‘Not planning a murder, are you?’ How true crime fanatics are ‘using criminology degrees to inspire sick killings’
We shone a light on the terrifying world of the British hitman, including an unassuming bar worker and a shadowy “master” lurking in the darkest corner of Britain’s criminal underbelly.
The professor interviewed a real hitman while conducting his research and found their reality was “far seedier and shabbier” than how the media portrays it.
He told The Sun: “British hitmen, and I uncovered only one hitwoman – a Maori working in a bar in London called Te Rangimaria Ngarimu – did not occupy a life of international travel, intrigue or espionage but something far seedier and shabby.
“These men were often driven to offering lethal violence as a commodity because they were down on their luck, had recently been divorced, made redundant, had debts, or were facing bankruptcy.
“A casual remark down the pub about being willing to ‘do anything for a few quid’ could take someone on a journey that they were usually ill-equipped to accept, and so they often ended up dead themselves, having abjectly failed to end their target’s life.”
Mr Wilson concluded the research pointed to four different types of UK hitmen – Dilletantes, Novices, Journeymen and Masters.