Kenneth Noye is a criminal mastermind and millionaire. The man at the top of organized crime in Britain fled the country after the murder of young motorist Stephen Cameron on the M25. His extradition from Spain caused banner headlines across the country. Bestselling investigative journalist Wensley Clarkson has penetrated the inner sanctum of Noye's closest family and criminal associates to paint a chilling portrait of a brilliant master criminal. Fully updated for the paperback, Clarkson details exactly how Noye continues to control his extensive criminal empire from behind bars.
Well written, excellently researched and exceedingly well told is Wensley Clarkson's account of Kenneth Noye, who was for a long time Britain's most notorious criminal.
Noye, a mischievous child, became a small-time criminal before suddenly becoming one of the most dangerous men in the underworld. The author accounts for all his early crimes and then his part in the Brinks-Mat gold bullion robbery.
He details the way in which an undercover operation watching Noye went wrong and cost the life of a serving police officer. Noye was found not guilty but was then arrested for his other crimes and spent time in jail.
Once out he continued his criminal activities, which almost incredibly had not stopped while he was in jail, and eventually he got involved in a road rage incident that cost another life. He fled, was sought after by police all over the world but for many years he managed to avoid arrest and even made occasional visits to Britain, needless to say on a forged passport.
Despite plastic surgery that rationally changed his looks, he was eventually captured and jailed for murder but the rumour is that he continues to run his crime empire from within the prison. Clarkson bravely tells the whole unexpurgated story which makes for fascinating reading.
FRom BBC Radio 4 Extra: The life and crimes of notorious London criminal Kenneth Noye. Adapted from Wensley Clarkson's book and read by Philip Jackson.
Interesting biography of a dangerous man and the lengths he goes to I order to avoid arrest. If you have an interest in 1960’s / 1970’s London underworld this gives a good summary of what makes them tick.
No but seriously, this was a bit of a slog but then I am no fan of True Crime, really. Like reading 300 pages of police / newspaper reports about a very selfish and horrible man, yay!
I had previously read another book by this author called Moody about a bank robber and it was utter crap so i have avoided reading anymore works by this author until i got this, it is a very good book amazingly well researched and well written, in fact its a classic of British True crime in my opinion. Men like Noye are very rare in Britain to say he is in the top 1% of Criminals in the country is probable to much he is perhaps more like .3%, Britain is not like Russia, America or Italy in the sense that as soon as someone starts getting big the state lands on them very quickly and very hard, so Noye is an exception.
The only gripe i have with the book and imo the reason it is relatively unknown is because he clearly failed to employ a proof reader and when you have dyslexia this is essential, i have it myself i can't write a sentence without a mistake. The second half of the book has two or three typos on some pages, but as a dyslexic i know/knew the pattern so it did not phase me,..and if you like true crime it shouldn't phase you either