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Publication Date:	15 December 2006
ISBN: ISBN 13:	1-904444-83-0 978-1-904444-83-1
Page Extent:	170
Book Size:	210x148mm
Price:	£7.99
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Publication Date:	15 December 2006
Digital eBook ISBN 13:	978-1-907792-46-5
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-- Reviews by the Famous and well Known

Nil Desperandum - A Biography of Patsy Feeley
Terry Smith, Apex Publishing Ltd, £7.99, 206 PP
Patsy Feeley is a living legend amongst the armed robbery set, with a criminal career that stretches back to 1946 when, as a kid growing up in Essex, he nicked his first few quid by creeping behind the counter of his local post office. Over the next 3 decades Patsy rose through the criminal ranks to become one of the most successful and respected armed robbers this country and ever produced. Though he loved being at the sharp end his real forte was in the meticulous planning of the work. With a bit of thinking, a sharp eye for detail and the experience gained through dozens of armed robberies, Patsy Feeley could take any plan to relieve a security company of large sums of cash and make it foolproof. Unfortunately for Pasty, one of the occupational hazards of being an armed robber is that old bill tend to throw all of their resources into feeling your collar, and sentencing judges never seem to consider a probation order for the crime! Its always years, and plenty of them. So Patsy ended up doing his sparrow in some of the toughest jails, when prison regimes were a hell of a lot harder than they are today.
In one of those malicious twists of fate that often seem to dog the best of us, Patsy became ill whilst in prison and suffered through the lack of care that pervades the system. A stroke left him paralysed down one side and confined to a wheelchair for the rest of his days. He was still a relatively young man and had he been any less strong, any less of a born fighter, then the daunting prospect of years in care homes might have finished him. But Patsy was made of sterner stuff. Being shunted between a succession of poor quality care homes which were rife with corrupt and brutal staff who would assault their helpless charges and steal their property and medication only seemed to strengthen Patsy's spirit and he fought corruption wherever he spotted it. Never one to allow anyone, especially 'the authorities', to take a liberty with him or his friends led to Patsy being blacklisted by the care homes. Eventually Patsy found a care home that would take him and he settled for a while. But the years were to take their toll on Patsy and he went through some very dark days indeed.
The biography of Patsy Feeley, written by the prolific wordsmith and ex armed robber extraordinaire Terry 'College Boy' Smith, is a worthy addition to the true crime genre and covers a hitherto mainly unexplored area - that of the professional armed robbers of the golden era of pavement work. The author's obvious respect and fondness for his subject shine throughout the book and the sensitivity by which he manages to convey the gritty realism of a life of crime and the soul-sapping and debilitating effects of a long term disability is a tribute to both Terry and Patsy. A truly great book packed with interesting facts and opinions on the British Criminal Justice system and an expose of the so called 'care' system offered to those less fortunate than most. Read it and weep, read it and wonder at the iniquity of those invested with power over our lives, or read it because its a cracking story that needed to be told. Just read it!
Noel 'Razor' Smith, Author of 'A Few Kind Words and a Loaded Gun'

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An intense telling of the life of Patsy Feeley. From his childhood days to the present. We see a hard working, tough and honourable man confronted by authority, an archaic prison system that doesn't reform, corruption in the police force, and a side to the care of our eldely and infirm non of us want to contemplate. Yes he was a robber and a thief, and he makes no bones about it. But as well he was a family man, a true friend to many and loyal to his own detriment at times. Cut down in his prime by cancer and a stroke we witness the absurdity of a crippled and infirm man being refused parole at one point. There are some high points in those systems though, a prison officer, Bill Purnell, and 'The British Home', where Patsy spent many happy years.
Sometimes exciting, sometimes depressing and intensly sad, but always interesting and readable. A must read book, and a credit to the writing skills of author, Terry Smith. Highly recommended.
Robert Auty, Author of 'Trance Warriors: The Siege of Scarn'

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Terry Smith is a staunch, trusted member of a small circle of good men. I could tell Terry anything and not worry about confidence being compromised. Read this book, it's real, it really happened!
Roy Shaw, Famous Armed Robber & Author

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A classic book written by top author and new school Chap with old school values Terry Smith about old school legend Patsy Feeley. Terry is so much more than a man cashing in on the floods of crime books, he is a talented author of the highest order. Terry is respected by all the respected men I know as a solid, staunch and loyal man. He is also now respected as a wordsmith who has lived a life and seen every side of human survival. He has been in some tough situations but never cast away his dignity, loyalty or pride when facing the demons. I wish these two men of honor all the luck in the world... Although characters like our Terry don't need luck. Respect Always.
Tel Currie, Famous Boxing Promoter & Author

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Any reader will know what to expect with this underworld specialist author, old skool, the art of villainy thats the real deal, proper.
Cass Pennant, Bestselling Author

