UK DARK TOURIST VISITOR ATTRACTION HERE AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION, LITTLEDEAN JAIL, FOREST OF DEAN , GLOUCESTERSHIRE. INFAMOUS “GODMOTHER OF BRITISH CRIME ” LINDA CALVEY aka …”THE BLACK WIDOW”… A NOTORIOUS FORMER ARMED ROBBER, GANGSTER & ALLEGED MURDERER WHO SERVED 18 YEARS IN PRISON FOR A CRIME SHE HAS ALWAYS DENIED COMMITTING … YOU AS VISITORS TO THE JAIL DECIDE FOR YOURSELVES ???

COMING SOON !!!!

ABOVE: FRONT COVER LINDA’S SOON TO BE RELEASED NEW BOOK, PUBLISHED AND RELEASED BY MIRROR BOOKS ON THURSDAY 11 JULY. AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER THROUGH AMAZON & WILL BE AVAILABLE THROUGH ALL GOOD BOOKSHOPS THEREAFTER .

ABOVE AND BELOW : Here’s a couple of pics of Linda Calvey during one of her private visits to view her exhibition here on display at Littledean Jail .

BELOW: ORIGINAL OIL PAINTING BY GLOUCESTERSHIRE ARTIST PAUL BRIDGMAN DEPICTICING  INFAMOUS “GODMOTHER OF BRITISH CRIME ” aka THE BLACK WIDOW, LINDA CALVEY , ALONG WITH HER FORMER HUSBANDS MICKEY CALVEY AND DANNY REECE, ALSO FORMER LOVER RONNIE COOK . THIS PAINTING IS  ON DISPLAY IN AND AMONGST  THE DARK TOURIST ART GALLERY HERE AT THE JAIL.

BELOW: SIGNED COLLAGE PRINT OF LINDA CALVEY, BLACK WIDOW, PERSONALLY SIGNED BY HER. THIS BEING A PRINT OF THE ORIGINAL PAINTING BY PAUL BRIDGMAN , GLOUCESTERSHIRE ARTIST WHICH IS HERE ON DISPLAY AT THE JAIL .

ABOVE: ORIGINAL PERSONALLY SIGNED OIL PAINTING ENTITLED ‘TRANQUILITY’ BY LINDA CALVEY. THIS WAS PAINTED FOR LINDA’S MOTHER  WHILST INCARCERATED IN HIGHPOINT PRISON, SUFFOLK  IN NOVEMBER 2002 AS CAN BE SEEN ABOVE.  

Above : “DEADLY WOMEN” … Here is an intriguing short American produced documentary based on the UK’s infamous  Linda Calvey- “The Black Widow”

ABOVE: A PERSONALISED HANDWRITTED AND SIGNED DOODLE SKETCH FROM LINDA INCLUDING HER PRISON NUMBER, HERE ON DISPLAY AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL.

Linda Calvey is a Londoner with stunning good looks and an attraction to gangsters . Her first husband, gangster Mickey Calvey, died in a Police shoot out after a botched armed robbery, and her second husband, Ronnie Cook, received a 16-year prison sentence for armed robbery in 1981.

While Ronnie is incarcerated, Linda fritters away his stash. Fearing her lover’s reaction on his release, she pays a hitman £10,000 to take care of Cook, but “allegedly ” ends up firing the fatal shot herself ???

Linda Calvey has always vehemently denied this claim !!!!!

ABOVE: A RATHER STRIKINGLY PERSONALLY HAND SIGNED  SEXY IMAGE OF LINDA CALVEY.  PICTURED HERE IN HER PRIME AGED 22 AND PRIOR TO HER ARREST . WOW WHAT A STUNNER !!!(AND STILL A REAL STUNNER TODAY )

 

ABOVE  & BELOW … LINDA CALVEY -THE BLACK WIDOW LEAVES COURT IN A HIGH SECURITY  POLICE VEHICLE DURING HER TRIAL AT THE OLD BAILEY , LONDON IN NOVEMBER 1991 . SHE SERVED 18 YEARS IN VARIOUS WOMEN’S HIGH SECURITY PRISONS FOR A MURDER THAT SHE HAS CONSISTENTLY DENIED COMMITTING

SHE WAS OFFERED A LESSER PRISON SENTENCE BY THE HOME OFFICE IF SHE CONFESSED TO THE MURDER AFTER BEING GIVEN A LIFE SENTENCE. .SHE SUBSEQUENTLY  REFUSED THIS OFFER OUTRIGHT AS SHE HAS ALWAYS MAINTAINED HER INNOCENCE AND THAT SHE HAD BEEN SET-UP ….. HENCE AS A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE SERVED THE FULL 18 YEAR PRISON TERM . 

Original painting by Gloucestershire Artist Paul Bridgman for and on display here at Littledean Jail

ABOVE: LINDA’S WEDDING DAY WORN BASQUE, WHICH SHE WORE WHEN MARRYING CO-ACCUSED MURDERER – DANNY REECE. THE WEDDING TOOK PLACE AT HMP DURHAM, AS CONFIRMED WITH HER HANDWRITTEN LETTER ABOVE, WHICH IS ON DISPLAY HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL   

BELOW:  TABLOID SENSATIONALISM…. THE SUNDAY PEOPLE IN DECEMBER 2006 AIM TO RIDICULE LINDA CALVEY WHILST SHE IS STILL IN PRISON .

