Gangster

From the neon-lit Chinatowns of Britain to the back streets of Hong Kong, we learn why the Triads were feared by so many. The secret societies were formed hundreds of years ago as resistance movements but morphed into organised crime. Triad membership has long been outlawed in Hong Kong, but for decades they were a powerful and insidious force. Their influence stretched across continents, with the groups involved in drugs, extortion, prostitution, armed robbery, kidnappings and loan sharking. We visit Georgie Pai’s birthplace, a rural village close to the border of mainland China. Through those who knew him and the history of the region, we uncover how he was recruited into Wo Shing Wo and track his rise to the position of Red Pole – an enforcer with an army of disciples. But all that power can come at a cost. Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Archive: Drunken Master II: Golden Harvest, Paragon Films, Hong Kong Stuntmen Association. Directed by Chia-Liang Liu and Jackie Chan.

In 1970s Britain, Chinese-heritage migrants worked long hours in restaurants and takeaways to build their new lives. But as the diaspora established itself, the gangs they thought they’d left behind in Hong Kong began to follow, quietly feeding off the very people they claimed to protect. Back in Hong Kong, Georgie Pai was already a senior member of Wo Shing Wo, one of the most feared Triad societies operating in the city’s underworld. Known for its rigid hierarchy, blood-sworn loyalty and a reputation for ruthless enforcement. He travelled to the UK on a tourist visa and began working at his parents’ takeaway in Glastonbury. From there, he united scattered Triad factions around the country and recruited loyal foot soldiers. He soon built an extortion network targeting Chinese communities, with business owners ordered to pay protection cash. Those who refused were brutally punished. Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham Archive: The Cook Report: Meet The Triads (Central Television, ITV)

From the back alleys of Hong Kong to the neon-lit Chinatowns of Britain, Georgie Pai built a nationwide criminal empire through his Triad gang Wo Shing Wo. With a network of protection rackets, gambling dens and an army of loyal followers, he controlled his turf with threats, violence and machetes. Gangster steps inside the world of the Triads. A brotherhood bound by secret handshakes and elaborate rituals, where loyalty is sworn in blood. For decades, Georgie Pai’s name alone caused absolute terror amongst Britain’s Chinese community. He was deported back to Hong Kong several times, but with police unable to pin him to a single crime, it was left to a team of journalists to bring him down. Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Hayley Mortimer Technical Producer: Richard Hannaford Producers: Patrick Kiteley & Matt Toulson Fixer in Hong Kong: Michelle Chan Music: Andy Simms and Reliable Source Music Journalism Assistants: Hattie Valentine & Ellie Dover Commissioning Producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning Executive: Lorraine Okuefuna and Louise Kattenhorn Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editor and Executive Producer: Clare Fordham

Amy and Joe had been planning a future together, outside — but now they’re stuck behind bars, facing the consequences of their actions. In this final episode, host Amber Haque unpicks how their story ends - and finds there’s still love, but also loss. And for Amy, the question that lingers - was any of it ever real? Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Story and music consultant: Emma Weatherill Development by: Rob Byrne, Rhiannon Nevada and Emma Shaw Production management: Gaelan Davis-Connolly and Debbie Wadell Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live Commissioning producer: Sam Proffitt Commissioning executive: Louise Kattenhorn and Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning editor: Richard Maddock A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live

Amy knows this is the final run - just one more package of drugs to smuggle in, one more drop-off before Joe walks free and maybe they can leave crime behind. But this time, someone is watching. Will the couple stay loyal to each other, as a wider conspiracy begins to unravel? Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live Details of information and support with addiction is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Highly-addictive, relatively cheap and easy to smuggle, Spice is running rampage through Britain’s prisons. And Spice is the reason Amy finds Joe zombie-like in his cell, eyes rolled back in his head. The reason, he’s in debt with other prisoners. The reason he’s asking her to smuggle something in for him. Again. Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Andy Fell Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live Details of information and support with addiction is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

Smuggle one package of drugs into prison for her boyfriend Joe and he’ll be able to pay off his debts. That’s what Amy needs to do and then she can concentrate on planning their future together, or so she thinks. It’s not long till he’ll be released and then they can have the proper relationship she dreams of. Joe insists the smuggling is just a one-off, but will Amy do what he's asking? Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live

