Ronnie Knight#Connection to 1983 Security Express robbery
{{short description|British gangster (1934–2023)}}
{{for|the Papua New Guinean politician|Ronny Knight}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=December 2021}}
{{Infobox criminal
| name = Ronnie Knight
| birth_name = Ronald Knight
| birth_date = {{birth date|df=yes|1934|1|20}}
| birth_place = Hoxton, London, England
| death_date = {{death date and age|df=yes|2023|6|12|1934|1|20}}
| death_place = Cambridge, Cambridgeshire, England
| occupation = Nightclub owner
| criminal_charge = Handling stolen money
| criminal_penalty = 7 years
| criminal_status = Released on parole in November 1998 after serving three years
| spouse = {{plainlist|
- {{marriage|Elizabeth White|1954|end=divorced}}
- {{marriage|Barbara Windsor|1964|1985|end=divorced}}
- {{marriage|Sue Haylock|1987|1994|end=separated}}
}}
| motive = Financial
| known_for = Connection to 1983 Security Express robbery
| image =
| caption = Knight, 6 March 1980
| children = 2
| years_active = 1970–1995 (criminal)
2002–2003 (television)
}}
Ronald Knight (20 January 1934 – 12 June 2023) was an English convicted criminal and nightclub owner. He became well-known through his marriage to the actress Barbara Windsor.{{Cite news |last=Campbell |first=Duncan |date=14 June 2023 |title=Ronnie Knight obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2023/jun/14/ronnie-knight-obituary |access-date=15 June 2023 |newspaper=The Guardian }}
On 4 January 1995, 16 days prior to his 61st birthday, Knight was sentenced to seven years imprisonment for handling £314,813 in stolen money from the 1983 £6 million armed robbery at a Security Express depot in Shoreditch, East London.
Early life
Ronald Knight was born on 20 January 1934 in Hoxton area of the Metropolitan Borough of Shoreditch, the son of James and Nellie.
Knight was responsible for minor infractions of the law when he was young, whereas his brothers John and James were involved in more significant crimes.{{cite news|last=Campbell|first=Duncan|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2018/jan/05/ronnie-knight-clubland-charmer-jailed-1995|title=Ronnie Knight, the clubland charmer who fell under the spell of fame – archive, 1995|work=The Guardian|date=5 January 2018|orig-year=1995|accessdate=5 January 2018}} Along with brother John, Ronnie Knight was friendly with the Kray brothers, but, he says, was not connected with their illegal activities. Knight also had another brother, David and a sister, Patsy.{{cite news|url=https://www.scotsman.com/lifestyle/ronnie-and-his-readies-1-569718|title=Ronnie and his readies|work=The Scotsman|location=Edinburgh|date=4 June 2002|accessdate=5 January 2018}}
Clubs
The two clubs Knight ran, the Artistes and Repertoire Club (known as the A&R) on Charing Cross Road and its neighbour Tin Pan Alley in Soho, London, were drinking establishments favoured by the criminal underworld.
Knight's clubs were profitable, and he had a sideline in pool tables. He also made a small fortune from his share in peep-show clubs.{{cn|date=June 2023}}
Criminal history
=Zomparelli killing=
In 1970, Knight's brother, David, was stabbed to death in a pub in Islington by Alfredo "Italian Tony" Zomparelli aka "Tony Z". Tony ran a travel agency in Soho and famously used to extort money from the owner of the A & M Casino, above the "White Elephant" Restaurant in Grosvenor Sq., Mayfair, by threatening the staff. Tony died from bullet wounds to his back in the Golden Goose Arcade, Soho, in September 1974 a few weeks after being released following a prison sentence for manslaughter. Zomparelli had pleaded self-defence.{{cn|date=June 2023}}
After hitman George Bradshaw confessed to his involvement, and alleged Knight had paid him £1,000 for the task, Knight was arrested for the murder of Zomparelli and tried at the Old Bailey in 1980; Knight was acquitted.
