Linda Calvey

Linda Calvey (born Linda E P Welford, 8 April 1948) is an English author.

Before becoming an author she was principally known for committing armed robberies and serving a life sentence for the murder of her lover Ronnie Cook.

She was known as the "Black Widow" because all of her lovers ended up either dead or in prison.

Her first conviction in 1986 resulted in her being sentenced to 7 years imprisonment, of which she served about three years, half her sentence.

Most of her sentence was served at HM Prison Holloway.

As part of a criminal gang she had helped in a series of post office robberies, in which staff and customers were sprayed with dangerous ammonia.

The judge commented in his sentencing remarks:

"This is an amazingly horrifying case. It must be the worst case ever heard in front of a British court. These robberies were carefully planned and organised, they were skilfully, effectively and ruthlessly carried out."

Calvey's Brother Anthony Welford had allowed his house to be used as a base by the gang and was himself jailed for nine years for conspiracy to rob the post offices.

Calvey met Ronnie Cook after the death of her husband Mickey.

He was one of Mickey's associates before his death, and provided money to Calvey to support herself after Mickey's death.

According to Calvey, Cook soon became controlling, having say over what she wore and trailing her when she went out with friends.

After Calvey declined Cook's proposal to her, she said he threatened to hurt her son.

Cook was sentenced to 16 years in prison for taking part in an armed robbery at some point after.

Calvey was introduced to Daniel Reece by a friend of Cook, Brian Thorogood, who thought he could use the support after his son had been killed in a traffic accident while he was in prison.

The friendship between the two then developed into a relationship.

She also then cheated on Cook with Thorogood.

In late 1990, around 18 months after being paroled from her armed robbery sentence, Calvey paid criminal associate Daniel Reece £10,000 to kill Ronnie Cook.

However, he lost his nerve at the last minute and Calvey picked up the gun herself, shooting the victim at point blank range, whilst he knelt in front of her.

He suffered horrific injuries to the head on the second shot and the blast also broke his neck.

A neighbour had heard Calvey shout "kneel" before a shot rang out.

The story that Calvey had killed him was backed by Reece, as well as gangster Frankie Fraser, who said Calvey did it so Cook wouldn't find out she had been spending some of his money.

At Calvey's trial, the prosecuting attorney said Cook's motive was to "simplify the rather dangerous and complex” state of her personal affairs — referring to her romance with both Reece and Thorogood. Cook was due for full release from prison at the time and so would soon have discovered how Calvey, on whom he had lavished gifts and money, had cheated on him and become the lover of Reece and Thorogood. He also would have found that she had spent the cash he had entrusted to her. Reece testified to police: "I couldn't kill him.

I shot to his side.

I froze.

Linda took the gun from me.

She shot him in the head." The claim that he had shot him to his side first was supported by the fact that Cook was found to have a bullet wound to the arm. Calvey's footprints were also found next to the body, indicating she was present in the room at the shooting. On the day of the murder, Calvey had driven to HM Prison Maidstone to pick up Cook, who was on day release at the end of his sentence, and took him to her home, knowing a gunman would be there to murder him. He was shot only about half an hour after he had been collected by Calvey from the prison.

At trial Calvey denied murder, saying the man she had cheated on and who was supposedly abusive to her had "meant everything to her" and she couldn't have killed him.

However, the jury did not believe Calvey's story and found her guilty of murder.

She showed no reaction when the jury announced their guilty verdict.

She spent 18 and a half years in prison before being paroled.

During her imprisonment in 1995 a tribute was written to her by Charles Bronson, considered Britain's most violent prisoner, with Bronson saying that she was "a true lady, a real east London girl".

She went on to make £1 million in robberies, saying in 2002: "I loved the buzz of picking up a shotgun, confronting men in armoured vans and forcing them to hand over vast sums of money."

She later said she always thought that the money was "rightfully hers".

She was known to keep guns under her doormat.

Her novels are The Black Widow (2019), The Locksmith (2021) and The Game (2022).

Calvey worked as a receptionist at a paint factory while a teenager.

Calvey began her criminal career as a lookout after being invited by her cousin to a party for armed robber Mickey Calvey, who at the time was on temporary home leave towards the end of his eight-year prison term, where she fell in love with him.

She married him at 22 years old, with him having to be brought to the wedding from his prison by armed guard.

She later became a getaway driver and eventually wielded guns herself during robberies.