He had married a local girl, indeed she was the local beauty. In those days, mixed marriages were frowned upon but the fact that Annie was a Protestant and he was a good Catholic (well, a Catholic anyway) bothered Hugh not at all. The hard man discovered he had a soft spot. He doted on Annie. He worshipped her. She was everything he was not, soft, gentle, and cultured. Hugh’s reading was confined to the back pages of newspapers. Annie regularly had her nose in a book by James Joyce or Jane Austen (whoever they might be). She dragged him out to concerts – classical music no less – and the Art Gallery. Hugh accepted his lot gracefully; after all, he loved her.

As time passed, Boyle grew weary of the Gorbals. When the Springfield scheme was built in the mid-sixties, he became one of its first residents, thanks to a generous donation to a local housing official. He was followed by his many relatives and they quickly took over the whole area.

His criminal empire relocated to the heart of the East End and Boyle continued to prosper. Nothing happened in the area without his say so. He also discovered the value of banks, or rather bank managers, not all of whom were upstanding members of the community. One or two liked more of the good things in life than their salary could pay for. Boyle happily made up the difference and in return acquired a series of accounts in a range of fictitious names with equally fictitious addresses.

Boyle’s success continued to be based on the money-lending business. He also provided a consultancy service for those who wished to be more adventurous and seek a quick return on investment by robbing a bank or security van. He would supply men and material for a decent percentage of the take. If the turn went bad, Boyle could afford to walk away and put it all down to experience. The risks were virtually nonexistent.

Only twice did he find himself in court. The only crime of which he was ever convicted was driving a vehicle while under the influence of alcohol. He lost his licence for twelve months and had to pay a modest fine. Paying his lawyer’s bill proved more of a burden. He would probably have got away with it altogether but for the fact that the vehicle he collided with when driving home from the pub had a blue flashing light on its roof.