Jimmy Moody - Was He a Hitman?

When a person is deceased, despite the archaic and draconian libel laws in the UK, you can label the deceased with anything, as they are not there to instigate legal writs and stand up and deny the accusations.  This applied to one James Alfred Moody, in a biography of him, labelling him "Britain`s most notorious hitman".  You can do that, as nobody else is going to stand up and say "hold on, I killed more than Moody".  Did he carry out contract killings or is it as some suggest, blaming Moody for unsolved murders is a convenient way of clearing them.  What is certain is that he was part of the Richardson mob in the 1960`s, was there in the infamous brawl in Mr Smith`s club, that resulted in the death of one man.

    Moody was born on 27th February 1941 in Looe, Cornwall.  His father died in the war, as the merchant ship he was serving on was torpedoed.  He grew up being a fitness fanatic, body-builder and possessed immense strength.  In the 60`s he was part of the Richardson mob in South London and was with a number of others, including Eddie Richardson & Frank Fraser, in Mr Smith`s, when a huge brawl broke out between them and members of the Hayward & Hennessey mobs.  Moody helped get injured people out before the Police arrived on the scene.  This was March 1966.  In 1967, he faced manslaughter charges, along with his brother Richard, over the death at a party of ship steward, Bill Day.  They both received 6 years.  Moody was released in 1972, and some time later, became part of the notorious Chainsaw Gang, that specialised in extreme violence on attacks on security vans and using chainsaws, and also teamed up with blagger Billy Tobin.

    1979 saw Moody on remand in Brixton jail on robbery charges but managed to escape from prison, along with a man on trial for robbery, Stan Thompson, and IRA man Gerry Tuite.  They managed to slowly remove the brickwork of their cell, climbed through the gap, made their way across the roof, and found a ladder that had been left there by workmen after a repair job.  Ironically, Thompson was cleared by the jury on robbery charges!  Moody then vanished for most of the 1980`s.  It is claimed that the IRA used him as a contract killer throughout Ireland, but there has been no evidence of this.  He returned to London in the 90`s, because he allegedly had enemies all over Ireland, including Police, RUC, security services, terrorists, but his life ended on June 1st 1993, when a man shot him four times whilst he was in the Royal Hotel, in Hackney, East London.

    Moody has been credited with the murder of David Brindle, in the Bell pub, in Walworth, in August 1991.  He was a member of the powerful Brindle family.  Why is open to speculation.  Different theories always kept popping up, but this was not the only murder Moody has been credited with.  He allegedly murdered Terry Gooderham in Epping Forest in December 1989, along with his girlfriend Maxine Arnold, who was supposedly in the wrong place at the wrong time.  Then there was an antique dealer Peter Rasini, who also had a fondness for cocaine.  He was shot four times as he stood in his garden in Palmers Green.  This occurred in March 1991.   Then there is another double murder that has been laid at his door.  This was the deaths of Peter & Gwenda Dixon in 1989, who were discovered by an arms dump.  Again, speculation was rife, but did Moody kill them?  We will probably never know.  Much finger pointing and accusations, but are they true?