ROY 'PRETTY BOY' SHAW ON SATURDAY PITSTOP WITH ALLEN FORD - 20.10.7

Convicted gangster and former Guv'nor of London boxing champion Roy Shaw dropped in on Phoenix FM's Saturday Pitstop today. An Essex resident today, Stepney-born Roy has since lived in Dagenham, Romford, Cranham and Waltham Abbey.

Between the ages of 18 and 40, Roy served time in over 20 prisons - his longest sentence being 18 years in 1963 for armed robbery. Roy's violence in jail took him from Wandsworth to Parkhurst, on to Grendon Underwood psychiatric hospital before he was sent to Broadmoor, which he later described as a "cuckoo nest" and said: "I will never forget what they did to me and like an elephant I never did."

Maintained in a half conscious state by drugs administered for months on end, his friend and later boxing promoter Joey Pyle got a message to Roy in Broadmoor that toning down the violence was a necessity to avoid certain death. Released after serving 10 years, Roy returned inside once more for six months for a road rage incident aged 40 - and vowed his days doing 'bird' were over.

Now 71, Roy Shaw has had a life of two halves as a criminal and then a boxer, fighting for the Guv'nor of London title which he won from Lenny McLean and then lost back to him.

A combination of boxing bareknuckled, for prize money in excess of £21,000 in today's money, and dealing in property turned Roy into a successful businessman.

Asked on air about his notorious temper which flared in prison and the boxing ring, Roy traced his anger back to his father's death in a motorcycle accident when he was 10.

Previously he had been bullied as a child small for his years who was also a loner. After clinging to his father's coffin as it was lowered into its grave, Roy went on to find new strength and the 'power of the punch' which would protect him from then on.

More about Roy Shaw on www.royprettyboyshaw.com.  He is pictured right with Phoenix FM's Saturday Pitstop presenter Oliver Rowe

Article by Oliver Rowe, 22 Oct 2007
Posted in Saturday Morning with Oliver Rowe

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