BELOW : LINDA CALVEY (THE BLACK WIDOW) …BRITAIN’S NOTORIOUS FORMER FEMALE ARMED ROBBER, GANGSTER AND ALLEGED MURDERESS….WHO SERVED OVER 20 YEARS IN PRISON (18 YEARS OF THESE FOR A MURDER SHE STILL VEHEMENTLY CLAIMS TO THIS DAY SHE DID NOT COMMIT ) ….. SEEN FILMED HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL HAVING A HEAD AND HANDS CAST FOR DISPLAY ( FOR THE LINDA CALVEY – BLACK WIDOW EXHIBITION ) NOW ON PERMANENT DISPLAY AS PART OF THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION .
THESE CASTS HAVING BEEN MADE BY NICK REYNOLDS , SON OF THE GREAT TRAIN ROBBERY MASTERMIND – BRUCE REYNOLDS

BELOW: LINDA CALVEY WITH ANDY JONES OF THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION  PRESENTING A HANDMADE CUSHION ACQUIRED FROM NOTORIOUS BRITISH SERIAL KILLER ROSE WEST WHILST IMPRISONED TOGETHER AT HMP DURHAM IN 1994 …. NOW ON DISPLAY AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL ALONG WITH VARIOUS OTHER MEMORABILIA ITEMS KINDLY DONATED FOR HISTORICAL DISPLAY AT THE JAIL .

ABOVE & BELOW : IMAGES OF BOTH SIDES OF THIS CARD AS PERSONALLY DISCRIBED BY LINDA HERSELF IN THE HANDWRITEN AND SIGNED PIECE BELOW

ABOVE AND BELOW : A CHRISTMAS CARD FROM MYRA HINDLEY TO LINDA CALVEY WHILST THEY WERE BOTH IN PRISON, ALONG WITH A HANDWRITTEN AND SIGNED LETTER FROM LINDA CONFIRMING THE ABOVE.

BELOW: A FEW IMAGES TAKEN IN FEBRUARY 2018, OF A RECENT CATCH UP WITH LINDA CALVEY AND ANDY JONES OF THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION DURING A PRIVATE VISIT TO HER HOME.  WHEREUPON SHE ALSO KINDLY ADDED SOME PERSONALLY HAND SIGNED ANNOTATIONS TO VARIOUS EXHIBIT FEATURES FOR DISPLAY IN HER EXHIBITION AREA HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL .

NEWSPAPER FEATURE ON LINDA CALVEY’S MARRIAGE TO GEORGE CEASAR IN 2009 .

SHE VEHEMENTLY DENIES KILLING HER FORMER LOVER RON COOK WHO WAS SHOT AT POINT BLANK RANGE WITH A SHOTGUN AT THE HOME OF LINDA CALVEY, THE CRIME FOR WHICH SHE SERVED A TOTAL OF 18 YEARS IN PRISON .

 SHE CLAIMS SHE WAS AFFORDED THE OPPORTUNITY BY THE HOME OFFICE AUTHORITIES  TO SERVE A LESSER SENTENCE OF 7 YEARS IF SHE CONFESSED TO THIS CRIME .

SHE REFUSED THIS OFFER CLAIMING THAT…. WHY SHOULD SHE CONFESS TO A CRIME SHE NEVER COMMITTED?

 INSTEAD THE HOME OFFICE INCREASED THE TARIFF ON TWO OCCASIONS  TO A TOTAL  18 YEAR LIFE SENTENCE WHICH SHE SERVED IN FULL AS A MATTER OF PRINCIPLE .

COME VISIT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION AND SEE FOR YOURSELVES WHAT LINDA CALVEY HAS TO SAY IN HER OWN WORDS …

Linda Calvey

Linda Calvey is a female murderer and armed robber jailed for killing her lover Ronnie Cook in 1990. She was known as the “Black Widow” because all of her lovers ended up either dead or in prison.^[1]

Previous criminal career

Calvey began her criminal career as a lookout, later becoming a getaway driver and eventually wielding guns herself during robberies.^[2]

Murder of Cook

She paid a hitman Daniel Reece £10,000 to kill Cook. However he lost his nerve at the last minute and Calvey picked up the gun herself shooting the victim at point blank range whilst he kneeled in front of her.^[3]

At the time of her release Calvey was Britain‘s longest serving female prisoner. She spent 18 and a half years in prison for the murder of Cook and had also previously served three and a half years for an earlier robbery.^[4]

In 2002 a book by Kate Kray detailing Calvey’s life and crimes was published

BELOW ARE A NUMBER OF IMAGES OF SOME OF THE PERSONAL EXHIBIT ITEMS BELONGING TO LINDA CALVEY ON DISPLAY HERE AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , IMAGES OF LINDA PICTURED HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL AND AT VARIOUS EVENTS ETC ETC 

Black Widow in freedom bid

ABOVE: Linda Calvey pictured here during a private visit to The Crime Through Time Collection at Littledean Jail in the Forest of Dean , Gloucestershire.

A woman known as the Black Widow who was jailed for life for shooting dead her lover at point-blank range launched a new High Court bid for freedom today.

Lawyers for Linda Calvey asked a judge for permission to challenge Home Secretary David Blunkett’s failure to refer her case to the Parole Board.

Her counsel Alan Newman QC accused Mr Blunkett of acting unlawfully and in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights.

Calvey, 53, who was in court to hear her case argued, has served 12 years of her life sentence and is currently held at Highpoint Prison, Suffolk.

She was convicted in November 1991 of the murder of Ronald Cook.

At her Old Bailey trial the jury was told that Calvey originally hired a hit man, Daniel Reece, for £10,000 to carry out the murder in November 1990.

But he had lost his nerve at the last minute, and she forced Cook to kneel in front of her before carrying out the killing.

Both Calvey and Reece, who was also jailed for life, denied murdering Cook at Calvey’s home in Plaistow, east London, in November 1990.

The trial jury was told Calvey was nicknamed the Black Widow because of her habit of dressing in black after her husband Mickey was shot dead by police in 1978 as he was carrying out an armed robbery.

Today Mr Newman told the court that the trial judge set the minimum period she must serve for retribution and deterrence at seven years – but the then Home Secretary more than doubled the tariff to 15 years in 1993. The tariff was reviewed and reset in 1998.

In November last year, the House of Lords ruled in the case of Anderson that it was incompatible with human rights laws for the Home Secretary to set tariffs for mandatory lifers.

Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights required minimum periods in custody to be set by “an independent and impartial tribunal”.

Following that ruling Ms Calvey asked the Home Office to refer her case to the Parole Board as a matter of urgency, but her request was turned down.

