R.I.P. Dave Courtney
- Thread starter Drago
- Start date
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iancity
Veteran
raleighnut
Legendary Member
Well I for one won't shed a tear. 
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
I'd never heard of him but ... https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-67191667 says "In his final Facebook post Mr Courtney could be seen watching Charlton Athletic lose 4-0 to Reading"
In fact Charlton won 4-0 against Reading.
In fact Charlton won 4-0 against Reading.
D
Deleted member 1258
Guest
Who? Never heard of him before, RIP.
Dogtrousers
Kilometre nibbler
"Claimed to be an associate of the Kray twins". He was 64, so born in '59 ish. That would mean he was about 9 when Krays went to prison.
cougie uk
Guru
I thought he was a bit young but didn't do the sums. Makes you wonder what else he's exaggerated.
OP
OP
Drago
Legendary Member
Not defending him, but one must ask did he exaggerate? He never publicly stated the nature of any association with the Krays or when/where he met them, if he ever did at all.
The media seems to be responsible for attributing a lot of quotes to him without going as far as putting them in speech marks. Courtney said this, Courtney said that, but never a direct quote, never a reference from the person to whom he was speaking.
I suspect his crime in that regard is to simply keep schtum and let the media build the myth on his behalf, which did his notoriety and income no harm at all.
The media seems to be responsible for attributing a lot of quotes to him without going as far as putting them in speech marks. Courtney said this, Courtney said that, but never a direct quote, never a reference from the person to whom he was speaking.
I suspect his crime in that regard is to simply keep schtum and let the media build the myth on his behalf, which did his notoriety and income no harm at all.
markemark
Veteran
Because we like to nobolise criminality from the past. I believe it is based on the notion that they behaved within very well defined rules and limited to very specific demographics. Today people fear the randomness of criminality and violence. We feel anyone can be a target so live in constant fear. The myth is that in the good old days everything was safe and the krays etc kept a very well defined order that could be relied upon. That is was only other gangsters who were the targets and that the rest of the population weren’t affected or even benefited from the order the criminals created.
Chris S
Legendary Member
The Krays used to extort money from shopkeepers and other legitimate businesses.
Chris S
Legendary Member
markemark
Veteran
They did all sorts of horrid stuff, but the perception was that they were honourably criminals, gentlemen. It's a myth. Hence the fondness compared to the perception of criminality now.
