Have you ever met a famous criminal?

[WomenHour]

I haven't just wondering how common it is

I used to babysit for Jonathan Aitken and have met Rolf Harris.

NC for this, not met in person, but was pen pals with Dennis Nilsen for many many years.

NC for this, not met in person, but was pen pals with Dennis Nilsen for many many years why would you do that?

Gino D'Acampo 😁 he lives just down the road and can be found regularly in Aldi (or the barbers)

Does Tony Blair count?

and Tony Blair isn't a war criminal. Popularist nonsense. Never been on trial so couldn't possibly be guilty.

@noodlesnoodles

NC for this, not met in person, but was pen pals with Dennis Nilsen for many many years.

Why?

@QuentinWinters I read a book about him, and thought he was an interesting person.

My friends mum grew up next door to reggie and Ronnie Kray, she said they were lovely boys...

Five years ago, they bloke who laid my drive killed someone in a bar near me and went on the run.
It was all over the papers and on crimewatch.
He has now been caught and is in prison.

No, but my friend lived a couple of doors down from Dennis Nilsson. She only knew him to said hello but said he just seemed very ordinary.

I have met Boris Johnson...if that qualifies.

Oh, and Omar Sheikh, he was the sort of neighbour who would terrify you - looked like he would lose it any minute, was not a surprise to find out he was a terrorist.

I worked in a shop and one of our customers was one of the most famous rapists in Sweden. At the time he was just the chief of police in that town though. Only said hello to him etc (normal shop interaction) so got zero sense of him as a man really. He was caught and convicted on several counts of rape, abusing underage vulnerable girls. A real vile specimen.

But he was a household name before he was caught and obv even more so afterwards. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/G%C3%B6ran_Lindberg

@ Jessi1972 my friend’s sister’s best friend was Christopher Halliwell’s partner... .

Someone else I know had some building work done by Fred west.

When I was in hospital last year the police were regularly seen in reception with prisoners in handcuffs and wheelchairs. My dad would ring me from reception and say “the police are here again....”.

Fred West!

I understand why noodle would write to a serial killer. I think it's quite common. In fact I'm a bit of a true crime buff and have thought of doing myself just to see if there's any insight that can be gained into what drives people to do these horrendous things.

@CherryPavlova

and Tony Blair isn't a war criminal. Popularist nonsense. Never been on trial so couldn't possibly be guilty.

Pedant's corner stuff really this, but I'm pretty sure someone can be guilty of a crime without being tried for it. That they have not been found guilty in a court does not mean they are not guilty.

If I killed someone and was never tried for it, I'd still be guilty of it. I would be a criminal. Just not one who had been caught, prosecuted, tried and sentenced.

Yes worked in a prison for 10 years.
Met ' The Suffolk Strangler ' , the man who strangled and killed several prostitutes over a relatively short time. Also a man who kidnapped his niece ( it became something that was reported and followed on tv) He was tried and found guilty of her murder although a body has never been found. He received a full life sentence.
Also worked in a female jail in the 2000s and met Jane ( forgotten surname ) she was Sarah Ferguson's dresser and murdered her dp because he met someone else and would not marry her . I think she has been released now.

unmarkedbythat Pedantry accepted but Tony Blairs criminality disputed. Calls for prosecution were rejected by the high courts - so not quite the same as not being caught. Despite not being a criminal I have met him a few times.

Jimmy Savile when I was a teen on Jim'll Fix it. Creepy AF.

I would genuinely love to know what Tony Blair feels about Iraq now. Not so much as a politician but as a man. I don't think I have a right to know, of course, but I would love to.

I've never met him. The closest I came to him was when he visited Swansea Guildhall and I was at the front at an anti war protest outside shouting my head off! I was grudgingly impressed by his composure to be fair.

Not famous but it's a well known case.

He wasn't a criminal when I met him. He was later convicted of murder in a trial where the details were so horrific there was a blackout in some information

Haven’t met a criminal but did meet the last public executioner.

@billybagpuss tell us more

My mother was a tenant in Fred and Rose West’s house. She didn’t witness anything - always in work or pub at the time. However she only lasted 2 weeks as in her words “I’ve always given people benefit of the doubt but something didn’t sit right”