They have to pay for the chalk they use to write the name of the horses and odds on the board and the bucket and the sponge to rub the odds off the boards.'īy the end of 1920 Kimber was the head of 'one of the biggest network of thugs and criminals ever assembles on British soil'. They have to stand on a stool, they have to pay the Birmingham gang to rent the stool. 'The bookies have to start paying for the spot in which they stand, their pitches.
'The Birmingham gang ramped up the blackmailing of bookmakers by extorting money for supposed services' explained professor Chinn. The booming post-war race course scene caused Kimber to return to the North of England to extort bookmakers, where he and the Birmingham boys quickly took control of the region. 'There are huge crowds at horse races and lots of people with lots of money, the soldiers and sailors with gratuity from the army they're spending cash freely,' said professor Chinn. Pictured L-R Henry 'baby faced Fowler, who was convicted of numerous crimes including theft Ernest Bayles who was sentenced to two months in prison for stealing a bike Stephen McHickie who was arrested for home invasion and Thomas Gilbert for false pretences.
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In the years following the end of the First World War, plus the Spanish flu pandemic, horse racing returned with punters splashing the cash more than ever before amid an economic boom.īBC2 documentary The Real Peaky Blinders, which airs tonight, tells the story of the Victorian mobsters who inspired characters in TV show. In 1915 Kimber signed up to be a soldier, but he soon deserted and spent the following years in Dublin, working as a 'racecourse ruffian and rogue' for businessman Thomas Day. Kimber, described as both a 'formidable fighter' and astute businessman, began to think about more lucrative opportunities in the south of England - but his plans were foiled by the arrival of the First World War. 'Peaky Blinders may have been disappearing in Birmingham in the early 20th century, but gangs from Birmingham were becoming more prominent on the racecourses, travelling the country making their money from pickpocketing and blackmailing bookmakers,' said professor Chinn. The prohibition of off-course gambling had fuelled organised crime and meant that bookies at the racecourses were a prime target for criminal gangs.
Pictured, Billy Kimber (left) and Darby Sabini (right) as portrayed by Charlie Creed-Miles and Noah Taylor in the popular BBC programme Peaky Blinders
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