Billy Rags is very closely based on the life of the real British criminal John McVicar. Just how closely I’ll get to directly. McVicar was an armed robber, declared ‘public enemy no 1’ by Scotland Yard in the 1960s, until he was apprehended and given a 23-year sentence. He was also a serial escapee and after his final arrest in 1970 received a 26-year sentence but was paroled eight years later. McVicar was also something of a uniquely 1960s/70s phenomena, the self-aware/educated working class career criminal turned author and commentator on prison reform, a major social debate in those two decades. He studied for a university postgraduate, wrote an autobiography, McVicar by Himself, published in 1974, and authored a couple of other true crime books. He balanced his intellectual pursuits with a lingering air of being a former villain, which no doubt contributed to the aura around him. As the violent late Australian criminal turned author Mark ‘Chopper’ Read once reportedly said ‘Posh people love gangsters’. Rather than cross any bridges, the escapee swam across the ice-cold River Wear, before sleeping fitfully through the rest of the night on some derelict land. Read More Related Articles

Mcvicar by Himself - AbeBooks Mcvicar by Himself - AbeBooks

In the middle of the night, his heart pumping and adrenalin racing, McVicar found himself running through the narrow, winding streets of Durham city.As a criminal I have been a lamentable failure,” he wrote in McVicar, By Himself (1974). “Whatever money I gained by crime I could have earned as a labourer in half the time I spent in prison. My character, which is addicted to taking risks, was a guarantee that I could not be a success as a thief or a bandit.” It is third and final film produced by The Who Films, following Quadrophenia (1979) and The Kids Are Alright (1979). Daltrey went on to produce Buddy’s Song (1991). The group’s manager Bill Curbishley produced The Who’s film Tommy, McVicar and also Buddy’s Song, all starring Roger Daltrey, with whom he established the Goldhawke production company for the singer’s solo albums.

John McVicar escaped from Durham Prison 50 years ago: John McVicar escaped from Durham Prison

McVicar, a Londoner once considered the most dangerous man in Britain, was an armed robber who escaped from a coach taking him to Parkhurst Prison in 1966. He was on the run for four months and on recapture was taken to Durham Prison. He wasn't in for long as, on October 29, 1968, he achieved the unthinkable, an escape from E-Wing. The film is set in two halves, the first in Durham prison and the second half while McVicar is on the run in London. The first half of the film focuses on relations between the prison officers and inmates and also McVicar's plotting and eventual prison escape. Find sources: "McVicar"film– news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR ( May 2019) ( Learn how and when to remove this template message) John McVicar (21 March 1940 – 6 September 2022) was a British journalist and convicted one-time armed robber who escaped from prison. In 2002, McVicar published a book about the murder of broadcaster Jill Dando, Dead On Time. In it, he paints Barry George as a sophisticated liar, trying to appear too stupid to carry out a difficult mission. The book appeared after George's first appeal was rejected. (The conviction was overturned in 2008, and George was released.) McVicar subsequently wrote Who Killed Jill? You Decide, in which he examines the British jury system. This second book is purged of the chapters recounting 'personal experiences' which McVicar claims were the product of poetic license for the most part. [ citation needed] Personal life and death [ edit ]a b c Campbell, Duncan (26 September 2022). "John McVicar obituary". The Guardian . Retrieved 26 September 2022.

The man who escaped Durham’s E-Wing | The Northern Echo The man who escaped Durham’s E-Wing | The Northern Echo

In the news, violence erupted outside the American embassy in London when an anti-Vietnam War protest got out of hand. In 1998, McVicar lost a libel action brought by sprinter Linford Christie over his claim that Christie was a "steroid athlete." [3] The Jill Dando murder [ edit ] Russell recalled being taught by his father to play chess at the age of five and said: “He would never allow me to win.” Russell himself also ended up behind bars, most notably for stealing a Picasso in 1997. Like his father he took a degree while in prison, specialising in environmentalism and, following his release, wrote a book on climate change. The two had not spoken for 25 years as his father was critical of him for following his footsteps. Forgotten the title or the author of a book? Our BookSleuth is specially designed for you. Visit BookSleuthAfter jumping the prison wall, McVicar found himself in unfamiliar surroundings, but in his autobiography, McVicar by Himself, he gives a heart-racing description of the streets and features that he encountered during his night-time escape. After his release, McVicar wrote his autobiography, McVicar by Himself, and scripted the biographical film McVicar (1980), which starred The Who's lead singer Roger Daltrey in the title role and co-starred Adam Faith. Also after his release from prison, he studied for a postgraduate degree at the University of Leicester. Eventually, however, McVicar is forced to fund his family's relocation plan by returning to crime. Soon the Metropolitan Police are hard on his heels and he is eventually recaptured when one of his colleagues in the crime world informs the police officer in charge of McVicar's recapture of his whereabouts.