Mr Newman told Mr Justice Jackson, sitting in London, that the Home Secretary’s failure to do so was unreasonable and breached Article 5 of the convention, which guaranteed a prisoner’s right to have their case reassessed if the basis for his or her detention changed.

He said it was “irrelevant” that the Lord Chief Justice had also concluded that the tariff should be 15 years.

Mr Blunkett had taken the view that Ms Calvey would have to wait until she could take advantage of new legislation passing through Parliament dealing with the position of lifers’ tariffs.

But by then she would probably have served the full 15-year tariff, and this would amount to a “cruel punishment” contrary to the 1688 Bill of Rights, said Mr Newman.

He told the judge that the case could affect many other murderers serving life sentences.

Seeking leave to apply for judicial review, he said: “The present application raises important and difficult points of law. Whatever may be the eventual outcome, even if at the end of the day the Secretary of State’s view prevails, this case clearly should be allowed to proceed to a full hearing.”

Would you marry the black widow? Ex-gangster Linda Calvey finds a new fiance

She’s a notorious gangster’s moll and every man who’s fallen for her has ended up dead or in jail. Now she’s finished a 28-year stretch for murder – and found a rich fiance. Has he got more money than sense?

Potentially lethal things, cars. Linda Calvey had a close call with an exploding spark
plug the other day. It left her a little shaken.

‘Afterwards, the guy in the garage told me that I was very lucky the engine did not go up, because I’d have been a gonner,’ she explains, breezy as you like.

Taking a chance: Linda Calvey and husband-to-be George Ceasar, who trusts her implicitly

‘I was telling my friend and she said: “Oh goodness, Linda. It could have been even worse. What if George had been driving and he’d been blown to pieces? You’d have been back inside in no time.” She was right, too. I can see the headlines now: The Black Widow Strikes Again.’

For some reason she seems to find this funny. Even more curiously, George, the man she will marry next year, is rocking with laughter too, tears collecting in his eyes.

Why the hilarity? Surely no sane person — or, at the very least, no lawabiding person — would regard it as funny to be so closely associated with Linda Calvey, behind the wheel or not.

Linda is the stuff of legends

For Linda is the stuff of legends — East End gangster legends, mostly.

In notoriety terms, she is up there with the Krays (indeed, Reggie Kray once proposed to her, which kind of says it all). So did ‘Mad’ Frankie Fraser. In glamour terms, she is in a league of her own.

For most of her adult life she has gone by the name of the Black Widow, dubbed so ever since one police officer with whom she’d had dealings pondered the fact that ‘every man she has ever been involved with is either in prison or dead’.

When Myra Hindley died a few years back, Linda — her prison hairdresser, oddly enough — assumed the title of the longest-serving female prisoner in the country.

That 18-year stint was for blasting a former lover to death with a shotgun. Another lover was her co-defendant in the case, and was sent down, too.

They later married behind bars, although — as is so often the way with Linda — it didn’t last.

Her first husband Micky (the one who taught her to be a career criminal — armed robbery to be precise) met a violent end, too, although this was at the hands of the police, who confronted him mid hold-up. That is quite some history to be trailing up the aisle with poor George, who seems like ever such a nice man.

George’s past is squeaky clean

They will marry in the spring with seven — count them! — bridesmaids in tow. Isn’t that a tad excessive for a 60-year-old grandmother getting hitched for the third time? Perhaps.

But then nothing about Linda Calvey was ever understated.

Four months ago, she was released from prison and into the arms of her new love, whom she met while she was on day release.

George Ceasar is a businessman and a part-time ski instructor, and ‘the farthest thing in the world from a gangster’, according to his future wife, who seems almost surprised by this. He drives a red Rolls-Royce (‘bought rather than nicked,’ she grins). His past is squeaky clean, literally. He used to run a successful bleach factory.

‘We were the first people to put bleach in bottles,’ he tells me, proudly.

He should really be the sort of man who would run a mile from Linda Calvey and the criminal underworld she epitomises.

So why, then, is he gazing adoringly at her and bemoaning the peculiarities of the British parole system, in the way that most men of his background would tut-tut at how you can never find a Post Office when you need one.

Gangster Reggie Kray and “Mad” Frankie Fraser both proposed to Linda Calvey

‘Can’t you poison someone in daylight hours?’

George simply cannot believe that his bride-to-be is still subject to ‘barmy’ parole conditions, which mean she cannot spend the night at his — or their, as it is now — home.

‘They have this mad idea that I am in some danger because of her,’ he says, appalled.

‘The prison officers took me aside when I went to visit her, saying: “Be careful.”

‘They implied she might try to kill me, which is nonsense. Even if it were true, do the authorities really think that they are protecting me by allowing her to be here with me only during the day. Can’t you poison someone in daylight hours?

‘It’s just ludicrous, from all angles. Does she seem dangerous to you?’

Erm, well, no. But then, didn’t Harold Shipman’s patients think he was a darling? I pitch up at George’s sprawling 13-room period house in the Kent countryside, hoping to talk to Britain’s most notorious female gangster, and am taken aback by what I find.

Her demeanour — warm, sparky, surprisingly vulnerable, endlessly entertaining — sets the tone for what will be a truly surreal interview.

‘It is the first time I’ve had a Christmas tree in 18 years. Every year I had Christmas
inside, all I could think of was: “I want my own tree.” George wanted to get an artificial one. I said: “No, George — it has to be real. That’s what I’ve dreamed of.” He said: “Well, whatever you want, my dear, you will have.”’

George was smitten from the start

While I try to get the interview under way — remember that the subject matter is murder, armed robbery and organised crime — they bicker about who will make the tea and whether they are going to see Barry Manilow that evening. She wants to go, but he doesn’t.

I feel as though I have stepped into a rather uneasy cross between a Guy Ritchie film and an Ealing comedy. So, how clever is the woman who has been billed as Britain’s most notorious female gangster? On this evidence, extremely. The other inmates called her Ma in prison, and you can see why.

