until the end.
Read about the Moor Murderer: Ian Brady and Myra Hindley killed five children – the British hated them more than Hitler for it
Even the notoriously violent Reggie Kray – who ruled the London underworld with his brother – is said to have desired her and proposed to her while she was in prison. She knew Reggie Kray from the clubs of the 1960s; they wrote each other letters in prison. He told her to be strong. “He asked me on the phone to marry him. I said it’s not good for either of us.” She feared she would never be released if she became the wife of the most famous gangster of the 1960s. He was described by others as unpredictable and violent, but the Black Widow says of him: “He was a romantic soul and very soft-spoken.”
The talented Gibbons twins were also in prison. Read about this: Until death – the crazy love of the silent Gibbons twins
Linda Calvey still believes she will be acquitted of Ronnie Cook’s murder. Their hopes now rest on DNA tests. Maybe a retired officer would read her biography and admit that she was framed for the murder, Calvey said. In her account, Cook was killed by a hitman who broke into her home while on leave from prison. “There was a loud bang when the street door was broken down,” she remembers. “Ron was shot in the arm. The man pulled down his mask. He fired a second shot, killing Ron, then ran away, leaving me in my kitchen with Ron dead on the floor.”
The police have a different explanation. While Cook was in prison, the Black Widow had a passionate affair with gangster Brian Thorogood. But his wife hired a private detective and knew about it. Calvey was now afraid that Cook would find out about their affair. That’s the police theory. So Calvey is said to have hired the murderer. She gave Cook a few days of prison leave to lure him into her house. The killer is said to have been waiting for the couple there. But he missed Cook and only hit him in the arm. Then Calvey grabbed the shotgun himself, Cook had to kneel down in the kitchen and was shot by his lover – the Black Widow.
Quelle: Mirror Books
Also read:
Ian Brady and Myra Hindley killed five children – the British hated them more than Hitler for it
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