9:59:59.000,9:59:59.000
And now, a choice of viewing[br]on BBC television.[br]Just started on BBC2, the semi-final[br]of episode 3 of "Kierkegaard's Journals"[br]starring Richard Chamberlain,[br]Peggy Mount and Billy Bremner.[br]And on BBC1, "Ethel the frog".[br]Good evening. On "Ethel the Frog" tonight we look[br]at violence. The violence of British Gangland.[br]Last Tuesday a reign of terror was ended[br]when the notorious Piranha brothers,[br]Doug and Dinsdale, after one of[br]the most extraordinary trials[br]in British legal history were sentenced to[br]400 years inprisonment for crimes of violence.[br]Tonight Ethel the Frog examines the rise[br]to power of the Piranhas...[br]the methods they used[br]to subjugate rival gangs...[br]and their subsequent tracking down[br]and capture by the brilliant Superintendent...[br]Harry "Snapper" Organs of Q Division.[br]Doug and Dinsdale Piranha were born,[br]on probation, in this house in Kipling Road[br]the eldest sons in a family of sixteen.[br]Their father, Arthur Piranha,[br]a scrap metal dealer and TV quizmaster...[br]was well known to the Police[br]and a devout Catholic.[br]In January 1928,[br]he had married Kitty Malone...[br]an up-and-coming EastEnd boxer.[br]Doug was born in february 1929[br]and Dinsdale two weeks later...[br]And again a week after that.[br]Their next-door neighbour[br]was Mrs April Simnel.[br]Kipling Road was a typical sort[br]of East End street.[br]People running out of each other's houses[br]with each other's property all day long.[br]- They were a cheering lot though.[br]- Was it a terribly violent area?[br]Oh... Yes, cheerful and violent.[br]I remember Doug was very keen on boxing,[br]until he learned to walk...[br]Then he took up putting the boot in the groin;[br]oh he was very interested in that.[br]His mother used to have such trouble[br]getting him to come in for his tea.[br]He'd be out here, putting his little boot in,[br]you know... Bless him.[br]Kids were very different then, they didn't have[br]their heads filled with all this cartesian dualism.[br]At the age of 15, Doug & Dinsdale started attending[br]the Ernest Pythagoras Primary School in Clerkenwell.[br]You taught the Piranha brothers English.[br]What do you remember most about them?[br]Anthony Viney.[br]When the Piranhas left school,[br]they were called up but they were found[br]by an Army Board to be too mentally unstable[br]even for National Service.[br]Denied the opportunity to use their talents[br]in the service of their country[br]they began to operate what they called[br]"The Operation".[br]They would select a victim[br]and then threaten to beat him up...[br]if he paid them the so-called[br]"protection" money.[br]Four months later, they started another operation[br]which they called "The Other Operation".[br]They selected another victim and threatened[br]not to beat him up if he didn't pay them.[br]One month later, they hit upon[br]the "Other Other Operation".[br]In this the victim was threatened if he didn't[br]pay them, they would beat him up.[br]This, for the Piranha brothers,[br]was the turning point.[br]Doug and Dinsdale Piranha now formed a gang[br]which they called "The Gang"...[br]and used terror to take over night clubs,[br]billiard halls, gaming casinos and race tracks.[br]When they tried to take over the MCC,[br]they were, for the only time in their lifes,[br]slit up a treat.[br]As their empire spread however, we in Q Division[br]were keeping tabs on their every move...[br]by reading the color supplements.[br]A small time operator who fell foul of[br]Dinsdale Piranha was Vince Snetterton-Lewis.[br]Well one day I was sitting at home[br]threatening the kids...[br]I look out through the hole in the wall[br]and I saw this tank driver.[br]One of Dinsdale's boys gets out.[br]He comes up all nice and friendly-like and says[br]Dinsdale wants to have a talk with me.[br]So he chains me to the back of the tank,[br]and takes me for a scrape round at Dinsdale's..