She had lived in the same house in Provanmill since Mr Thompson died of a heart attack in 1993. We are doing this to improve the experience forour loyalreaders and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. United Kingdom, {"event":"pageview","page_type1":"catalog","page_type2":"image_page","language":"en","user_logged":"false","user_type":"ecommerce","nl_subscriber":"false"}, {"event":"ecommerce_event","event_name":"view_item","event_category":"browse_catalog","ecommerce":{"items":[{"item_id":"MPX5165602","item_brand":"other","item_category":"photo","item_category2":"no_copyright","item_category3":"standard","item_category5":"not_balown","item_list_name":"search_results","item_name":"glasgow_gangster_arthur_thompson_with_his_wife_rita_thompson_c_1970_b_w_photo","item_variant":"undefined"}]}}. Again, Arthur survived and refused to make any statement to the police. Nine months later Thompson died in his bed from a heart attack. Newsquest Media Group Ltd, Loudwater Mill, Station Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. He was seen as the rising star of the Glasgow underworld and a man who could take over from Arthur Snr. He then walked the few yards from one court to another to give evidence in the Welshes murder trial. She had lived in the same house in Provanmill since Mr. He even threatened to bomb the homes of two off-duty police officers after they saw him kill two men in Royston Road, Glasgow, in May that year. With Fatboy in prison, Old Arthur had to return before his rivals picked his empire apart. Tributes paid to 'vibrant' Glasgow community hero who tragically died after long cancer battle. Both men were bitter rivals of Thompson. contact the editor here. In 1985, he was arrested and charged with supplying heroin in what was probably a set-up; an 11-year prison sentence was the result. His own death almost 30 years ago marked the end of an astonishing era in the history of the city's underworld. Further violence involving the Mungiki took place after the disputed Kenyan General Election in December 2007. In the United States, MS-13 is making its deadly mark. The 37-year-old was found seriously injured on his doorstep on Tuesday. It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times. He accused Paul Ferris, a former enforcer for the gang, of trying to kill him in 1988. He was caught and, as criminals did at the time, called for the legendary lawyer Joe Beltrami, who hired advocate Nicky Fairbairn to defend him. We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can Please note that only low-res files should be uploaded. He even threatened to bomb the homes of two off-duty police officers after they saw him kill two men in Royston Road, Glasgow, in May that year. Disclaimer: Reference to these media outlets or TV shows should not be construed to imply an endorsement or sponsorship of Spokeo or its products. Family and friends must say goodbye to their beloved Rita Thompson (Oklahoma City, Oklahoma), who passed away at the age of 64, on August 18, 2021. Secret reports on Thompson from the late 1960s made public for the first time by the Scottish Government in 2010 present a chilling portrait of the man. While London had the Krays and the Richardsons to contend with in the 1960s, Glasgow had its own dominant group of street thugs in the form of The Thompson Gang. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. Glasgow gangster Arthur Thompson, known as The Godfather, pictured with his wife Rita Thompson.Circa 1970. Another measure of his influence came after his son Arthur Thompson Jr was jailed for 11 years in 1985 for drug dealing. Thompsons name was enough to strike fear into anyone who crossed him. Legend has it that the crime boss later viewed the bodies and shot both men in the chest with another gun. By the early 1980's Thompson - now in his 50's - was all-powerful in Glasgow and beyond. In dramatic scenes, Thompson and the Welshes both stood trial at the same time at the High Court in Glasgow. Arthur Thompson, known as the Godfather in the city, formed the gang and began his career as a money lender in a council estate. Tony Thompson reports, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning. contact the editor here. One police file said: The overall picture of Thompson is that of aviolent, vicious and active criminal who will stop at nothing to uphold his position in the underworld as a hard man and to gain his own ends.. Three years later, Ferris was accused of the murder of the Fatboy who was shot three times outside of his home. [5] In 1969, Thompson's wife Rita forced her way into the Welsh home and stabbed Patrick Welsh's widow in the chest; she was jailed for three years. Copyright 2006 Gale, Cengage Learning. Get the latest crime news direct to your inbox with the Glasgow Crime and Courts newsletter. The car was deliberately placed on the funeral route. He drove his Jaguar straight at the van, forcing it off the road and into a lamppost, killing Welsh and Goldie. