WHEN Neil Calvey was just nine months old his dad walked in from work, sliced open a sack of used bank notes and poured them over his head.
Baby Neil sat playing with thousands of pounds as his jubilant dad took a picture to put in pride of place on the mantelpiece.
It may sound far-fetched, but as the son of Mickey and Linda Calvey – two of Britain’s most notorious armed robbers – that is not his most outrageous story.
Now for the first time Neil and his sister Melanie are opening up about their childhoods which were moulded by untold riches, but also crime , violence and loss.
Mickey was shot dead in a failed armed robbery when the kids were aged just seven and four.
So mum Linda decided to continue with the family business and became the most notorious female gangster in British history – The Black Widow.
She was the first woman to be charged with gangland murder in Britain and was convicted of shooting dead her lover Ronnie Cook and jailed for life .
This meant Neil and Mel had lost both their mum and dad to their lives of crime.
Now in a new BBC podcast they reveal what it was like to live a childhood as the kids of prolific armed robbers.
Neil says: “When my dad got killed and my mum went to prison , it was like falling into a black hole. You just don’t know which way to turn.”
Mel adds: “I was angry. I’d already lost my dad, then I lost my mum. I told her that. I was about 14, and I asked her, ‘Why did you do that to us?’ I was bitter for years.
“It was like drinking a poison that festered in me. It’s like I walked into a party at 14 and didn’t leave until I was in my forties.
“I was reckless. For years I was just on another planet.”
One of Neil’s earliest memories is playing outside aged just three-and-a-half with what turned out to be a real sawn-off shotgun.
He says: “I thought it was just another toy gun; I’d found it behind the sofa. I was outside running around with it when one of the neighbours knocked on the door. My mum just said, ‘Oh, he’s got loads of guns.’ She thought it was a toy, but it wasn’t.”
Life of extremes
Neil remembers the good times and being able to enjoy the fruits of his parents’ ill-gotten gains, but he concedes it was a life of extremes.
He explains: “I suppose it was a little bit different from the norm. I mean, my mum and dad used to be called Bonnie and Clyde by my friends.
“We had some really good times, when we were having it good it was really, really good. Lovely houses, lovely clothes, nice cars.
“Then you had the flip side which was the polar opposite. As a kid growing up you were either at the top of the tree or at the bottom. There was no in between.”
Mel was just 13 when she went on a spending spree to Hamley’s toy shop with money she found under Linda’s bed.
While dad Mickey was in-between armed robberies, he was a stay-at-home dad to Mel and Neil.
I was bitter for years. It was like drinking a poison that festered in me. It’s like I walked into a party at 14 and didn’t leave until I was in my forties. I was reckless. For years I was just on another planet
Melanie Calvey
Mel says: “I remember coming home from school one day and he was in prison, and I come home and I didn’t know he was coming out.
“So I ran up and give him a hug and he said, ‘I’m going to cook dinner tonight, what do you want? Paella or Spaghetti Bolognese? That was his two dishes he was really good at [sic].”
But the family’s kitchen table where the kids would eat their dinner doubled up as the planning desk for Mickey and his cronies.
And it was one of those plans that went wrong and ended in Mickey’s death – he was shot by police during a botched robbery in early December 1978.
But Neil and Mel were oblivious to their father’s death, with mum Linda deciding not to tell them until after Christmas .
They didn’t even go to their dad’s funeral.
Mel says: “I was staying with my mum’s brother and his wife, and looking back now it sort of makes sense, every time the news came on they kept turning the telly off.”
Neil’s recollection is hazy, but at the inquest into Mickey’s death a nurse who got to him after he had been shot said his last words were: “Tell my wife and kids that I love them.”
Neil says: “That broke my heart. It still does to this day.”
Jailed for murder
Linda wasn’t to stay alone for long. She soon became romantically involved with one of Mickey’s associates, Ronnie Cook.
He showered Linda with gifts and luxury holidays, but she says he became controlling and she turned down his marriage proposal.
Linda picked up where her husband Mickey had left off and became part of a gang organising a series of post office robberies in which she claimed to have made more than £1million.
Her first conviction in 1986 resulted in her being sentenced to seven years imprisonment, of which she served about three years – half her sentence.
And around 18 months after being paroled she was found guilty of the murder of her ex-lover Cook by shooting him in the head, meaning she was heading back to prison for an even longer stretch.
I thought it was just another toy gun; I’d found it behind the sofa. I was outside running around with it when one of the neighbours knocked on the door. My mum just said, ‘Oh, he’s got loads of guns.’ She thought it was a toy, but it wasn’t
Neil Calvey
She spent time in prison alongside some of Britain’s most infamous female killers including Moors Murderer Myra Hindley and Cromwell Street killer Rose West .
Linda was behind bars for 18-and-a-half years for Cook’s murder – meaning Neil and Mel spent much of their childhood and early adult years without both parents, which had a profound effect on them both.
She was released on parole in 2008, and she and the kids had a lot of catching up to do – and a lot of animosity to overcome.
Neil reflects: “It was a great life when it was nice, but when it went wrong it went properly wrong.
“I think we’ve had rows. I’ve said, ‘Why didn’t you ever think of me and Mel? You were thinking of yourself, your kudos, I’m Linda Calvey, I’m a big gangster girl’.”
Mel adds: “I got angry that she’d done that, I’ve got to be honest. I’d already lost my father and now I’m losing my mother. So I was very angry over it.”
Reckless
Neil and Mel said they turned to drugs and alcohol to help them cope with their unique and tragic situations.
Neil says: “Over the years with my mum going away and ending up with the murder and stuff I found myself turning to alcohol and other dependents to try to numb my mind.
“My mind was racing all the time, it would never let things go.”
Mel adds: “I was quite a handful, I’d gone quite wayward because of how my life had been.
“I was quite reckless, a lot of drugs, a lot of drinking. I just didn’t care about nothing.”
I was quite reckless, a lot of drugs, a lot of drinking. I just didn’t care about nothing
Melanie Calvey
Despite the pain, there are also moments of reconciliation.
Neil adds: “I might have been angry with the situation, but I never blamed my mum. I’d still choose her. And my dad. It’s just a shame how it all went.”
Mel agrees: “I’d still choose them, but I’d want it to be a different way.
“I used to be envious of my friends whose parents had jobs, mortgages, dinner on the table. That’s what I wanted. A normal life.
“I never had that. So if I could have them back again, that’s what I would want.”
Listen to Gangster: The Black Widow on BBC Sounds from August 8.
Linda is the author of Life Inside and Black Widow, both available now