She is attractive. A little brassy, yes — the lead character in Lynda La Plante’s Widows was apparently based on her — but not overly so. She is tactile, engaging and endearing.

George was smitten from the very start. They met in a Medway town when she was on day release from prison two years ago.

‘I was in a restaurant and it was very busy, so she and her friend shared the table with me. We got chatting, and I thought to myself: “Well, this is a lovely lady here”,’ says George.

‘She said she was on a day out. I said: “Oh, an outing?”

‘She said: “No, a day out from prison.”

‘I said: “Blimey. What did you do? It obviously wasn’t something that bad if you’re in an
open prison.”

‘She said: “The thing I went down for was bad, but the point is I didn’t do it. I am innocent.”’

‘She said she didn’t do it, and I believe her’

George — in his mid-Seventies — has had troubles of his own. He tells me that he, too, has been married twice and that his second wife ‘robbed him blind’.

‘You don’t have to be murdered by a woman to be done over by her,’ he says at one
point. He has grown-up children who he never sees. It sounds as though he was lonely when this captivating creature came into his life. Despite the horrific charge list, he brushes over the gangster stuff — even the bits Linda has admitted to.

‘Yes, she was a naughty girl, but haven’t you done anything wrong?’ he asks disingenuously.

He also claims she is the kindest person he has ever met. They decide between themselves that she’s a much nicer person than he is on the grounds that she once gave a cold stranger her own gloves, while such a thing would never occur to George.

Linda was the longest serving female prisoner in the country

It almost seems churlish to bring up more bloody matters and he sighs when I do so.

‘We’ve talked about it all,’ says George. ‘She’s told me what she did do and what she didn’t do. Yes, she did make mistakes, but she told me that on the big one — killing Ron — she didn’t do it, and I believe her. She was stitched up.

‘She has been completely honest with me. After we’d been out on our first date, I sat her down in the living room and said: “I want the truth. I don’t care whether you did
it or not, but I want to know the truth.” She swore she didn’t, and I believe her.’

Linda has always maintained that she did not kill Ronald Cook. She points out that had she professed some guilt she would have been out of jail years ago.

‘They kept me in because I refused to say I did it. But I’ve always held my hands up to what I’ve done. Armed robbery, yes. I’ve done terrible things, things so bad I can hardly believe it myself. But I did not kill Ron, and I will go to my grave saying it.’

‘Men close to me end up dead or in prison… it’s not my fault’

However, in November 1991, a jury decided that she did, and the evidence presented in court was as chilling as Linda’s current set-up is cosy.

Ron had been her lover for several years, but when he went to prison, she turned to several of his friends — also gangsters — for comfort.

Things got complicated, in the sexual and financial sense.

The court heard that, on Ron’s release, Linda was terrified that he would discover she had been unfaithful and had spent the heist money he had stashed away. She allegedly asked another lover, Daniel Reece, to kill him.

An agreement was put in place. Linda collected Ron from prison and drove him to the home they shared. Reece was waiting, but lost his nerve at the crucial moment, leaving Linda to take the shotgun off him and finish the task herself.

Surreally enough, we find ourselves in George’s kitchen when this horrific chapter is broached.

Both are standing as Linda tells her version, effectively re-enacting aspects of that day as she describes how she cowered in a corner as a gunman — the real killer, she says — fired at pointblank range.

The pair of them talk, quite matter-of-factly, about it as Linda puts the kettle on, saying that the Black Widow tag is quite unfair.

‘OK, men close to me came a cropper, but that’s because I associated with gangsters. They end up dead or in prison. That’s life. It’s not my fault.’

‘I liked the lifestyle’

What she fails to do, however, is convey any real sense of remorse — even for the fact that a man she professed to love died in such a manner. Cold-blooded? Barking mad? Or has she just been removed from law-abiding society for so long that she finds such complete moral detachment easy?

What’s interesting is that the only man she talks about with genuine affection is her first husband, Micky — shot dead by armed officers in a botched robbery.

‘I was from a respectable family, no hint of trouble there,’ she says of their meeting.

‘Micky was trouble, but oh so charming with it. Even my mother said: “I can see why you have fallen for him.” He worshipped me, my Micky. He gave me the world. I
didn’t know — honest I didn’t — that most of it was nicked.’

Micky robbed at gunpoint. His team’s jobs were mostly planned in their kitchen, with her making tea and sandwiches, listening in. Learning. She maintains that she got involved in the hard stuff only when Micky died.

‘I kind of just slid in. I started doing some of the driving, then getting more involved. I had children to feed. I liked the lifestyle. Yes. I wasn’t evil, though. I wasn’t.’

She even insists, after a moment’s hesitation, that the guns she carried weren’t even loaded.

Linda Calvey poses for a photo at a Holloway prison party

Tougher than the rest

She clearly hates the police and blames The Establishment, whatever that is, for the death of Micky. But she isn’t nearly as bitter as you might expect about her time in prison.

Again she talks dispassionately about how she survived: it seems to have boiled down to being tougher than all the rest, but never appearing to be tough. Black humour stalks every sentence.

‘When I went to Durham, I said I wouldn’t talk to anyone who had killed a child. The wardens said: “Well, you’ll not be talking to many people here then. They are all
murderers.” ’

She struck up a bizarre relationship with Myra Hindley. She says they weren’t friends, but they were close enough that Linda dyed Hindley’s hair regularly. She clearly
doesn’t put herself in the same criminal, morally deficient class, though.

‘Myra never regretted what she had done. I was often shocked by her. I remember when I was working in the prison library she came in and asked to order a book, but she wanted me to put it in the name of another girl, who never came into the library. I asked what book. It was The Devil And His Works. She got it, too.

George looks on — fascinated rather than horrified — as she chats away about somehow finding herself in the same prison wing as one of the most notorious female killers of our time.

‘I missed seeing my grandchildren grow up’

Is there remorse on her part? Yes, undoubtedly so — although mostly for herself and her loved ones.

‘I did not kill Ron and should not have done that sentence, but I know full well that it was my lifestyle that put me in prison for that murder, and that is a terrible thing to live with.

