Roy Shaw Unleashed by Roy Shaw

Author:Roy Shaw [Kate Kray]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: roy_shaw_unleashed_
Publisher: John Blake Publishing
Published: 2012-03-14T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 13

RONNIE BIGGS – HE DID THE CRIME BUT NOT THE TIME

A FEW WEEKS AFTER MY HUNT FOR DOROTHY, I WENT TO SEE ROY AT HIS HOUSE. We’d arranged to meet to talk some more and Roy had invited me for tea.

There was no sign of the dogs when I arrived; they’d been shut into their compound. Roy seemed calm, in a good mood; I hoped it would last.

As he showed me into the sitting room, I kept thinking about what I was going to tell him about my fruitless search for Dorothy but, to my relief, he didn’t mention her.

It was all very civilised; it’s a beautiful house and we sat in a room with windows overlooking the lawn. Roy brought in a tray of tea and cakes.

I noticed the china; it was lovely, edged with gold and initialled with a crest – RS.

‘Personalised cups and saucers?’ I asked.

Roy nodded. ‘I’ve a whole dinner service done the same,’ he told me. Somehow, I wasn’t surprised, although to anyone not knowing him, it would have seemed at odds with his image. On the one hand, here’s a man with a harrowing life story and layer upon layer of brutality, hatred and anger. But peel away the layers of violence, madness and sadness and you will find that Roy has endearing qualities. He doesn’t blame anyone, it’s not his childhood or society. He never avoids the truth because he knows the buck stops with him. Roy is one of the most straightforward and direct men I’ve ever met. He has never stepped over an invisible mark, or allowed anyone else to. His experiences have made him strong and he’s learned from them, good and bad. And he knows how to treat a lady.

‘Are you comfy there?’ he asked. He made sure the light was OK, not shining in my eyes. Did I want another cushion? Was I warm enough? The perfect host.

Roy is always a gentleman and never uncouth. Whenever we’ve met, it’s been the same, I’ve found that he is careful not to offend me, because it’s not tough or clever to be uncouth.

His looks are at odds with his character and I have always found him to be a contradiction. When Roy bares his soul, it can be a harrowing experience just to listen to him. The emotions are buried deep but, when the protective layers are slowly peeled away, he laughs as well as cries and is embarrassed by neither.

We began to talk about the blokes he’d been in prison with – and inevitably the man to start with was the infamous Great Train Robber, Ronnie Biggs.

‘When did you first meet Ronnie?’ I took a sip of my Assam tea and settled back into the sofa.

Roy thought about it for just a moment or two. ‘I was in Wandsworth Prison in London. In those days, it was a tough place. It might still be.’

‘What was it like?’

‘For one thing it was cold. The prisoners weren’t allowed to talk and this horrible deathly silence hung over the landings.

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