macintyre’s underworld
lucky tucker

In tonight’s edition of the investigative documentary series , Donal MacIntyre meets Ian ‘Lucky’ Tucker, a famous name in the Kent underworld. Despite numerous accusations, Tucker has never been convicted of a serious offence – but with an upcoming trial for firearm possession, is his trademark good fortune about to change?

A former doorman, debt collector and minder to the Kray twins, Ian Tucker was once dubbed one of the UK’s most wanted men and has been under the watchful eye of the Kent police for years. When MacIntyre asks him what his police file says, Tucker replies with a wry smile: “Six foot two; scar above left eye; approach with caution”.

Tucker’s turf, known as the ‘corridor of crime’, is a stretch of road along the Thames Estuary linking the gangs of southeast London with the lucrative docks of north Kent. Here, Tucker has carved out a niche specialising in resolving underworld disputes. In the 1990s, he teamed up with ‘celebrity gangster’ Dave Courtney to create a formidable debt-collecting partnership. The pair soon became inseparable, providing muscle at West End nightclubs, making cameo appearances in ‘The Bill’ and promoting clubs. Their status in the underworld reached dizzying heights in 1995 when Reggie Kray asked them to organise security for the funeral of his brother Ronnie.

Despite Tucker’s claims that he now has a regular job, his past has a way of catching up with him – as he discovered when he became a suspect in the murder of ‘Crimewatch’ presenter Jill Dando. After he was featured on the programme in connection with an armed robbery and kidnapping, his lucrative café business suffered and Tucker went on the run – but the charges were dropped nine months later. Holding a personal grudge against the show meant that Tucker was a prime suspect in Dando’s murder, but he was released without charge thanks to a cast-iron alibi: he was elsewhere, “recovering some vehicles”.

Often asked to repossess cars, Tucker is partial to a fast vehicle and frequently finds himself in trouble for driving offences. He is surprised to escape the latest charge with little more than a £300 fine, but driving convictions are currently the least of his worries. Tucker is currently facing eight years in jail for possession of a loaded firearm found in his house. He claims that the gun belongs to his friend Sidney – who confessed to that effect –but the prosecution thinks that Sidney is taking the rap for Tucker and is willing to do prison time for him. Tucker’s trial has collapsed twice, but the prosecution is determined to get its man in a third attempt. Tucker is convinvced that the police are out to get him, and when MacIntyre asks of what he believes the police suspect him, he replies: “Everything and more. Pearl Harbor, Titanic – it was all my fault. If something happens... near me, I’ll get a visit.”

Tucker’s latest trial suffers a setback when he is injured in a motorcycle accident, breaking four bones in his foot and requiring convalescence after surgery. He believes that his memory was also affected in the accident and that he is unfit to stand trial, but the prosecution is unconvinced. Tucker is quietly confident that he is going to escape conviction – but he is relying on Sidney’s testimony.

Unfortunately for Tucker, the prosecution lawyers have questioned Sidney’s credibility due to his criminal record, drug problems and the fact that he was drunk when he confessed – and Sidney then fails to turn up in court. “I can’t be doing with it anymore,” fumes Tucker, desperate to see an end to this trial one way or another. “It’s killing me.” His best friend and righthand man, Doug, steps up in Sidney’s place, but will his testimony do the job and keep ‘Lucky’ Tucker out of jail yet again?