- published: 21 Jan 2016
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John McVicar (born 1940) is a British journalist and one-time convicted armed robber who escaped from prison.
In the 1960s, he was an armed robber who was tagged "Public Enemy No. 1" by Scotland Yard. He was apprehended and given a 23-year jail sentence. He escaped from prison on several occasions and after his final re-arrest in 1970 he was given a sentence of 26 years. He was paroled in 1978.
He wrote his autobiography, McVicar by Himself, and scripted the 1980 biographical film McVicar, which starred the Who's lead singer Roger Daltrey in the title role and co-starred Adam Faith. After his release from prison he studied for a postgraduate degree at the University of Leicester.
In 1998 he lost a libel action brought by sprinter Linford Christie over his claim that Christie was a "steroid athlete". Six months later, Christie's track career was ended when he received a two-year ban for taking a performance-enhancing substance.
In 2002, McVicar published a book about the Jill Dando murder, Dead on Time, in which he paints the convicted killer Barry George as a sophisticated liar, trying to appear too stupid to carry out a difficult mission. The book appeared after George's first appeal was rejected. (The conviction was overturned in 2008, and George released.) McVicar wrote Who Killed Jill? You Decide, in which he examines the British jury system. This second book is purged of the chapters recounting 'personal experiences' which McVicar claims were the product of poetic licence for the most part.
Actors: Jamie Foreman (actor), Harry Fielder (actor), Billy Murray (actor), Tony Haygarth (actor), Steven Berkoff (actor), Roger Daltrey (actor), Roger Daltrey (producer), Sarah Lucraft (miscellaneous crew), Ian Hendry (actor), Michael Feast (actor), Tom Clegg (writer), Tom Clegg (director), Georgina Hale (actress), Peter Boyle (editor), Malcolm Tierney (actor),
Plot: 'John McVicar' was a London Bad Boy. he graduated to armed bank robbery and was Britain's "Public Enemy No. 1". He was captured and put into a high security prison. Will even the highest security prison be able to hold him ? This is the true story of his life, his criminal exploits and his eventual rehabilitation.
Keywords: based-on-book, based-on-true-story, criminal, independent-film, prison