Britain Crime

Shay grew up on a tough Manchester council estate where drugs and gangs were rife. A life of crime would have been an easy path to take. So it went against everything that was expected of him when he joined the police. It wouldn't be long before Shay's prodigious talent caught the attention of the top. Then came the call that changed his life: an offer to join the secret level one undercover unit known as Omega. And it was easy to see why they wanted him; he wouldn't have to stray too far from what he already knew.

Sir Maurice Oldfield was one of the most important British spies of the Cold War era. A farmer's son from a provincial grammar school, Sir Maurice was the first Chief of MI6 who didn't come to the role via the traditional route. Oldfield was the voice of British Intelligence in Washington at the time of the Cuban Missile Crisis and was largely responsible for keeping the UK out of the Vietnam War. Working his way to the top, he took on the job of rebuilding confidence in the British Secret Service in the wake of the Cambridge spies scandal.

When one hears the term “Victorian”, many images come to mind. For some, the term conjures up visions of lace and gloves and delicate fans. Others think of tight corsets and even tighter morals. Others, swayed perhaps by one too many British costume dramas, envision gentle elegance and long-lost beauty. Naturally, few people think of multiple dead bodies cast about in the streets or dark bedrooms, most mutilated to a shocking degree, and yet, those tragic images played a significant role not only in late Victorian London, but ever since.

This book is a testament to how low human nature can get and offers a comprehensive breakdown of the cases’ key dates before looking into the gritty details. In the chapters, you will learn about the origin of the word “serial killer”, dispel common myths about murderers, and get one step closer to understanding why people kill.

Max the Forger is an artist and gentleman whose colorful lifestyle has spanned over 70 years. He has lived under the strict regime of Barnardo’s children’s homes, been an elephant handler in the circus, lived rough, busked his way from Brighton to Bombay, sold his fakes up and down the country, dined with dukes, socialized with celebrities, associated with gangsters, served time in prison, and donated tens of thousands to charity. And through it all, he never stopped smiling, and loving life - and missing his mum.

The murder of Sarah Payne, Adam the Thames Torso, the London bombings, the Night Stalker and the poisoning of Alexander Litvinenko. The solving of all these cases can be linked to one man: Ray Fysh, a beer-swigging Charlton Athletic fan from Woolwich, a natural raconteur, and also one of the finest forensic detectives the country has ever seen. Ray began work for the Met Police in the 1970s when forensic investigation was seen as little more than a geeky side show, only in existence to confirm or eliminate evidence. But by the mid '90s Ray and his team had made huge progress in their field.

As is so often the case with a serial killer, the first murder was largely ignored. She was a "fallen woman", a prostitute barely worthy of police notice. But then there was another victim, killed and butchered while plying her illicit trade. The police took notice and, by the time the third body was found, also mutilated and filleted like a fish, the public took notice too. An outcry began to swell from the good people of the city.

In this colourful history of the wild world of crime reporting since 1700, Duncan Campbell reveals what it's really like to deal with murderers, gangsters, victims, informers and detectives, looking at the 'hacks in the macs' who would go to any lengths to get a story - and serve it up to an ever-eager reading public. Crime is a prism through which we see society and its phobias.

If ever you worry about children today, spare a thought for the people of 19th century Britain, when knife-crime was rife and gangs of children roamed the streets and countryside, committing countless horrendous crimes including murder.

A female thief, with four husbands, a lover, and, reportedly, over 12 children, is arrested and tried for the murder of her stepson in 1872, turning the small village of West Auckland in County Durham upside down. Other bodies are exhumed, and when they are found to contain arsenic, she is suspected of their murder as well. The perpetrator, Mary Ann Cotton, was tried and found guilty and later hanged on 24 March 1873 in Durham Gaol. It is claimed she murdered over 20 people and was the first female serial killer in England.