Amy is risking it all for a relationship with career criminal Joe - but who is the boy from Bradford she’s falling in love with. Host Amber Haque delves deep into his past and jumps down the rabbit hole of #prisontok as she attempts to make sense of the illicit affair and who’s really in control. Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Andy Fell Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live Details of information and support with addiction is available at bbc.co.uk/actionline

The last thing mental health nurse Amy expected to encounter when she took a job at Lindholme prison was someone offering romance. Then she met Joe - cheeky, brimming with charisma and a career criminal. But surely she knows better than to listen to his relentless attempts to charm her…. Credits Host: Amber Haque Producer: Becca Bryers Sound design: Ivor Manley Executive producer: Joe Kent A BBC Studios production for BBC Sounds and BBC Radio 5 Live

The story of the biggest prison smuggling plot ever busted in the UK - and the love story at the heart of it. Journalist Amber Haque untangles what happens when mental health nurse Amy Hatfield meets convicted criminal Joe Whittingham. Her investigation leads into a world of blackmail and manipulation, where you never quite know who to trust or who's watching.

Linda spends the next 18 years behind bars with some of the UK's most notorious female killers. She shares stories of a life inside, a shock prison wedding and returning back to reality and a life on the straight and narrow. With her criminal past behind her, Linda reflects on the effect of her crimes both on the victims, and on her two children left to grow up without their parents. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Drama Writer: Paul Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

After being released from prison, Linda's living the quiet life catching up on lost time with her two kids. Trouble soon finds her again as Ronnie Cook's sentence also comes to an end. When Linda brings Ronnie home for a visit, the couple are confronted by a hitman and Linda's small kitchen is turned into a brutal murder scene. But as police begin to question Linda, they discover that the 'The Black Widow' could have her boyfriend's blood on her hands in more ways than one. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Drama Writer: Paul Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

A partial fingerprint at the scene of a violent robbery puts the flying squad on Linda's trail. While they watch, she continues to live the high life funding by a spate of terrifying armed raids. A team of officers recall the day they caught Linda red handed at yet another Post Office heist, and when Linda finds herself at the wrong end of the barrel of a gun, she knows her time is up. But her time inside takes an unexpected turn, as she finds a life for herself inside Holloway. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Drama Writer: Paul Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

Linda discovers Ronnie's dark side as he lets slip a shocking secret about the day Mickey died. She can't leave Ronnie, because he's too dangerous. But luckily for Linda, the police solve that problem for her - catching Ronnie red handed trying to pull off a million pound heist. With Ronnie out of the way, Linda begins her mission to become an armed robber in an underworld ruled by men. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Drama Writer: Paul Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

Linda, Mickey and the kids are living the high life when he agrees to take on a job with a new gang - a raid on a cash collection at a London supermarket just before Christmas. As Linda waits at home, armed police are lying in wait outside the supermarket. When the police rush towards them, the rest of Mickey's team flee, leaving him alone on the crowded street clutching his weapon. He is shot dead. When Linda hears of her husband's death something inside her snaps and at his graveside she makes a vow to provide for their two young kids by carrying on his "work" as an armed robber. But before she can get started, another man comes on the scene - someone altogether more deadly and dangerous. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Drama Writer: Paul Jones Sound Design: Richard Hannaford Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna Commissioning Editor: Richard Maddock Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham

Linda Welford was raised in London's East End in the 1960s; a tight and tough community with a reputation for a thriving criminal underworld, ruled with an iron fist by gangsters like the Kray twins. One of nine children, Linda lived a sheltered life with her family in Stepney until she met armed robber Mickey Calvey. This was the so-called golden age of armed robbery and Mickey was making a fortune sticking up banks and Post Offices with a sawn-off shotgun. When Mickey and Linda got married she was allowed a front seat to Mickey's 'work,' as his gang begin planning robberies around their kitchen table. Not content with just making the teas, Linda starts to make suggestions and finds she has a taste for a life of crime. Credits Presenter Livvy Haydock Series producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Editors and executive producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham Drama writer: Paul Jones

