Gone Shopping: The Story of Shirley Pitts - Queen of Thieves

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She lived an unashamedly lavish lifestyle and splashed her money around. She also passed on her 'wisdom' to a future queen, Shirley Pitts. The Society now runs six main open trials and two with restricted entry conditions plus organising the Devon V Cornwall match in alternate years. In 2016 a new trial was held and called the Cowling Trial this has become an anual event now called The Huish Champflower Trial

Had her first criminal conviction aged 14 and went on to become Diamond's accomplice. She was an alcoholic and once ran out of a jeweller with a tray of 34 diamond rings and bumped straight into a policeman. After three years in jail she took part in the Lambeth riot at Christmas 1925. In 1938, she was sentenced for stabbing a policeman in the eye with a hatpin. She is thought to have killed herself in the 1970s. He later joined the notorious Richardson gang, formed by brothers Eddie and Charlie, and began carrying out more criminal activities. a b c d e f g h i "Queen of shoplifters goes to ground with fame in the bag and a fitting epitaph in flowers", Duncan Campbell, The Guardian, 26 March 1992, p. 22.

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The years just after World War II were a boom time for the gang, as clothing was rationed until 1949. Not long after being released, Hughes was involved in the ­Lambeth riot of Christmas 1925, when the home of Bill Britten was stormed. She was ­sentenced to five months.

She was reputedly so revered in gangland that Frank Sinatra paid her a visit when he came to London in the early 1970s, causing quite a stir around her home turf, the Elephant and Castle. Frankie was alleged to have pulled out his victim's teeth with pliers. Nobody dared to retaliate as Eva smashed all the bottles of spirits at the bar to smithereens in a rage. John “Goldfinger” Palmer, who was acquitted of similar Brink’s-Mat offences – he duly blew a grateful kiss to the jury – was also in reality a fairly ruthless operator, who moved to Tenerife and took advantage of gullible souls, who were conned into investing in timeshare apartments.She got her first criminal record aged just 14 and, in 1923, she was jailed after running out of a jeweller's with a tray of 34 diamond rings — straight into the arms of a policeman. Five-car crash leaves two elderly women dead and three pensioners in hospital as 'drug driver', 51, is arrested The exploits of the women helped to inspire author BEEZY MARSH's new novel Queen of Clubs, which is released later this month. My abiding memory of him is that he was a very tight little fellow and hated parting with any money in spite of the fact that he had millions,” was how the late Jason Coghlan, a former armed robber described him.