BEN’S BLOG: ‘The Banker, or The Bank Robber?’

[dropcap]W[/dropcap]hen I was a child, and had run out of reading material, I would creep into my dad’s study, and pinch a book from his shelves. It led to a fascination into the Criminal Mind.

My lawyer, Andrew Needleman, says that, in reality, if somebody really wants to do something, the law is rarely able to stop them. And what stuns me, is what the human-mind is capable of, without social boundaries. Prison escape plans, which take years to execute. Submarines to traffic drugs around the world. Meticulous planning; to rob banks. Not using hard work to achieve an end goal, but instead; Fear.

Many such operators, were regulars at Walthamstow Dogs. On nights-off, these chaps all seemed most pleasant, and their take on life; intriguing. A retired bank-robber, once told me, that he had learnt, healthwise, to “listen to the messages your body sends you” and how he would look out for these (not for here, Blog). I suppose, when judging such characters, it all comes down to the age old question: Who do you have contempt for; THE BANKER, OR THE BANK ROBBER?

In other news:

One man, with the same fascination, is Wensley Clarkson. I have read many of his books, ‘Killing Charlie’, the biography of Great Train Robber, Charlie Wilson; the best of all. However, he has recently finished ‘Killing Goldfinger’, the life-study, of the illiterate but precocious Brinks Mat and Timeshare fraudster; John Palmer. A man more unpleasant; you would struggle to meet. A meticulously written book. 9

Over and out, B x