[br]And Dinsdale's there,[br]in a conversation pit with Doug...[br]and Charles Paisley, the baby crusher,[br]and a couple of film producers...[br]and a man they call Kierkegaard,[br]who just sat there biting the heads of whippets[br]and Dinsdale says, "You've been[br]a naughty boy, Clement."[br]And he splits me nostrils open[br]and saws me leg off, and pulls my liver out.[br]And I say "my name's not Clement."[br]And... Then he loses his temper[br]and nails my head to the floor.[br]- He nailed your head to the floor?[br]- At first, yeah.[br]Another man who had his head nailed[br]to the floor was Stig O'Tracey.[br]Stig, I've been told Dinsdale Piranha[br]nailed your head to the floor.[br]No, no, never, never.[br]He was a smashing bloke.[br]He used to give his mother flowers and that.[br]He was like a brother to me.[br]But the Police have film of Dinsdale[br]actually nailing your head to the floor.[br]- Oh yeah, well - he did that, yes.[br]- Why?[br]Well he had to, didn't he? I mean...[br]Be fair, there was nothing else he could do.[br]- I had transgressed the unwritten law.[br]- What had you done?[br]Er... He never told me that.[br]But he gave me his word that it was the case[br]and that's good enough for me with old Dinsy.[br]I mean he didn't want to nail my head[br]to the floor, I had to insist.[br]He wanted to let me off.[br]There's nothing Dinsdale woulnd't do for you.[br]- And you don't bear him any grudge?[br]- A grudge! Old Dinsy? He was a real darling.[br]I understand he also nailed[br]your wife's head to a coffee table.[br]- Isn't that right Mrs. O'Tracey?[br]- Oh no, no, no.[br]Yeah well, he did do that, yes.[br]He was a cruel man...[br]But fair.[br]Vince, after he nailed your head to the floor,[br]did you ever seen him again?[br]Yes, after that I used to go round to his flat[br]every Sunday lunchtime to apologize.[br]And we'd shake hands, and then[br]he'd nail my head to the floor.[br]- Every Sunday?[br]- Yes, but he was very reasonable about it.[br]I mean one Sunday, when my parents were[br]coming round for tea[br]I asked him if he minded very much[br]not nailing my head to the floor that week.[br]And he agreed,[br]and just screwed my pelvis to a cake stand.[br]The only friend I ever had.[br]I wouldn't hear a word against him.[br]Lovely fellow.[br]Clearly, Dinsdale inspired tremendous loyalty[br]and terror amongst his business associates.[br]But what was he really like?[br]I walked out with Dinsdale on many occasions[br]and found him a most charming and erudite companion.[br]He was wont to introduce one to many[br]eminent persons.[br]celebrated American singers, members[br]of the aristocracy and other gang-leaders.[br]- How had you met then?[br]- Through his work for charity.[br]He took a warm interest in Boys' Clubs,[br]Sailors' Homes,[br]Choristers' Associations, Scouting Jamborees[br]and of course the Household Cavalry.[br]- Was there anything unusual about him?[br]- I should say not![br]Dinsdale was a perfecty normal person[br]in every way...[br]Except... Except in as much as he was convinced[br]that he was being watched by a giant hedgehog[br]which he reffered to as "Spiny Norman".[br]How big was Norman supposed to be?[br]Normally he was wont to be about[br]12 feet from nose to tail...[br]but when Dinsdale was very depressed...[br]Norman could be anything[br]up to 800 yards long.[br]When Norman was about,[br]Dinsdale would go very quiet...[br]his nose would swell up[br]and his teeth would start moving about[br]and he'd become very violent[br]and claimed that he'd laid Stanley Baldwin.[br]Dinsdale was a gentleman.[br]What's more, he knew how to treat[br]a female impersonator.[br]It's easy for us to judge[br]Dinsdale Piranha too harshly.[br]After all, he only did what most of us[br]simply dream of doing.[br]I'm sorry.[br]After all, a murder is only[br]an extroverted suicide.[br]Dinsdale was a looney, but he was a happy looney.[br]Lucky bastard![br]Most of these strange tales[br]concern Dinsdale, but what of Doug?