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can Norval's trial has a fiery hanselling. Friendly with the likes of 'Mad' Frankie Fraser and Billy Hill, he was a leading underworld figure north of the border. The young cop rose through the ranks to become head of the Strathclyde Police Serious Crime Squad and retired at the rank of Detective Superintendent in 1992. No one man had dominated organised crime in the city quite like Arthur Thompson and no one man ever would. It later transpired that they would have been better off inside prison. Registered in England and Wales as company number 01056394. Arthur was also involved in legitimate enterprises such as pubs, demolition, corner shops, garages, and carpet showrooms to keep his assets hidden and launder money from his various criminal enterprises. We use your sign-up to provide content in the ways you've consented to and improve our understanding of you. It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse. Results will return exact matches only.Any images with overlay of text may not produce accurate results.Details of larger images will search for their corresponding detail. Rita M. Glasgow Obituary. By 1966, Arthur Thompson was all-powerful in Glasgow. However, despite the murder of his son, the Godfather wasn't quite finished yet. Data returned from the Piano 'meterActive/meterExpired' callback event. Thompson signed into a private clinic in the West End of Glasgow and told police the injury was caused by a broken drill bit. It may be one of the few occasions when the law had got the better of him. McPherson wrote: It was straight out of a Guy Ritchie movie and was full of cockney hardmen. Dumbarton police stop 'dangerous' vehicle on A82 as driver fails cannabis test. A Young Arthur Thompson. For McPhee, the end was always going to come like this.' [14], Thompson is survived by Tracey Thompson, his last remaining child. Two weeks later Joe learned of Thompsons plans to blow up both his and Johns homes in Glasgow. Many of the immigrants that arrived in the United States during the 1980s were used to violence as El Salvador is one of the worlds most dangerous places to live. They had each been shot in the back of the head, with an extra bullet fired up their anuses for good measure. The Mungiki sect emerged from Kenyas biggest ethnic group; known as the Kikuyu. At an identification parade, he refused to identify the IRA suspect. In his 2009 autobiography, legendary Scottish football commentator Archie MacPherson revealed he was paid up to 500 a time in the early 1980s to host events organised by Thompson. His closing years were plagued by two bouts of cancer, first of the bowel and then the lung. Today, the Mungikis membership is approximately 500,000, and it is quickly gaining a reputation as one of the worlds deadliest gangs. Readers comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. There was a time when Billy Thompson, youngest member of Glasgow's most infamous criminal clan, could rely on his family's reputation to protect him wherever he went. Brian Lundie, 41, is missing from the Baillieston area of Glasgow with officers issuing an urgent reappeal to find him, saying his disappearance is "very much out of character". If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can Two years later Fat Boy was gunned down outside The Ponderosa just six hours after coming home from prison on weekend leave. Although he has been dead for nearly eight years, the name of Arthur Thompson still induces instant amnesia or muteness in Provanmill residents. Out of the darkness stepped a mystery man who opened fire before escaping in a stolen car with two other men. Thompson later gave a personal undertaking to the police that he would not harm the two officers. Three shots at close range from a .22 pistol hit young Arthur. Rita's husband, William Gunn, the biker, isn't so lucky, getting five years in jail for threatening to kill one of the leading witnesses. The company, based in Drumchapel, has reportedly ceased all trading with its annual results currently overdue by more than two months. There are 200+ professionals named "Rita Thompson", who use LinkedIn to exchange information, ideas, and opportunities. Charges of illegal possession of a firearm and