‘All my grandchildren were born when I was inside. I haven’t seen any of them grow up, and they never had a granny.

‘One day, one of them had to write in school about what they did at the weekend. My granddaughter wrote: “We went to see Granny and I got tickled by the policeman and
then we went swimming.” She meant she’d been frisked coming to the prison to see me. That floors you, you know.’

‘Mate, she saw you coming’

She seems close to tears. George pats her arm and talks about how they could put another Christmas tree in the hallway, if she wants.

I wonder if her realizes that most people will look at him and conclude that George, with his red Rolls-Royce, his big empty house and his ability to see the best in people and conclude: ‘Mate, she saw you coming.’

Have they considered a prenuptial agreement?

‘I’ve said I would sign one,’ Linda says sharply, but George shakes his head in distaste.

‘You can’t go into a marriage thinking like that. You have to trust people. Life’s a gamble, but if you lose trust, what have you got? So, she might kill me. Well, hell, I’ll
take the chance.’

Next spring — “If I last that long,” quips George — those wedding bells will ring. Linda is already thinking about flowers and cakes.

As I leave, she skips off to fetch me some of the cake decorations she learned to make in prison.

They are truly remarkable: tiny flowers, berries and leaves, made out of icing, but impossible to tell from the real thing, even up close.

The woman has a rare, impressive — and deeply disturbing — talent for leaving you wondering what is real and what is fake.

 

DAILY MAIL NEWS REPORT 6 SEPTEMBER 2016 ….

Has the curse of the Black Widow struck again? Notorious gangster’s moll Linda Calvey is single once more after third husband, 84, dies in Spanish hospital

• George Ceasar passed away over the weekend, leaving Calvey a widow
• Policeman once mused all Calvey’s husbands end up dead or behind bars 
• But Ceasar was confident his younger wife was not going to ‘bump him off’
• Friend says Calvey is concerned people may not think she is a gold-digger 

A killer known as the Black Widow is single again following the death of her third husband – but a close friend has insisted it has nothing to do with her infamous track record for losing spouses.

Linda Calvey – who was given her nickname after after one police officer mused ‘every man she has ever been involved with is either in prison or dead’ – is mourning the passing of Goerge Ceasar, 84, in a Spanish hospital this weekend.

The couple had been married five years and, despite Ceasar’s advanced age and ill-health, Calvey is said to be bracing herself for an adverse reaction from critics

 

PICTURED HERE ABOVE IS LINDA’S FIRST HUSBAND MICKY WHO WAS SHOT DEAD BY A POLICE MARKSMAN

The friend said: ‘She dreads imagining the wrong conclusions people will now leap to, especially as cynics warned when she married him it was for his money, which wasn’t true.

 

‘The reality is that despite being a tough old boy, George simply passed away from a combination of illness and old age. Linda had nothing to do with his death.

‘It’s sad but that’s life.’

Calvey’s first husband was shot dead by police marksman, and the second, who she divorced, is serving life for murder, see below

Above: Second husband : marrying Danny Reece in Durham’s prison chapel in 1995 . He is still serving a life sentence

She served 18-and-a-half years in jail – the longest time behind bars by any woman in Britain – after shooting a former lover dead.

But Ceasar, who was 17 years her senior, seemed unworried by her reputation.

At his and Calvey’s lavish white wedding five years ago, the law abiding tycoon joked of his willingness to take a chance on ‘Linda not bumping me off’.

However, it is said he recently told friends that ‘marrying Linda was the worst mistake of my life’ – while Calvey hinted at a possible divorce.

‘Unlike George she wasn’t prepared to sit around at home in God’s waiting room day in day out. She spent a third of her life locked-up and when she was released she needed to be out and about,’ said the friend.

Ceasar, who left the UK to live in Spain for health reasons last winter, had spent a month in hospital near Benidorm, Costa Blanca, surrounded by Calvey’s family and friends.

The former ski instructor – who was given the last rites by a priest last week – left instructions for his ashes to be scattered on his favourite mountainside in Switzerland.

But Calvey was not at his side when he passed away as she is still subject to parole orders including travel restrictions, lives in Basildon, Essex.

Calvey, who rejected marriage proposals from villains Reggie Kray and ‘Mad’ Frankie Fraser between husbands, was immortalised in the hit TV series, apltly named ‘Widows,’ by Lynda La Plante but she scoffed at claims she had made £1million from her crimes.

Her first husband Micky was shot dead by the Flying Squad in a bungled raid on a London supermarket in 1978.

She later wed hitman Danny Reece, who helped her kill her then boyfriend, Ronnie Cook in 1990.

Then, while Reece was still in jail for the murder, she asked him for a divorce to wed George.

They had first met by chance in a crowded pub in Canterbury, Kent, close to the prison where she was being prepared for release.

Ceaser asked her if she was enjoying a shopping trip in town, to which she replied: ‘Yes, but I’m from the jail down the road.’

Above: Linda with her boyfriend Ronnie Cook who she was alleged to have shot dead in cold blood .

As their friendship blossomed, he regularly visited her at HMP East Sutton Park and she confessed to him hat while she had ‘done many bad things in life’ she was not a murderer – despite the Old Bailey’s damning verdict.

Calvey has always maintained she was innocent, but jurors heard how she snatched the shotgun from Reece after he had bungled Cook’s killing, and finished him off herself.

On jail visit before her release in 2008, a concerned prison officer took besotted George aside and warned him: ‘Beware, she kills her men, you know..’

But the friend said this week: ‘Okay, the men close to Linda always came croppers but that’s because she associates with gangsters. Yes, they end up dead or in jail but it isn’t her fault.’

The friend said that she was braced for a backlash over George’s death from doubters who claimed she had only wed him for his bank balance.

Calvey had spent so long in jail that when she left her cell, her State pension amounted to only 11p a week.

‘Despite their differences, Linda greatly respected George, who was the kindest man she had ever known. She will miss him but she was never a gold digger.

