Global RIP thread

[Flashermac]

I presume he was.

[Mekong]

Peter Scott aka "The Gentleman Thief"

 

 

Peter Scott, a prolific cat burglar who identified himself as a modern Robin Hood, has died aged 82.

 

Living on benefits in a council flat in Islington, North London, his final days were a far cry from his lifetime devoted to stealing millions from the rich and famous.

 

Among his victims, none of whom he held in high esteem, were such stars as Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Vivien Leigh, Lauren Bacall, and the gambling club and zoo owner John Aspinall, of whom he recalled: 'Robbing that bastard Aspinall was one of my favourites,' according to the Telegraph.

 

 

In total, by Scott's own reckoning, he stole jewels, furs and artworks worth more than £30 million. One of his most 'successful' jobs was stealing a £200,000 necklace from Sophia Loren, whom he described as having 'got what she deserved' when she was in Britain filming The Millionaires in 1960.

 

Fleet Street at the time said it was the biggest jewellery robbery ever in Britain; it earned Scott £30,000 from a 'fence' according to the Telegraph.

 

From an early age, Scott was destined for an exciting life of crime. At first he alluded capture but eventually his illicit actions caught up with him and he spent numerous years behind bars.

 

Born on February 18, 1931, in Belfast, to a middle-class military family in Belfast, Peter Craig Gulston's father died when he was young and his mother emigrated to the US.

 

 

 

A bright young boy, Peter was however trouble. He went to Belfast Royal Academy, but was inept at exams; instead he managed to swindle away the entirety of his father's inheritance.

 

As a teenager he turned to crime, burgling the posh homes in Malone Road in his school scarf and filling his rugby bag.

 

According to his memoirs, Scott claims he got away with 150 such crimes before police eventually caught up with him in 1952, but he still got away with just six months in Crumlin Road jail, after only being charged with 12 jobs.

 

Once free, he changed his name to Scott and moved to London and like a moth to a flame, found himself wandering the streets of Mayfair and Belgravia, planning his next jobs.

 

He began working as a pub bouncer and at night, would creep into the homes of London's richest. Taking his burgling career seriously, he carefully planned every raid, wearing a new suit for each burglary to blend in, if caught.

 

On numerous occasions he was interrupted once inside, but with a reassuring call of, 'It's only me,' or 'Everything's alright, madam,' his appearance and demeanor meant he got away with his crimes.

 

In the 1950s and 1960s, Scott would select his targets by going through the Daily Mail or the Daily Express. He even decided to join a swanky London tennis club to mingle with the wealthy, coaching more 'rich prats' who would likely become his victims.

 

Even up until the 1980s Scott continued to climb up drainpipes and enter buildings through skilled and stealthy means.

 

By the mid-1990s, Scott had served 12 years inside over the course of half a dozen different stretches. He was jailed for another three years in 1998 following the theft of Picasso's Tete de Femme from Lefevre Gallery in Mayfair the previous year.

 

In his memoirs, Gentleman Thief (1995) he described his victims as 'upper class prats chattering in monosyllables'.

 

He wrote: 'The people I burgled got rich through greed and skullduggery. They indulged in the mechanics of ostentation - they deserved me and I deserved them. If I rob Ivana Trump, it is just a meeting of two different types of degeneracy on a dark rooftop.'

He lived his heyday flashing his cash on luxury cars and fast women. His glamorous girlfriends included the model Jackie Bowyer - the second of his four wives.

Scott, however, ended up broke and was declared bankrupt owing creditors £440,000.

A son survives him.

[Plainsdrifter]

I wonder what his son does for a living.

[Central Scrutinizer]

"Among his victims, none of whom he held in high esteem, were such stars as Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor, Vivien Leigh, Lauren Bacall,"

 

"'The people I burgled got rich through greed and skullduggery. They indulged in the mechanics of ostentation - they deserved me and I deserved them"

 

Really? These actresses he robbed deserved to be robbed? What a fucking delusional dirtbag. Nothing more than a common thief who dressed up and did his own bit of acting. What a douche. And, to the author: Who the fuck would care who this thief 'held in high esteem'? He was scum.

[Flashermac]

Sophia Loren came from a dirt poor background. I don't think the others were exactly posh either, though Elizabeth Taylor was a child star.

[gobbledonk]

I feel much the same way when I read that Ronnie Biggs still sees the Great Train Robbery as 'an adventure'. He's a criminal, pure and simple - I guess we can thank Guy Ritchie for making east-enders somehow 'charismatic'. I never considered the likes of the Krays as 'charismatic' ....

 

(yes, I know Biggs was born in Lambeth and spent a large chunk of his life in S America - for all that, he belongs with the Krays)

[Central Scrutinizer]

Gobble,

 

At the moment I am reading 'The Fatal Shore - A History of the Transportation of Convicts to Australia 1787 - 1868'. by Robert Hughes. Some horrific stories in this book about the British and the 'Transportation' of the English convicts to Sidney and other areas of AUS (Van Diemen's Island, Norfolk Island). Truly mind boggling how these people, many just minor criminals and political prisoners, were treated as white slaves. Learning a lot I did not know while reading this book. I recommend this book to all who want to read and learn of the true history behind the colonization and lives of these poor bastards. Interesting history on the Bolters and Bushrangers I'd never read before as well. A good and fascinating read, and well researched.

 

The Central Scrutinizer

[sayjann]

I feel much the same way when I read that Ronnie Biggs still sees the Great Train Robbery as 'an adventure'. He's a criminal, pure and simple - I guess we can thank Guy Ritchie for making east-enders somehow 'charismatic'. I never considered the likes of the Krays as 'charismatic' ....

 

(yes, I know Biggs was born in Lambeth and spent a large chunk of his life in S America - for all that, he belongs with the Krays)

i don't have a major problem with Biggs.

a very low-level member of the criminal element at the time and got involved almost by accident.

the media made him into how he became to be perceived as a hero for fucking the establishment.

most of the gang were just petty criminals and they fucked up big-time in the end.

wrongly made into a hero along with several of the others but when it comes down to it their crime was an embarrassment to the hob-nobs at the time and they were certainly made an example of with their sentences.

much higher than would be expected and a bit odd compared to this day and age when violent murderers get a few years in jail.

i know one of the train staff was injured and never worked again but no compulsive evidence his death was a result of his being assaulted.

for years i used to see Buster Edwards selling flowers from his little spot outside Waterloo railway station and was quite a likeable guy and always up for a chat.

Ronnie is even more of an embarrassment to the establishment these days for his ability to get away with just about most things.

rightly or wrongly a kinda hero to many ordinary folks.

the Krays were totally different,pure evil and reigned over their 'enterprises' by using fear and mindless violence.

there are criminals and there are criminals but differences between them can be miles apart.

[bust]

Harry Potter's nasty uncle died last night along with Rolf Harris's career and reputation.

Now we know what Jake the Peg was doing with his extra leg

[Coss]

Yes I was wondering how many 82 yr old Australian Entertainers there were in Berkshire.