The Dirty Dozen

The real story of the rise and fall of London's most feared armed robbery gang

Noel 'Razor' Smith

• Publisher: John Blake
• Year: 2020
• Topic: Social Sciences
• eBook ISBN:
  9781789462272
• Subtopic: Terrorism
• Index: Social Sciences

THE TRUE STORY OF LONDON'S MOST PROLIFIC ARMED ROBBERY GANG

The average bank robbery takes around four minutes. The essential ingredients are ruthlessness, cunning and plenty of bottle. You'll also need a weapon, a disguise and a getaway car. If you have all those things, then you could go to work right now. The Bradish boys had all these things and, boy, did they go to work.

The 'Dirty Dozen' were a ruthless federation of criminals who ran the armed robbery game in London for over a decade.

When charismatic leader 'Gentleman' Jim Doyle was jailed, the innovative but violent Bradish brothers, Sean and Vincent, stepped up to take the throne. Hardened by a life in London's most lawless corners, they recruited a tight-knit crew to forge a reputation as the brutal kings of their underworld trade.

Banks, security vans, post offices, travel agents - anywhere was fair game and nowhere was safe. With endless money at their disposal, the gang spent freely on cars, drugs and decadence. Life was good.

But with the Met's tough-as-nails Flying Squad hot on their heels, a member of the inner circle cracked under the pressure and turned grass - and so began the thrilling chase-down of the Bradish boys and their illicit empire. The Dirty Dozen is the real story of the rise and fall of London's most feared crime syndicate.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright
• Dedication
• Contents
• Epigraph
• Foreword
• Prologue. The Beginning of the End
• Chapter One. Dirty Dozen Origins
• Chapter Two. The ‘Ayatollah’ and the Genesis of the Dirty Dozen
• Chapter Three. The Bradish Boys: Mad as a Box of Frogs
• Chapter Four. Young Guns
• Chapter Five. Thomas Cook: The Gift That Kept on Giving
• Chapter Six. On The Pavement
• Chapter Seven. The Making of a Supergrass
• Chapter Eight. Dragging
• Chapter Nine. Early Days: The Streets of North-West London
• Chapter Ten. Roberts: The Early Years
• Chapter Eleven. At It
• Chapter Twelve. Tooling Up
• Chapter Thirteen. ‘The Police are on US’
• Chapter Fourteen. Up Against the Squad
• Chapter Fifteen. Angry
• Chapter Sixteen. Witness Protection
• Chapter Seventeen. The Roberts ‘Undercover Cop’ Theory
• Chapter Eighteen. The Police Chip In
• Chapter Nineteen. Tommy The Boxer
• Chapter Twenty. ‘He Shot a Duck . . . ’
• Chapter Twenty-One. Bingo
• Chapter Twenty-Two. On Spec
• Chapter Twenty-Three. The Best Laid Plans . . .
• Chapter Twenty-Four. Tracking the Blaggers
• Chapter Twenty-Five. Robbing the Blind
• Chapter Twenty-Six. Prison
• Chapter Twenty-Seven. More Trouble
• Chapter Twenty-Eight. The Arrest of Vincent Bradish
• Chapter Twenty-Nine. ‘The Flying Squad Saved My Life . . . ’
• Chapter Thirty. Afters
• Postscript
• Acknowledgements