Glasgow's Godfather: The Astonishing Inside Story of Walter Norval, the City's First Crime Boss

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Fortunately, all our productions from the trials were safe. The authorities were increasingly determined to show the course of justice could not be diverted.

On June 16, the baby-faced suspect appeared at Glasgow Sheriff Court where he admitted the murder and rape of little Andrea. Because of the massive media interest, there was a real danger that a jury would be aware of decisions or evidence given in earlier trials. Yesterday his daughters Rita, 64, Evelyn, 60, Anne-Marie, 58, Marlene, 50, Jacqueline, 45, and Linda-Ann, 44, and granddaughter ­Marguerita, 30, all wore identical red outfits for the humanist service. Norval, from Possil, started his criminal career as a boy in the 1940s and 50s running errands for Glasgow’s top gangsters. It’s alleged Thompson denied any involvement and offered to send Janette on a cruise with his wife Rita. But gradually Glasgow’s last real unique sub-culture started to die out. A survey by Glasgow Live showed that 97% of people believe there are fewer gangs on the streets and 71% believe the streets are safer as a result.He had admitted possessing cannabis worth #15 in his flat at Guthrie Street, Maryhill on May 28 last year. The Crown accepted his plea of not guilty to being concerned in the supply of amphetamine. He was brought directly into the court away from the other prisoners and marched between two police officers. Norval, from Possilpark, Glasgow even deployed two getaway cars instead of one to confuse officers giving chase.

For a while, it looked as if Norval and his crew were going to beat the powers of the state. Eventually, six were acquitted and seven found guilty of the armed robbery of a bank and a hospital payroll. During the police probe a picture emerged of a shy, well-behaved girl, who loved school and was well regarded by her teachers. It would have been out of character for her to play truant. Bobby had told him he was meeting his friend William Lobban, who he had sheltered in the past, and he was just giving him a lift. By the time a confident - and even triumphant - Phil had finished, he could have taught top lawyers the best way to deliver devastating evidence.

BBC Scotland's newest competition show Rogue to Wrestler stars the granddaughter of a notorious Glasgow gangster. Lobban — who was last known to be living in Inverness — spoke out seven years ago to deny he was involved in the murders. It was clear a fire had been started deliberately. It was an attempt to destroy evidence stored in the court. Infamous gangland figure Walter Norval spent seven years in jail between 1960 and 1967 and on his release said the first thing he noticed was how the streets had been transformed. Gangs of hooligans who had previously been looking for their next fight were now looking for their next profit. Phil had had enough of life on the run. He had done a great deal of the preparatory work to identify targets and the best method of carrying out specific robberies. He obviously felt he had received no recognition for his efforts from the rest of the gang.

Yet the journalists were right and didn't even know the half of it. It got to hysterical proportions. Ordinary folk fretted their wages were going to be stolen or a trip to the shops could land them in the middle of a full-scale shoot out. But Janette said: “Earlier this week I watched that documentary and in it a man makes reference to Lobban and his uncle Billy Manson.Waiting for the jury's decision is never an easy time. The defence had presented allegations against the police ranging from corruption to incompetence and a series of alibis designed to confuse the jury. The Gendarmerie carried out numerous operations against the Blue Angels in 1996. In March 1999, thirty-three members were sentenced to prison, received suspended sentences or were fined for possession of weapons or narcotics, assault and battery, theft, fraud, hostage-taking and criminal conspiracy, while two were acquitted. [17] After their arrest, the same attributes produced explosive results. The trial, due to start in November 1977, had to be delayed when the High Court in Glasgow was bombed in an effort to destroy all the paperwork relating to the case. When the breakthrough came from an informant, many of the gang were found in Maryhill and in the south side of Glasgow, right under police noses, hundreds of yards from Orkney Street police station.