Livvy Haydock explores the extraordinary life of Linda Calvey, the woman they call "the Black Widow." She rose through the ranks of London’s criminal underworld to become one of the UK’s most notorious female gangsters. We follow her journey from humble beginnings in East London to time served in the infamous H Wing, alongside killers like Myra Hindley and Rose West. It’s a story of love, loyalty, betrayal and murder, of a woman who fell for a bank robber and ended up leading a gang of her own. Linda was a young mum living in the East End when her husband Mickey was shot dead by police during a robbery. After his death, she stepped into his world. What followed was a descent into armed robberies and organised crime, culminating in a killing that would result in a life sentence in prison. She was nicknamed the Black Widow by a police officer, as all her husbands and lovers ended up either dead or behind bars. Now 76, Linda tells her story in her own words. And for the first time, her children, Melanie and Neil, speak out about the lasting consequences of her criminal past. We also hear from detectives in the Metropolitan Police Flying Squad, aka The Sweeney, the men and women who were tasked with bringing criminals like Linda to justice. This podcast includes strong language and descriptions of violence. Credits Presenter: Livvy Haydock Series Producer: Kate West Producers: Patrick Kiteley and Matthew Bone Journalism Assistants: Tim Fernley and Ellie Dover Editors and Executive Producers: Carl Johnston and Clare Fordham Drama Writer: Paul Jones

Livvy Haydock examines the recent deaths of Eddie Lyons Jr. and Ross Monaghan, who were shot dead outside Monaghan’s Bar in Fuengirola on the Costa del Sol, on 31 May 2025. Spanish police believe the killing was a targeted gangland hit linked to the decades-long conflict between the Daniels and Lyons crime families in Glasgow. Livvy tracks down eyewitnesses to the double shooting, retraces the getaway route used by the killer and speaks to detectives who give their expert insight into how the murders were carried out. We investigate how the violent feud between the Lyons and Daniel crime families has travelled so far and ask; who is actually pulling the strings? For a who's who, please visit this BBC article: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/4Czgw23hf0tqsb855CcPKPJ/who-s-who-in-the-story-of-the-daniels-and-the-lyons Presenter Livvy Haydock Series producer: Paul Grant Researchers: Matt Toulson and Kaya Black Production coordinator: Tim Fernley Technical Producer: Craig Boardman Editor: Tara McDermott

After months of undercover work, the police in London start moving in their targets and claim their first victory against the hooligan mobs. But the celebrations are short lived. A new piece of science raises doubts over the evidence gathered as part of the police operations. Trials begin to collapse. The police and prosecutors are rattled and start scrutinising other cases yet to go to court. Dozens of cases are eventually dropped and fans previously jailed, have their convictions quashed. After 17 months working undercover among Arsenal’s firms, David is left holding his breath. Meanwhile, for Jim and Andy, the undercover officers in Birmingham, a chance encounter almost blows their cover and sees them running for their lives. But with the police and politicians breathing down their necks, hooligans across the country are left looking over their shoulders. Is it time to walk away from the fighting and the firms once and for all? Presenter: Tony Bellew Series Producer: Emma Forde Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Development Producer: Holly Clemens Production Co-ordinator: Ellie Dover Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna & Sarah Green Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston

With the police under pressure to get a grip on the hooligan epidemic, an ambitious young copper comes up with a plan. To infiltrate the firms and go undercover. Covert police operations in London, Birmingham, Manchester and Leeds soon get underway. Michael Layton is a former detective with West Midlands Police. In the mid-80s, he set up an undercover unit which infiltrated the Zulu Warriors, a firm who followed Birmingham City FC. Michael describes how Operation Red Card gathered evidence against the top targets, the danger his undercover officers faced and the constant threat of exposure and reprisals. For the coppers recruited, it was a terrifying, head-ache inducing, chain-smoking and dangerous life. Two of the officers who risked their lives and infiltrated the Zulu Warriors and another who worked among Arsenals mobs, tell their stories for the first time. Presenter: Tony Bellew Series Producer: Emma Forde Producer: Patrick Kiteley Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards Development Producer: Holly Clemens Production Co-ordinator: Ellie Dover Assistant Commissioner: Lorraine Okuefuna & Sarah Green Commissioning Editor: Louise Kattenhorn Editor and Executive Producer: Carl Johnston