Who was Joey Pyle Sr?
JOEY Pyle Senior was a well known name to law enforcement in England.
He was one of the lesser known gangsters back in the day, but he was just as dangerous.
Who was Joey Pyle Sr?
Joey Pyle Sr was born Joseph Henry Pyle in 1935 in the east end of London.
He was the head of one of the leading crime families in London from the 1960s until the 1990s.
He had a criminal career spanning 30 years.
However, his official occupations included businessman, car dealer and street dealer.
He even referred to himself as a film director, although his only credit was directing a video for pop star Gary Numan.
Aged 19 he was convicted and jailed for three months for stealing cars.
Five years later he stood trial at the Old Bailey and was charged with the murder of Selwyn Cooney, a nightclub owner.
If convicted he may have faced the death penalty.
The first trial was abandoned after jurors were ‘approached’ and he was acquitted of murder during the second trial.
However, he was convicted and jailed for 18 months for assaulting Selwyn Cooney moments before he was shot.
Joey was arrested repeatedly in the years that followed and repeatedly escaped prosecution.
During the 1960s and 1970s Joey organised illegal loans and gambling rackets.
He also ran extortion and protection rackets. After fights broke out in pubs, Joey would offer protection.
Pub owners who declined his protection were attacked.
Joey’s protection demands became so extortionate that landlords ended up having to sell to him and his associates cheaply.
Out of frustration at being unable to convict Joey, police resorted to objecting his liquor licences, but he still survived.
In the 1980s, Joey established a huge drug dealing operation that smuggled up to 200kg of cannabis into Britain a week.
In 1987, a joint police-customs effort arrested him after a £5million cannabis-smuggling plot was uncovered.
However, the case collapsed after a key witness, a German ship captain, refused to testify.
Joey’s protection detail extended to pop stars and rock groups.
His criminal reach knew no bounds, with the FBI claiming to have evidence linking Joey to members of the Genovese and Gambino families.
He finally faced justice in 1992 when he was convicted and jailed for 14 years for masterminding a multi-million pound drugs ring.
The first trial was halted when three jurors claimed they had received death threats if they did not return not guilty verdicts.
The jury in the second trial were given 24 hour police guard, costing the taxpayer another £1million.
He was freed in 1997, insisting he had left his life of crime behind him and was working with his son Joe Jr behind the scenes in the music industry.
How did Joey Pyle Sr die?
Joey died of motor neurone disease in 2007.
His funeral was attended by the Richardsons and the Krays, two of the most famous crime families in London, who were sworn enemies.
As he was being laid to rest, American soul singer Jocelyn Brown sang as his coffin was lowered into the ground.
Was Joey Pyle Sr married?
There are no confirmed reports that Joey was married, however he did have a son.
In an interview with Shaun Attwood, his son talks about his mum visiting his father in prison to take him Sunday roasts.
Who is Joey Pyle Jr?
Joey Pyle Jr is the son of Joey Pyle Sr.
He was involved in crime from a young age. Talking about the first time he was arrested he said:
“14 years of age I think it was. I was in Putney High Street and I nicked a shirt. And then I took it back without the receipt and said I bought this shirt can I have the money back?”
He chuckles as he remembers doing this multiple times before being caught and cautioned for deception and fraud.
His first incarceration was after being convicted for actual bodily harm.
In the early 90s after being released from prison Joey Jr went to get a professional boxing promoters licence.