 

 

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UK NETFLIX DARK TOURIST ATTRACTION LITTLEDEAN JAIL, FOREST OF DEAN, GL14 3NL … DEEMED AND FROWNED UPON BY GLOUCESTERSHIRE TOURISM CHIEFS FOR MANY YEARS AS THE SO SAY POOR RELATION TO THE COTSWOLDS, THE FOREST OF DEAN HAS RAPIDLY RISEN TO NOW BECOME ” THE JEWEL IN THE CROWN” WITHIN THE COUNTY. WITH PLENTY OF INTERESTING PLACES TO VISIT, STAY AND EAT. VISITORS FROM AROUND THE WORLD FLOCK HERE & ARE ALWAYS MADE WELCOME IN OUR REMOTE, CURIOUS, BEAUTIFUL & UNSPOILT COUNTRYSIDE.

BELOW: Here’s a brief video trailer to provide you as visitors with a walk-through  insight into our  “Aladdin’s Cave ” of various exhibit material here on display at the jail . And yes this is a very very brief insight

POLITE WARNING,  WE ARE A “DARK TOURISM ” VISITOR ATTRACTION & MOST CERTAINLY NOT SUITABLE FOR CHILDREN, THOSE EASILY OFFENDED, DISTURBED OR OF A SENSITIVE NATURE SO IF THIS APPLIES TO YOU … PLEASE DO AVOID  VISITING  TO THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL.

 AS WE SAY ABOVE … THERE IS STILL LOTS TO SEE & DO ELSEWHERE DURING YOUR VISIT TO THE FOREST OF DEAN… WITH PLENTLY OF FAMILY FRIENDLY ATTRACTIONS

BELOW : Here is a brief video trailer to give you a very brief insight into our Dark Tourist Art Gallery, which is intermingled within and amongst our vast and diverse

ABOVE: a short video showing highlights of the spooky cult horror 1974 film ” HOUSE OF WHIPCORD” featuring some of the many scenes shot in  Littledean Jail, Littledean Village,Lydney and other Forest Of Dean areas

Being proud to be based , and living here in Littledean , Forest of Dean ….here is our own brief insight and recommendations on where to stay , eat and enjoy during your visit to our wonderful and truly welcoming Forest of Dean area .Great place to visit and  great friendly people ….

Previously and seemingly frowned upon in The County of Gloucestershire by Tourism Chiefs as the poor relation to The Cotswolds ….  there can be no doubt that The Forest of Dean is continually growing in popularity to be one of the country’s most  picturesque and  interesting area to visit …..with a great many visitor attractions, great places to stay, along with lots to do and see .

The Forest of Dean is has become one of the country’s most  popular film location areas with Hollywood, other film makers and TV Companies all using the Forests natural beauty  …. Recent filming in the area has  included Star Wars , The Huntsman (sequel to Snow White and The Huntsman ), Dr Who and Merlin to name but a few .

Incidentally world famous actress Helen Mirren also used to reside here close to the jail  in Littledean .

Helen Mirren pictured here in TV drama Prime Suspect

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BELOW : SAINT ANTHONY’S WELL… A SACRED WELL  BUILT BY THE FLAXLEY ABBEY MONKS …. ALSO USED FOR PAGAN , WICCAN , WITCHCRAFT AND THE OCCULT RITUALS . APPROX 1.5 MILES FROM LITTLEDEAN JAIL .

ABOVE: ELLEN HAYWARD ( OLD ELLEN ) THE LAST WOMAN TO BE TRIED FOR WITCHCRAFT IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE , HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL ….. HER HEADSTONE AND  GRAVE CAN BE SEEN AT ST JOHN’S CHURCH , CINDERFORD

ABOVE: PC SAMUEL BEARD … THE FIRST POLICEMAN TO BE KILED IN THE LINE OF DUTY IN GLOUCESTERSHIRE , WHO WAS STATIONED HERE AT LITLLEDAN JAIL  FOR 16 YEARS WITH HIS WIFE AND FAMILY …. HIS HEADSTONE AND GRAVE CAN BE SEEN AT ST ETHELBERT’S CHURCH , LITTLEDEAN .

ABOVE : Andy Jones “The Guv’ of The Crime Through Time Collection here at Littledean Jail ”  …. deemed by many as the ” Marmite Museum ” … you will either love it or hate it.

ABOVE AND BELOW : Just to remind those who have not yet seen our brief Peaky Blinders Exhibition …. worth a peek !!!

When coming to the Forest of Dean either to visit Littledean jail or any of the other great local tourism attractions in the area, we can highly recommend these places to stay , eat and drink ….

Fern Ticket Hotel, family run  pub and restaurant in Cinderford,

 Littledean House Hotel and Indian Restaurant .. family run establishment  in Littledean and undoubtedly one of the best curry houses in the county .

The Belfry Hotel and Restaurant  … another popular local hotel and restaurant

The Speech House Hotel … Family run and one of the most historic hotels in the area

other great restaurants in the area include ….

The Whitehart, Broadoak  …. A riverside restaurant, pub and child friendly play area.

FOREST HOUSE HOTEL & ANDERSENS RESTAURANT , COLEFORD , Top draw food and family run hospitality

Whitemead Forest Park,Lydney  ….A great family friendly place to stay , visit and eat .

Blaisdon House B & B   …. A great family friendly place to stay

Brayne Court … A great family friendly place to stay

Red Hart Inn , Blaisdon … A great place to eat .

http://thelyoninn.com/  Westbury on Severn … another fab place to eat, meet and greet .

There are also many other Camp Sites and Bed and Breakfasts to stay at in the area .

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For local taxi services we would recommend …

Mark Turner of Onecall Taxi Cinderford

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Local Tourism attractions to visit include ….

The Crime Through Time Collection at Littledean Jail

Puzzlewood

Clearwell Caves

Stockwood

Go Ape

Beechenhurst  Trail

The Maize and Trecking Centre , Littledean

Pedalabikeaway Biking Centre

Taurus Crafts

The National Diving and Activity Centre

Perrygrove Railway & Tree top Adventure.