In his 1998 book, Memoirs and Confessions, Knight said he had hired a hitman, Nicky Gerard, to carry out the killing.{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1052458.stm|title=Police bid to break gangland silence|work=BBC News|date=3 December 2000|accessdate=6 January 2018}} Gerard, who himself was later murdered, was acquitted at the same trial as Knight. The killing was in revenge for the murder of Knight's brother.{{cite news|last=Summers|first=Chris|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/558849.stm|title=Deaths linked to gangland feud|work=BBC News|date=11 December 1999|accessdate=5 January 2018}} Under the double jeopardy rules in force at the time, it meant he could not be tried a second time.{{cite book|last=Glinert|first=Ed|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MPPz_HSyBmUC&pg=PT335|title=West End Chronicles: 300 Years of Glamour and Excess in the Heart of London
|location=London|publisher=Allen Lane|year=2007|page=335|isbn=9780141024646}}
=Connection to 1983 Security Express robbery=
Knight spent a decade on the run living in southern Spain's Costa del Sol, after fleeing on the night his brother was arrested in 1984 for a robbery at a Security Express depot the previous year.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2008/jan/28/ukcrime7|title=The world's biggest robberies|work=The Guardian|date=28 January 2008|access-date=14 September 2017|issn=0261-3077}} John Knight was later imprisoned for 22 years in June 1985 for co-arranging the robbery. Their other surviving brother James was among the other gang members along with Freddie Foreman, John Mason, Ronnie Everett and Cliford Saxe and received eight years for handling stolen money.{{Cite news|url=https://www.standard.co.uk/showbiz/a-tale-of-two-dodgy-knights-7221665.html|title=A tale of two dodgy Knights|work=Evening Standard|access-date=14 September 2017}}{{cite news|last=Morton|first=James|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KLl9IMJk7wUC&pg=PT227|title=East End Gangland|location=London|publisher=Hatchette Digital/Little, Brown|year=2009|orig-year=2000|page=227|isbn=9780748114047}}
While evading extradition in Spain, Knight ran an Indian restaurant named Mumtaz and an eponymous nightclub, RKnights, the scene of violent crimes including a physical attack upon Knight, but by the mid-1990s, he was in financial difficulties.{{Cite news|last=MacKinnon|first=Ian|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/end-of-an-era-for-the-costa-del-crime-1566612.html|title=End of an era for the Costa del Crime|date=5 January 1995|work=The Independent|access-date=14 September 2017}}
After returning to Britain in May 1994,{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/ronnie-knight-on-7m-pounds-armed-raid-charge-1433426.html|title=Ronnie Knight on 7m pounds armed raid charge|work=The Independent|date=2 May 1994|accessdate=5 January 2018}} Knight, aged 60, was jailed for seven years in January 1995 for handling £314,813 in stolen money from the £6 million armed robbery at a Security Express depot in Shoreditch, East London in 1983. Knight said he was not involved in the robbery, and the prosecution counsel Michael Worsley QC agreed the charge should remain on file, but Knight did plead guilty to handling the stolen bank notes. Judge Gerald Gordon said when sentencing Knight: "Clearly, I do not know what precise role you played, but professional robbers such as those involved are not going to hand over the sort of sums you got unless the person to whom they give it is very deeply involved himself".{{cite news|last=MacKinnon|first=Ian|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/knight-jailed-for-seven-years-1566611.html|title=Knight jailed for seven years|work=The Independent|date=5 January 1995|accessdate=5 January 2018}}
In November 1998, Knight was released on parole after serving three years.{{cn|date=June 2023}}
=Other crimes=
Television
{{unref|section|date=June 2023}}
| class="wikitable sortable"
!Year !Title |
| 2002
|Five Tons of Cash: The John and Ronnie Knight Story |
| 2002 |
| 2003
|Hitler of the Andes |
In 2017, Knight was portrayed by Luke Allen-Gale in the BBC biopic documentary Babs.
Personal life
Knight was married three times and had two children.
- Elizabeth White (married in 1954, divorced before 1964)
- Barbara Windsor, actor (married 2 March 1964 in London, divorced January 1985){{Cite news |last=Griffiths |first=Eleanor Bley |date=22 September 2017 |title=How accurate is BBC drama Babs? Everything you need to know about the real Dame Barbara Windsor |work=Radio Times |url=http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017-05-07/how-accurate-is-bbc-drama-babs-everything-you-need-to-know-about-the-real-dame-barbara-windsor/ |accessdate=5 January 2018}}
- Sue Haylock (married in 1987 in Fuengirola, separated in 1994)
Knight had two children from his marriage to White, a daughter Lorraine (1956) and a son Garry (1959){{cn|date=June 2023}}
Knight always denied he was a 'gangster', preferring instead the term 'loveable rascal'.{{cn|date=June 2023}}
In 1995, it was reported Knight was in a relationship with Diane Lumley. They split around 2002.{{cn|date=June 2023}}
Knight lived in Cambridge during the later years of his life. He died from pneumonia on 12 June 2023, at the age of 89 after battling Parkinson's disease.{{cite web|url=https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/other/dame-barbara-windsor-s-gangland-ex-husband-ronnie-knight-dies/ar-AA1cx7JJ|title=Dame Barbara Windsor's gangland ex-husband Ronnie Knight dies|last=Kitson|first=Calli|work=Metro|date=14 June 2023|accessdate=14 June 2023}}{{cite news |title=Ronnie Knight obituary |url=https://www.thetimes.com/uk/obituaries/article/ronnie-knight-obituary-xflz76nl7 |access-date=22 June 2023 |work=The Times |date=17 June 2023}}
Selected publications
{{unref|section|date=June 2023}}
Knight has authored 6 books.
- Black Knight: The Ronnie Knight Story (1990)
- Signed Confessions (1996)
- Rod of Justice (1997)
- Memoirs and Confessions (1997)
- Gotcha!: The Untold Story of Britain's Biggest Cash Robbery (2002)
- Blood and Revenge (2004)
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y4ZoqUz0aqs Ronnie Knight interview]
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Knight, Ronnie}}
Category:20th-century English criminals
Category:Criminals from London
Category:Deaths from Parkinson's disease in England
Category:Deaths from pneumonia in England
Category:Organised crime in London
Category:English autobiographers