supplying heroin, cocaine and ecstasy were also thrown out by the jury. In his day, he said, "gangsters were hard men. The eyewitnesses who did not speak up at the trial were not bad people, they were just terrified of Thompson and what he might do to them.. Glasgow shop owner 'in tears' after store weeks away from opening hit by devastating blaze. He died in his father's arms. Rita lives in Glasgow, KY in a single family house with Elisa. Prison chiefs were also under no illusions about the kind of man they were dealing with. Souhila and her husband were almost ready to open Adam Supermarket before the Napiershall Lane business was hit with a devastating inferno on Wednesday night. Within a few weeks Ferris had been arrested, but Hanlon, 23, and Glover, 31, remained free. He then walked the few yards from one court to another to give evidence in the Welshes murder trial. Had they lived both Hanlon and Glover would likely have stood trial alongside Ferris as alleged accomplices in Arthur Thompson Jnrs murder. The myth has him dedicating himself to a life of crime after watching the movie Dillinger in a local fleapit. In dramatic scenes, Thompson and the Welshes both stood trial at the same time at the High Court in Glasgow. Underworld sources say there is a battle to control Glasgow's 300 million drug market which has spawned a wave of attacks and murders in the city. His other son, Billy died in 2017 as a result of his drug addiction. The lack of a dominant godfather figure means rival factions are fighting to fill the power vacuum, and police fear the violence may escalate further. In August 1991, Arthur Jnr, 31, was shot dead outside the Thompson family home while on weekend leave from prison. His team, the Barlanark Gang, initially continued paying him a cut, but the two sides quickly fell out as the Gang found new paymasters. Previously, Rita was a Perioperative Nursing Development Professional & Specialist at Huntington Hospital and also held positions at St. Mary's Medical Center, St. Mary's Medical Center, Desert Cities Dialysis Police are probing his links with a big dogfighting ring. After a few years of relatively low-key activity, the gang escalated its violent activity in 2007. Veteran crime reporter Ron McKay tells the story of Walter Norval, the former boss of Glasgow's infamous XYY Gang. inaccuracy or intrusion, then please Arthur Thompson was one of 300 people called to give evidence. Body of missing man Matthew Cosgrove discovered by police in Lanarkshire. Search the Bridgeman archive by uploading an image. Arthurs influence began to wane while his son was in prison and other gangs saw the chance of rich pickings. Thompson died at the Glasgow Royal Infirmary on 13 March 1993 from a heart attack at the age of 61. Readers comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. The term Mungiki means multitude or united people in the Kikuyu language. In the 1960s, his wife Rita was employed as a singer, with one pub paying a fee of 200 for each performance - the equivalent of 4000 in today's money. Teacher strikes suspended as union backs new Scottish Government pay offer. Born in September 1931[1] in the industrial area of Springburn, Glasgow,[2] Arthur Thompson began his career as a money lender, and was said to crucify those who did not repay their debts, by nailing them to floors or doors. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to Glasgow's gangsters - Arthur Thompson, the Godfather, Killings of Patrick Welsh and James Goldie, "Fears gangland enforcer Ferris moving in on Capital cab trade", http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/scotland/861134.stm, https://web.archive.org/web/20051227034428/http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/s2.cfm?id=474552002, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Arthur_Thompson_(gangster)&oldid=1115792863, Short description is different from Wikidata, Articles with unsourced statements from October 2022, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 3.0, This page was last edited on 13 October 2022, at 06:54. Norval's daughter, Rita Gunn, is charged with conspiring to damage the court but acquitted. However, Rita never sang a note. She received three years in prison for the attack. Its rumoured Thompson was present when Ronnie infamously shot George Cornell of the rival Richardson gang in Londons Blind Beggar pub in 1966. Fort Fairfield - Rita Jean Thompson, 78, wife of the late Berkley A. Thompson, passed away Thursday evening, February 9, 2023, at Madigan Estates, Houlton, following an extended illness.
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