[br]One man who met him was Luigi Vercotti.[br]I'd been running a succesful escort agency[br]high class, no really, high class girls...[br]We didn't have any of that, that was right out.[br]And I decided... Excuse me.[br]Hello? No, not now. Shtoom... shtoom...[br]Right, we'll have the "watch" ready for you[br]at midnight.[br]The watch...[br]The Chinese watch.[br]Yes, right oh, bye bye... Mother.[br]Anyway I decided then to open a high class[br]night club for the gentry at Biggleswade[br]with international cuisine, cooking, top-line acts,[br]and not a cheap clip joint for picking up tarts,[br]that was right out, I deny that completely.[br]And one night Dinsdale walked in[br]with a couple of big lads[br]one of whom was carrying a tactical nuclear missile.[br]They said I had bought one of their[br]fruit machines and would I pay for it.[br]- How much did they want?[br]- 3/4 of a million pounds.[br]- Then they went out.[br]- Why didn't you call for the police?[br]I'd noticed that the lad with the thermonuclear[br]device was the Chief Constable for the area.[br]Anyway, a week later they came back,[br]said that the cheque had bounced[br]and that I had to see... Doug.[br]Doug. Well, I was terrified of him.[br]Everyone was terrified of Doug.[br]I've seen grown men pull their own heads off[br]rather than see Doug.[br]- Even Dinsdale was frightened of Doug.[br]- What did he do?[br]He used... sarcasm. He knew all the tricks,[br]dramatic irony, metaphor, pathos, puns,[br]parody, litotes and... satire.[br]By a combination of violence and sarcasm,[br]the Piranha brothers, by February 1966,[br]controlled London and the Southeast.[br]In February, though, Dinsdale made a big mistake.[br]Latterly Dinsdale had become increasingly[br]worried about Spiny Norman.[br]He had come to the conclusion that Norman slept[br]in an aeroplane hangar[br]at Luton Airport.[br]And so on Feb 22nd 1966, at Luton Airport...[br]Even the police began to sit up and take notice.[br]The Piranhas realised they had gone too far[br]and that the hunt was on.[br]They went into hiding and I decided[br]on a subtle approach, viz. some form of disguise,[br]as the old helmet and boots were a bit of a giveaway.[br]Luckily my years with Bristol Rep. stood me in[br]good stead, as I assumed a bewildering[br]variety of disguises.[br]I tracked them to Cardiff,[br]posing as the Reverend Smiler Egret.[br]Hearing they'd gone back to London, I assumed[br]the identity of a pork butcher, Brian Stoats.[br]On my arrival in London, I discovered they[br]had returned to Cardiff.[br]I followed as Gloucester from King Lear.[br]Acting on a hunch, I spent several months[br]in Buenos Aires as Blind Pew,[br]returning through the Panama Canal as Ratty,[br]in Toad of Toad Hall.[br]Back in Cardiff, I relived my triumph[br]as Sancho Panza in Man of la Mancha,[br]which the Bristol Evening Post described as[br]'a glittering performance of rare perception',[br]although the Bath Chronicle[br]was less than enthusiastic.[br]In fact it gave me a right panning. I quote:[br]'as for the performance of Superintendent[br]Harry "Snapper" Organs as Sancho Panza,[br]the audience were bemused by his high-pitched Welsh[br]accent and intimidated by his abusive ad-libs.'[br]'Sancho Panza (Mr Organs) spoilt an otherwise[br]impeccably choreographed rape scene[br]by his unscheduled appearance[br]and persistent cries of "What's all this then?"'[br]- Never mind, Snapper, love, you can't win 'em all.[br]- True, constable. Could I have my eye-liner, please?[br]- Telegram for you, love.[br]- Good-oh. Bet it's from Binky.[br]Those flowers are for Sgt. Lauderdale[br]from the gentleman waiting outside.[br]- 30 seconds, Superintendent.[br]- Oh blimey, I'm on.[br]- Is me hat straight, constable?[br]- Oh, it's fine.[br]- Right, here we go, Hawkins.[br]- Oh, merde, Superintendent.[br]Good luck, then.[br]Read all about it. Piranha brothers escape.[br]Dinsdale? Dinsdale? Dinsdale?[br]Well, that's all for now.[br]And so until next week...