Symonds Yat Rock

The International Centre for Birds of Prey.

Forest of Dean Sculpture TrailAlso do take a look at the Explore Gloucestershire Website for further activity information in the Forest of Dean area’s

NETFLIX UK DARK TOURIST ATTRACTION – THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL, FOREST OF DEAN, GLOUCESTERSHIRE …. FEATURING AN EXHIBITION ON CAPITAL PUNISHMENT, ALSO KNOWN AS THE DEATH PENALTY . A CHILLING REMINDER OF THE WORK OF BRITAIN’S HANGMEN AND EXECUTIONERS …

Talk about objects that evoke strong feelings and debate ….  you need look no further than a simple rope which just happens to be the Hangman’s Noose .

Here at The Crime Through Time Collection, Littledean Jail we house and display several original Hangman’s Nooses including the one used by James Berry on ” The Man They Couldn’t Hang ”  John “Babbacombe” Lee.  

We also house and have on display  several official government regulation nooses made by John Edgington , Old Kent Road, London. Some of which have the chamois leather noose and the the gutta percha on the noose ends. The gutta percha was later omitted from the regulation noose ends in 1955.

These noose’s would have possibly  been used for both test drops and executions  by several of Britain’s 20th Century Hangmen and Executioners, and also for executions carried out abroad . These ropes would undoubtedly have been used by the likes of Stephen Wade, Henry Kirk, Robert Lewis Stewart, John Ellis, Albert Pierrepoint and the last hangman in England Harry Allen .

Above : Original oil painting of  3 generations of the Pierrepoint family , who were all Britain’s chief executioners  … Painted by local Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman , on display at Littledean Jail.

Sadly official records no longer appear to exist in regards to  where and on whom these official government regulation J Edgington & Co noose’s were used . All we know is that Edgingtons were awarded the Government contract to supply all the execution noose’s from 1888 up until the abolition of the death penalty in 1964.

The only other official documentation or records  that exists in regards to the storage and transportation of  numbered J Edgington nooses is that which is held at HMP Wandsworth , London.

We also feature on display an array of handwritten and signed correspondence from a number of hangmen.

All in all a hopefully  unique,  historical and educational insight into the life and times of Capital Punishment within the UK .

ABOVE AND BELOW: VARIOUS EXAMPLES OF OFFICIAL GOVERNMENT ISSUE HANGMAN NOOSE’S WHICH WERE MADE BY J EDGINGTON & CO , OLD KENT ROAD , LONDON. THESE WERE MANUFACTURED BY THEM FROM 1888 UNTIL THE ABOLITION OF CAPITAL PUNISHMENT IN 1965 .

Official inscription of Government  Hangman nNoose makers  J. Edgington  on brass eyelets .

close-up image of vulcanised rubber noose washer and ” gutta percha ” covering

 

Close up image of Chamois Leather covered noose

 

BELOW IS AN INSIGHT INTO SOME OF VARIOUS HANGMEN RELATED EXHIBIT MATERIAL HERE ON DISPLAY, WHICH INCLUDES  ORIGINAL HANGMAN’S NOOSE’S USED BY GEORGE SMITH POPULARLY KNOWN AS ” THROTTLER SMITH ” AND  JAMES BERRY ON THE “MAN THEY COULD NOT HANG ” – JOHN “BABBACOMBE” LEE . ALSO  HANDWRITTEN  AND SIGNED  LETTERS, BUSINESS  CARDS AND RECEIPTS ETC.

GEORGE SMITH ( 1805-1874 )

George Smith, popularly known as Throttler Smith, was an English hangman from 1840 until 1872. He was born in Rowley Regis in the English West Midlands, where he performed the majority of his executions George Smith, popularly known as Throttler Smith, was an English hangman from 1840 until 1872. He was born in Rowley Regis in the English West Midlands, where he performed the majority of his executionsNOOSE’S USED BY GEORGE SMITH POPULARLY KNOWN AS ” THROTTLER SMITH “NOOSE USED BY GEORGE SMITH POPULARLY KNOWN AS ” THROTTLER SMITH “

WILLIAM CALCRAFT  (1800 -1879 )

William Calcraft was a 19th-century English hangman, one of the most prolific of British executioners. It is estimated in his 45-year career he carried out 450 executions.

BELOW: Original oil painting by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman of notorious Hangman and Executioner – William Calcraft

BELOW : Original receipt for payment of the sum of £12.12 shillings dated 22 march 1856 for an execution he carried out at Manchester Gaol . It is complete  with a lilac Inland Revenue 1d stamp as well as being receipted as signed for by William Calcraft …. an extremely rare historic item for sure here on display at Littledean Jail

In today’s money this would be equivalent to approx £9000 !!!

WILLIAM MARWOOD ( 1818-1883)

William Marwood was a hangman for the British government. He developed the technique of hanging known as the “long drop”.

ABOVE : Original oil painting of William Marwood by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman here on display at Littledean Jail

BELOW : An original rare official business card from William Marwood , Executioner , which he has also signed on the rear as pictured here below.

JAMES BERRY (1852-1913 )

James Berry was an English executioner from 1884 until 1891. Berry was born in Heckmondwike in the West Riding of Yorkshire, where his father worked as a wool-stapler.

Above & below : An original book about James Berry sent to Joe Mawson back in 2004 with a dedicated inscription for his help having , at the time via Andy Jones of The Crime Through Time Collection provided a copy of the original James Berry calling card for illustrated use within this book

ABOVE : Original and very rare James Berry ” Public Executioner ” business / calling cards

ABOVE: An original oil painting by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman of James Berry , here on display at The Crime Through Time Collection , Littledean jail .

ABOVE AND BELOW: THE ORIGINAL JAMES BERRY HANGMAN’S NOOSE, USED BY HIM IN THE FAILED ATTEMPT TO EXECUTE JOHN ‘BABBACOMBE’ LEE IN EXETER JAIL ON 23 FEBRUARY 1885

DISPLAYED HERE ALONG WITH THE ORIGINAL HANDWRITTEN AND SIGNED AUTHENTICATION LETTER FROM JAMES BERRY DATED 3 JULY 1897 IN RELATION TO THE USE OF THIS NOOSE .