When Kate married gangster Ronnie Kray, he introduced her to the most deadly criminals ever known. She persuaded them to talk about their crimes, fears and dreams. The result is a book offering an authentic, shocking and gripping insight into the criminal mind. In this true crime classic, Kate Kray delves into the world of some of Britain's most dangerous prisoners, conducting firsthand interviews with them in order to better understand their crimes.

On the 24th of February 1994, police knocked on the door of an aging house in the English town of Gloucester. They'd come to serve a search warrant in the case of a missing girl - the daughter of the house's inhabitants. What they uncovered would shock the world: decades of child abuse, an underground torture chamber, and a burial ground containing the bodies of the spent victims of the torture - including that of the missing daughter.

Meet Harold Shipman, a serial killer with a disturbing proclivity to murder a specific kind of patient. With an estimated 250 victims, there’s no doubt his kill count might be much, much higher. But what drove him to murder?You’ll have to buy this book to find out. But we’ll warn you now: This story might haunt your nightmares and leave you scared to go for your next checkup. When you learn the truth of Harold’s crimes, and what happened to him in the end, you’ll be stunned, dismayed, and no doubt left with the kinds of questions that have no easy answers.

The county of East Lothian, previously known as Haddingtonshire, is an often-overlooked gem nestled in Scotland's central lowlands. Its boundaries include the Scottish Borders to the south, Edinburgh to the west, and Midlothian to the south-west. The central administrative hub is the Royal Burgh of Haddington, which can trace its heritage back 900 years.

Lady Bette, the 14-year-old heiress to the vast Northumberland estates, becomes the victim of a plot by her grandmother, the Countess Howard, to marry her to the dissident fortune-hunter Thomas Thynn, a man three times her age with an evil reputation. Revolted by her new husband, Lady Bette flees to Holland. Within weeks, Thynn is gunned down in the street by three hired assassins. Who is behind the contract killing? Is it the Swedish Count Coningsmark, young and glamorous with blond hair down to his waist?

Cambridge spy Guy Burgess was a supreme networker. He also set a gold standard for conflicts of interest, working variously for the BBC, MI5, MI6, the War Office, the Ministry of Information and the KGB. Yet Burgess was never challenged by Britain's spy catchers: his superiors were convinced he was too much of a liability to have been recruited by Moscow. Now, with a major new release of hundreds of files into the National Archives, Purvis and Hulbert reveal just how this charming establishment insider was able to fool everyone for so long.

Three university scientists are found dead in a gruesome murder-suicide, and the only suspect in the case, Victor Lazar, is quickly captured. When the spate of violent suicides follows him to prison he is moved to solitary confinement, reserved for the highest-risk inmates. And then his assigned psychologist inexplicably takes his own life. Alex Madison, a former forensic psychologist turned private therapist, is brought in to interview Victor. He suspects that Victor is controlling his victims, somehow coaxing them into a suggestive trance.

The bright lights and city bustle of East London make it hard to imagine that only a century ago, the inhabitants were gripped by terror - the infamous Whitechapel Murders - or reign of terror of Jack the Ripper...Step back in time to the 1880’s where the scene was a maze of dark, foggy alleyways and narrow cobbled streets lit only by a few flickering gas lights.

In today’s world where meeting people for sex can happen with a simple click on your phone, a new type of gay sex called Party N Play or Chemsex has become all the rage. Several young gay men were being found dead, appearing to have overdosed in a city church yard in east London. Soon a popular 41-year-old, Stephen Port, who had appeared on Celebrity Chef UK, would be arrested and charged with four of the young men’s murders by overdosing them with GBH, the date-rape drug.

In literature and film, the spy chief is an all-knowing, all-powerful figure who masterfully moves spies into action like pieces on a chessboard. How close to reality is that depiction, and what does it really take to be an effective leader in the world of intelligence? This first volume of Spy Chiefs broadens and deepens our understanding of the role of intelligence leaders in foreign affairs and national security in the US and UK from the early 1940s to the present.