Throng

macintyre’s underworld
wayne’s world
monday, 22.00–23.00

Donal MacIntyre returns with a new run of the documentary series that delves into the murky depths of Britain’s underworld. In this opening edition, Donal heads back to the Midlands to follow up his award-winning investigation into Nottingham drug dealer Wayne Hardy, ten years after his original ‘World in Action’ report.

A decade ago, Donal spent 12 months working undercover in Nottingham, secretly filming the illegal activities of the fearsome Wayne Hardy. The evidence he gathered put Wayne behind bars for three and a half years and damaged the gangster’s reputation in the underworld. Now, after a period spent living in fear because of death threats from the Hardy gang, Donal is back in the city, this time with open access to his subject’s life. Wayne claims to have changed his ways, but does his world still revolve around drugs, money and death?

After a first meeting in which Wayne lets Donal know exactly how he felt about being set up ten years earlier, the two bury the past. Wayne, while still a formidable figure, shows signs of vulnerability and remorse: “It’s not a nice life –having to watch over your shoulder all the time,” he says. But glimmers of the old gangster are never far away: “It was reckless of your employees to put you in that situation,” he says of Donal’s initial investigation. “I don’t suggest you do it again.”

Wayne and his brother Dean were born into a working-class family of Irish extraction. While working at their father’s scrapyard, the boys developed a passion for fast cars and learned the work ethic that would eventually make them successful gangsters. Known to the police from an early age, the Hardys quickly rose through the criminal ranks such that, by the time they reached their twenties, they were Nottingham’s biggest suppliers of recreational drugs, and enjoyed the high life that came with notoriety and wealth.

Today, however, Wayne Hardy’s life is very different. A father of five, Wayne spends much of his time looking after his youngest son who suffers from a serious illness; while his eldest daughter, Kylie, battles with heroin addiction and has been in and out of prison with prostitution, theft and drug offences. “Do you think you’re in some way responsible for the road in life Kylie has taken?” asks Donal. “Yes, I do,” replies Wayne. “I have a cross to bear and I think some responsibility for it is mine.”

But Wayne has yet more reason to regret his past. While he was serving time in Lincoln prison, his girlfriend visited him with their 11-month-old daughter, Sunny, to tell him that they loved him. That was the last time Wayne saw his daughter – on returning home, his girlfriend, then suffering from severe postnatal depression, killed herself and Sunny. “If I’d have been there, it wouldn’t have happened,” admits a clearly upset Wayne.

During filming of this documentary, yet another tragedy befalls Wayne Hardy as Dean is killed in a freak road accident. A huge funeral is organised, with friends, family and underworld associates from across Britain and Ireland gathering to celebrate Dean’s life. With Hardy’s eldest daughter addicted to heroin, another dead along with her mother, a son with a life-threatening condition and now a brother killed, Donal is prompted to remark: “Wayne’s world is falling apart.”

Despite all his hardship, Wayne finds comfort in the most unlikely of places. While in prison, he experienced what his then prison chaplain describes as a “road to Damascus moment” which has led to a strong Christian faith. “I suppose in the end I’m a God-fearing gangster,’ laughs Wayne. While Wayne still enjoys the benefits of wealth and success, which he claims were all gained through legitimate means, it is clear to Donal that tragedy has followed Wayne throughout his life. However, the ultimate question still remains: does crime pay?