Once Upon a Crime by Jimmy Cryans

Santa’s grotto with a beautifully decorated tree. I also went out and actually bought presents for Christine, Ma and all the family from the shops where I had previously neglected to pay for goods that took my fancy. Christine and me travelled to Ma’s on Christmas Eve and stayed overnight so that we would all be together on Christmas Day. It was a fabulous time. In the afternoon, Christine and me travelled to Newbury to spend the rest of the day with her granny, who was a really lovely lady. Christine lived with her Gran because when she was 14 her mother had gone to live in Los Angeles with an American guy she had met.
    The following week we brought in the New Year with all our close friends at the Castle Tavern. Though I did not know it, 1973 was to be a momentous year for me and Christine and would turn out to be one of the happiest periods in my life. 

Chapter Ten
    T owards the end of January 1973 Christine informed me she was pregnant and I was over the moon. We soon agreed to marry. This wasn’t a case of me doing the right thing, but because, apart from being all-the-way, no- holds-barred , totally loved-up with Christine, I am a bit of an old-fashioned traditionalist who believes in the sanctity of marriage and the values of the family unit. That may seem strange and a bit of a paradox coming from a guy who has lived a lot of his life outside the law but it is just the way I am and I know lots of other villains who feel the same way.
    An old friend, John Renaldi, reappeared on the scene a couple of years since we had last met and it was great to see him again. Shortly before my release from borstal John had been sentenced to 15 months imprisonment for breaking into goods wagons at a train depot, having been arrested by cops who had the yard under surveillance. I managed to get him a job working alongside me as a hod carrier and we had some wild times on the site. John was a great practical joker andthere was never a dull moment when he was around. We spoke about doing some jobs together, robberies and the like in London and surrounding towns. I planned on asking him to be my best man at the wedding but one day he just seemed to have disappeared. I went over to his mum’s house in Thatcham but all she could tell me was that he had came home and packed a bag and told her he was off back up to the smoke – London. It would be another four years before I would see John again.
    Christine and me wanted a fairly quiet ceremony in the registry office rather than a full-blown white wedding. The date was Friday 19 May and the celebration, for about 40 family and close friends, was held in the Castle Tavern. Christine’s boss had very generously given us full use of the place that day. I put a nice few quid up so there was a free bar. I had been to the tailors and measured up for a beautiful two-piece, single-breasted suit in black mohair. My best man was another good friend, a hod carrier and straight peg – non-thief – called Dave Burgess.
    Christine was four months pregnant but she didn’t show at all – even when she was undressed there was only a slight bump – but she did look gorgeous and was glowing. I was so proud at the thought of being a father and a husband, and I was still only 19. On the big day I waited at the registry office for Christine to arrive and when she did the sun was shining and she looked beautiful, absolutely radiant and I was bursting with pride. The whole day ran like clockwork and everybody had a great time.
    I worked hard all through the summer and was now very selective with any thieving. I started to look at banks as possible targets. I was still working alone most of the time but I knew enough and was confident in my abilities to pullone off without help. This wasn’t going to be an armed robbery but simply me entering, leaping the counter, and filling a bag with as much money as I could scoop up. Speed, surprise and aggression are the key elements. By aggression I do not mean