Taking my mum to Holloway Prison to visit her friend Ivy. Ivy’s son Rusty was already in Pentonville for smuggling drugs from Jamaica, and when the police raided Ivy’s house, they found quite a few kilos of merchandise. They reasoned that Ivy must have been involved because her other son, known as “Yardie Ron” was shot dead by a rival drug gang in Harlesden. My mum insisted Ivy knew nothing about it. She even went to court as a character witness for Rusty. “He’s a good boy. He wouldn’t get mixed up in anything like that”. I was never quite so sure. I was reminded of all with yesterday’s release of Yardie, Idris Elba’s directorial debut. After three months, Ivy was released without charge so here’s a tune from the Yardie soundtrack. Did Ivy contravene any one of the Drug Squad’s book of rules? Hmm. I’m still not absolutely certain.
How I spent Saturday mornings in the early 90s.

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