Above & below , an original James Berry Executioner business calling card privately acquired from the estate of former crime ephemera collector Joe Mawson (who passed away at the age of 86) by The Crime Through Time Collection along with an original letter from Scotland Yard’s Black Museum curator Bill Waddell sent from the Metropolitan Police Office dated 20-2-1984, previously sent to Joe Mawson with reference to this extremely rare calling card .

PICTURED HERE BELOW IS AN EXCEPTIONALLY RARE AND MOST CERTAINALY HISTORICALLY UNIQUE ENGRAVED 1861 HALF PENNY COIN PRESENTED BY JAMES BERRY PUBLIC EXECUTIONER TO J.BREEZE, 25 JULY 1886.

THIS PERSONALLY ENGRAVED PRESENTATION COIN IS HERE ON DISPLAY, ALONG WITH AN ARRAY OF INFAMOUS HANGMAN JAMES BERRY & OTHER HANGMEN AND EXECUTIONER MEMORABILIA

JOHN ELLIS (1874 -1932 )

John Ellis was a British executioner for 23 years, from 1901 to 1924. His other occupations were as a Rochdale hairdresser and newsagent.

ABOVE: Original oil painting of John Ellis by Gloucestershire Artist Paul Bridgman , here on display at Littledean Jail

JOHN BILLINGTON HANGMAN AND EXECUTIONER

John Billington came from a family of hangmen. His father, James, was an executioner from 1884 to 1901, and his two older brothers, Thomas and William were employed in the same occupation.

In early 1902, at the age of 21, John attended an execution training course at Newgate Prison. His brother William was England’s primary executioner by this time, and the two became partners. They first worked on 18 March. John was the assistant for 10 of William’s commissions in 1902. He helped perform the last execution at Newgate and the first one at Pentonville.

Billington continued as an assistant through most of 1903. However, with his experience, he was soon promoted. On 2 December 1903, he carried out his commission as a chief executioner in Manchester, with John Ellis as his assistant. Twenty-nine executions took place in England and Ireland in 1903; the Billington brothers participated in 27 of them, including 15 as a two-man team.

John Billington worked both as his brother’s assistant and as a chief executioner for the next two years. On three separate occasions, they carried out executions in different cities on the same day. The last of these was on 17 August 1904, when John executed John Kay at Armley Prison, and William hanged Samuel Holden at Winson Green Prison.

Besides Ellis, John Billington also frequently worked with Henry Pierrepoint. In his career, Billington carried out a total of 26 hangings as an assistant and 16 as a chief executioner. He worked as a hairdresser when not performing executions.

In August 1905, Billington received a commission to hang Thomas Tattersall in Leeds. While preparing the scaffold, he fell through the open trapdoor and cracked his ribs. He died about two months later due to those injuries; the official cause of death was pleurisy.

Billington was 25 years old at the time. He was survived by his wife and one child.

ABOVE : Original oil painting of James Billington by Gloucestershire  artist Paul Bridgman here on display at Littledean Jail

BELOW: Original oil painting of Henry Pierrepoint by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman here on display at Littledean Jail

THOMAS PIERREPOINT (1870 – 1954 )

ABOVE: Thomas Pierrepoint (left) and his nephew, Albert (right)

BELOW: Thomas Pierrepoint , Hangman and Executioner

Thomas Pierrepoint began working as a hangman in 1906 under the influence of his brother, Henry. His career spanned 39 years, and ended in 1946, by which time he was in his mid-seventies. During this time, he is thought to have carried out 294 hangings, 203 of which were civilians executed in England and Wales, whilst the remainder were executions carried out abroad or upon military personnel. Among those he executed was the poisoner Frederick Seddon in 1912.
During World War II he was appointed as executioner by the US Military and was responsible for 13 out of 16 hangings of US soldiers at the Shepton Mallet military prison in Somerset. In this capacity, Pierrepoint carried out executions not only for murder but also rape which, at the time, was a capital crime under US military law although not in British law. In most of these cases he was assisted by his nephew Albert – who was principal hangman for the remaining three executions.
In 1940, his medical fitness for the job was questioned by a medical officer who called him “unsecure” and doubted “whether his sight was good”. The Prison Commission discreetly asked for reports on his performance during executions in the following time, but evidently found no reason to take action, although one report said that Thomas Pierrepoint had “smelled strongly of drink” on two occasions when reporting at the prison. This, however, appears to clash with Thomas Pierrepoint’s instruction to Albert (when the latter acted as his assistant) not to take a drink if on the job and never to accept the drink customarily given to all witnesses at executions in the Republic of Ireland.
Thomas never officially retired, rather his name was removed from the list of executioners and invitations to conduct executions ceased to arrive. He died at his daughter’s home in Bradford on 11 February 1954, aged 83

ABOVE: Original oil painting of Thomas Pierrepoint  by Gloucestershire Artist Paul Bridgman on display at Littledean Jail

 

ALBERT PIERREPOINT  ( 1943 -1992 )

Albert Pierrepoint was a long-serving hangman in England. He executed at least 400 people, including William Joyce and John Amery. In Germany and Austria after the war, he executed some 200 people who had been convicted of war crimes

HARRY ALLEN – THE LAST HANGMAN AND EXECUTIONER IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

ABOVE : Harry Allen, Britain’s last chief executioner, photographed in 1969

 Harry Bernard Allen (5 November 1911 – 14 August 1992) was one of Britain’s last official executioners, officiating between 1941 and 1964. He was chief executioner at 41 executions and acted as assistant executioner at 53 others, at various prisons in England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, the Channel Islands and Cyprus. He acted as assistant executioner for 14 years, mostly to Albert Pierrepoint from 1941 to 1955.

ABOVE : Inspection: Hangman Harry Allen, right, examines a noose before an execution he undertook for the Br