47 Facts About Joey Pyle

Joseph Henry Pyle, known as Joey Pyle or Joe Pyle, was an English gangland boss, convicted criminal, and pioneer and promoter of unlicensed boxing, who operated in London from the 1950s until his final arrest and conviction in 1992.

Less well known to the general public than many of his contemporaries in the underworld, Pyle was a key police target during his criminal career, but although arrested and charged many times, he seldom served time in prison, unlike many of the gangland figures with whom he was associated.

Joey Pyle was born on 2 November 1937 in The Angel, Islington, London, the son of Arnie and Cath Pyle, and the youngest of their three children after his brother Ted and sister Jean.

The family moved to Carshalton when Joey Pyle was a teenager, although he retained links with his friends in the East End of London.

Joey Pyle sold Richardson silver ingots that another acquaintance had stolen from the railways.

Joey Pyle became a boxing instructor at Sandhurst during his National Service, and joined the army's Southern Command Team.

Joey Pyle was kicked out of Sandhurst following his theft of a brigadier's car; rather than being court-martialled, he was put through the criminal justice system and given three months of the newly introduced short, sharp shock, a replacement for Borstal.

Joey Pyle's approach, along with the Nashes, was a little more sophisticated, simply relying on the owners' fear of his violent reputation.

Joey Pyle miraculously reappeared at the end of the second trial.

When Joey Pyle came out of prison he decided to move into the illegal gambling game, reasoning that because government plans were afoot to modify gambling's legal standing, if he had familiarity with the processes, ran appropriate premises and gained a reputation as a reliable operator, then he'd be in an excellent position to take advantage of any future relaxations in the law.

Joey Pyle spoke to Billy Hill and Waggy Whitnall, who advised him on the best way forward, and he first set up a dice table at German Harry's in Balham, then expanded to The Crown in Croydon.

Joey Pyle was the one who sat with them and sorted out the grudges.

Joey Pyle spoke words of wisdom, was a diplomat and a smart businessman.

Joey Pyle was best man at both Ronnie Kray's first wedding and at Charlie Kray's wedding, and he often visited both of the Kray twins in prison and Charlie Kray in Parkhurst Prison.

Ronnie asked Joey Pyle to set up his second wife, Kate Kray, with a bodyguard, and Joey Pyle recommended Ronnie Field, who assumed the position for a number of years.

Joey Pyle was thought to have assisted in the escape from prison of his friend Jack "The Hat" McVitie and Frank Mitchell, the Mad Axeman of Broadmoor, from Dartmoor Prison, and he admitted trying to help John James Buggy, who was serving a nine-year sentence for shooting a man in Piccadilly, to escape by throwing a weighted rope over the prison wall.

Joey Pyle assisted John McVicar in his escape from Parkhurst Prison in 1966; McVicar had attended a spurious trial with twelve other inmates at Winchester Law Courts, and they'd overcome their guards in the prison van at Bishop's Waltham on the way back to the Isle of Wight.

Joey Pyle sped around the police but was eventually cornered in a cul-de-sac in the town.

The cause of the argument had been Fryer's jealousy that Joey Pyle had asked Marsh to drive to the airport, not him.

Joey Pyle was charged with being an accessory after the fact in murder for his involvement in paying off Lenny Osborne, a friend of the actor and hired muscle John Bindon, after the fatal stabbing of a police informer named John Darke on 20 November 1978 at the Ranelagh Yacht Club in Fulham.

Bindon was badly cut up, with knife wounds all over his body and face, and fled to Dublin for three days; Osborne, in the fight, fled to Amsterdam, where Joey Pyle met up with him to help Bindon, who wanted Osborne paid to stop him testifying against him.

When Bindon, pleading self-defence, was found not guilty of murder after his trial in November 1979, one of the charges against Joey Pyle, who'd been held on remand for seven months, was likewise dropped, as there had been no murder to which he could have been an accessory.

Ronnie Kray told Joey Pyle he'd heard about McVitie's constant taunting of the Krays and his death threats towards them.

Joey Pyle was arrested in 1971 following the murder of Police Superintendent Gerald Richardson by Freddy Sewell.

The Richardson murder took place when police were called to a jewellery heist in Blackpool by a South London gang, and the Flying Squad raided Joey Pyle's house, suspecting that he might be hiding Sewell.

When Joey Pyle told them he had no idea where Sewell was and that he had nothing to do with the Blackpool robbery, he was arrested for "conspiracy with unknown persons to commit robbery on an unknown date at an unknown place", on the basis of the police "finding" a gun, pickaxe handles and ammunition in his car.

Some days later, with the fact that Joey Pyle was being framed now widely known on the street, a Sunday People journalist came to his house after he'd been let out on bail, asking questions about corrupt police officers.

Joey Pyle produced ample documentation of his relationship with Drury, who was now framing him as a police informer, making Humphreys fear for his life.

Joey Pyle spent two spells of time in prison on drugs-related charges.

On return to the UK a few years later, Ledingham met up with Joey Pyle and repaid the debt, and all appeared good.

Joey Pyle, who was keen to get his money back, went along with the story and pretended he could get heroin for "Dave", even though he didn't deal in the drug.

Unknown to Joey Pyle, it contained an opiate, a Class A restricted drug.

Joey Pyle was tried at Southwark Crown Court in early 1992, with the jury being given 24-hour protection and an armed guard to court, on the basis of Joey Pyle's extensive connections in the British underworld and his Mafia links.

Joey Pyle, originally sentenced to fourteen years, was given nine years at his appeal heard at Woolwich Crown Court, and finished his sentence at Coldingley Prison as a Category C prisoner.

Joey Pyle didn't throw his weight around and just got on with his bird.

Joey Pyle had a number of connections with the US Mafia, which was among the reasons given for the security at his 1992 trial.

Joey Pyle had been introduced to Black Sabbath's one-time manager Wilf Pine via their mutual friend Reggie Kray, as Pyle wanted to "go straight" and move into the music business.

Pagano invited Joey Pyle to become part of the family but Joey Pyle declined, partly on account of the weather in New York City, but because he was uneasy about Mob morality:.

Joey Pyle hit it off with Isgro, "getting involved with little bits and pieces", and Isgro asked him if he could help provide the same service in Europe regarding airplay that he had going in the US.

Joey Pyle knew Ori Spado, Hollywood fixer and gangster, and associate of Colombo family underboss Sonny Franzese.

When he turned professional Joey Pyle lost his first fight, but then was unbeaten in his subsequent 23 bouts.

Joey Pyle organised unlicensed fights, known as "on the cobbles", because the British Boxing Board of Control would not license fights involving his friend Roy "Pretty Boy" Shaw when Shaw came out of prison, on account of Shaw's criminal record.

Adams had previously taken part in bare-knuckle fights in scrap metal yards and other such venues, but Joey Pyle decided that for this fight the set-up was going to be much more upmarket as there was serious money to be made.

Joey Pyle contacted circus impresario Billy Smart, and the match for the title of "The Guv'nor" was staged at Smart's Big Top in Windsor on 1 December 1975, with Shaw knocking Adams out stone cold within seconds of the first round.

Many men now wanted to have a go at taking on Shaw, so Joey Pyle staged further matches with his fighter, on a winner-takes-all basis.

Joey Pyle ran a film company called "Touchdown", which made a number of films, including a music video by Gary Numan and a documentary about politics in the Seychelles, filmed covertly in the country under the pretext of being a nature film.

Towards the end of his life, Joey Pyle began to be approached as a retired and now reformed figure who could be relied upon for his insights into the underworld.