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re: Moors Murderers Ian Brady & Myra Hindley: Search For Childs' Body Restarts
Black Widow Who Killed Her Lover Recalls Moment She Slapped Myra Hindley
Now a 72-year-old great-grandmother living a quiet life, Linda Calvey, who started off as a getaway driver before taking part in armed robberies, says looking back on her former life is 'surreal'
Daily Mirror UK, 18 MAR 2021.
Linda Calvey started off as a getaway driver before taking part in armed robberies (Image: Roland Leon Sunday Mirror)
Linda Calvey in January 1979 (Image: Mirrorpix)
“I was scared about going to prison, but I still did it. We saw getting caught as being part of the job.”
Linda was drawn into crime after her first husband, Mickey Calvey, was shot in the back by a policeman during a botched robbery in 1978.
And she says taking over his role in the gang was easy. “I always got on more with the men than the women,” she said.
“After Mickey died, it was a natural progression that I stepped up and took his place, and I was treated with respect.”
In 1985, Linda was sentenced to seven years in prison for armed robbery, serving three and a half.
Then, in December 1990, 18 months after she had left jail, Cook was fatally shot.
The jury found Linda guilty on the basis that she had paid hitman Danny Reece £10,000 to kill Cook, then fired the final shot when he lost his nerve.
But Linda says she was simply a witness to Cook’s murder by Reece, and says serving 18 years in prison for a crime she didn’t commit was “very hard”.
She adds: “I didn’t commit that crime. I was the second case in British legal history where a judge referred me straight to the Court of Appeal.
“His recommendation was seven years, but I ended up doing nearly 18 because I wouldn’t say I committed the murder. Being in prison for such a long time, not only did I lose so much, but my children lost so much too. I wasn’t there for big events such as my daughter’s wedding and my grandchildren being born.”
Linda was inside with notorious lag Myra Hindley, who she said “oozed evil”.
“The very first time I came face to face with Myra I walked up to her and gave her a slap,” recalls Linda.
“I got worried about what I’d done, but I was glad I did it. She was a really horrible person.”
Linda was always respected by the other inmates.
“My reputation as the Black Widow stood me in good stead,” she says.
“In some weird way I was looked up to, like a mother figure. The women in jail wanted me to be their friend.
“I never experienced bullying personally, and I would step in and stop people doing it to others.”
While in jail, Linda was romanced from afar by gangland boss Reggie Kray, who proposed twice over the phone, and Charles Bronson, who said he didn’t like Linda’s Black Widow nickname and called her “my black rose”.
She also married – and then divorced – Reece while in HMP Durham.
In 2008 Linda left prison, moved to the outskirts of east London and found love again with her third husband, retired businessman George Caeser.
And she “regrets” getting involved in the criminal underworld. She says: “I’ve always really regretted it. I would say to anybody, ‘Don’t go for a life of crime.’
“Rarely does it pay, and there’s a lot of heartache with it.”
One of London's most notorious gangsters says looking back on her former life, which saw her slap Myra Hindley in prison, is 'surreal.'
Linda Calvey was given the moniker 'Black Widow' because every man she was involved with ended up dead.
And after she was found guilty of killing her lover Ronnie Cook, she was jailed for 18 years and became the UK’s longest-serving female prisoner.
Now a 72-year-old great-grandmother living a quiet life, Linda, who started off as a getaway driver before taking part in armed robberies, says looking back on her former life is 'surreal.'
According to the Daily Star she said: "I look back and think, ‘Was that really me?’
“It’s surreal. It’s like looking back on the life of somebody else, because I can’t imagine how I did do the things I did.
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