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There are two things certain in life. You are born and you die. What happens in between is dictated by luck, fate and making choices. Certainly very few lives mirror the extraordinary tale of Patsy Feeley captured superbly by the pen of Terry Smith. From his humble upbringing through a career path of petty and serious crime which made him one of the criminal underworld's best known 'faces' to his heart wrenching latter years as a paraplegic, Patsy Feeley has endured more than most. And it is all captured and more in this intriguing biography. The next time you read an autobiography on one of today's superstars aged 21 who's most difficult decision has been which multi-million pound contract to sign ... pick up this riveting book and read any chapter for a reality check. Marvellous read and one of the most honest and emotional of the decade to date. Simply put ... brilliant!
David Williams, Author of 'Desert England'

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I first met Terry Smith when I was recruiting a team of criminal masterminds to carry out a series of elaborate heists.
I was recruiting them in my role as a TV producer, for them to take part in a Channel 4 television series. They pitted their wits against the real security of various institutions. (They were frighteningly successful, stealing everything from a prototype sports car to a thoroughbred racehorse).
But while I have watched a gang execute heists for TV – Terry has spent most of his life doing it for real. He planned his gang’s armed robberies with military precision, stealing what must be millions of pounds in cash. As a person he can strike you as a force of nature – physically strong, utterly determined, incredibly forthright. You feel like he could walk through walls. One can immediately see why other criminals would want him to lead them into the life threatening situations involved in such serious crime. In his time he has escaped from prison, and been Britain's most wanted man.
However this is only a part of who he is. He also has a strong sense of values - particularly respect and honour. He considers himself a "moral criminal". He has successfully campaigned for improved prison conditions, and today takes a great interest in helping those still inside with everything from legal advice to practical support.
While he was in prison he used his bright mind in a new way. He educated himself. Having been virtually illiterate at the start of his time he began collecting words he saw in the newspaper – and writing down in notebooks everything he could find out about them. These words became sentences and the sentences became essays. He was soon taking exams in criminology and English literature. He got straight “A’s”. By the end of his sentence he was a genuine expert in the works of Shakespeare. I liked it when he told me where he studied the various plays –“King Lear in the Scrubs….The Tempest in Long Lartin….Hamlet in Pentonville…”.
He has used this knowledge to become an author. He has written much of his life story in two books – The Art of Armed Robbery and Two Strikes and You’re Out. Both of which I highly recommend. They give an extraordinary insight into the world Terry inhabits. In bookshops filled with true crime books none are as real or as vivid as Terry’s work.
It was at a party to celebrate the launch of Terry’s second book, that I got my only glimpse of the subject of this book. He was a big man, with grey beard, sitting in a wheelchair, with I think some kind of breathing apparatus attached to his face. For Terry this man is like an old lion. He is from the generation of criminals before Terry – a pioneer of the art of armed robbery. Terry wanted to use his skill as an author to tell this man’s story, and began an extensive process of interviewing him. The result is this book. It is brutal, moving, and extraordinary.
You may, as I do, have moral qualms about what both Terry and Patsy have done. But as Shakespeare knew, the people themselves are not just black and white. This book provides a unique insight into their side of the story. It also sheds light on the way the criminal justice system works. If you are interested in the truth about the criminal world you will find nothing more real or insightful anywhere else.
I hope you enjoy the book, and as we say in TV “Don’t try this at home”.
David Glover, Windfall Films (Producer) - Written the Foreword

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A dam good read, another top book by Terry Smith. A feeling of sadness towards the end, Terry Smith gives comfort that a legend is being watched over by the best. The Utmost of Respect.
Lindsay Frayne, Author of 'The Frayne Bros'

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Good on Terry Smith to bring Patsy Feeley story the attention of all...
Terry Smith’s profound thoughtfulness, his excellent writing abilities brings to the reader the old school criminal, from beginning to present.
Two distant ships passing the corridors of Long Lartin, my friends as with Terry‘s, such as the Colson brothers, Charlie Bronson, Peter Welch, and no doubt many more. Who better to write an account on Patsy Feeley’s life!
As our friends would say, ‘Good on our Terry’. The Highest of Respect.
Leighton Frayne, Author of 'The Frayne Bros'

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This book is a cracking read, if you want to know about a 'real' blagger. A first class e-London villain - then this is the book. Patsy Feeley was the ultimate armed robber, a proper old school pavement artist.
I think Terry Smith as done Patsy proud in writing his life story and exposing prison for what it's really like.
Make no mistake about it the Patsy Feeley's of this world are a dying breed of men. I salute the old school blaggers, proper diamond geezers, the real McCoy - max respect!
Charles Bronson, Famous Prisoner & Author

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Terry Smith's unique writing style, that those of you who have enjoyed his other excellent titles will recognize, instantly and effortlessly transports the reader back in time to an era that is now looked back on as legendary by anyone with an interest in the history of British crime. The book begins with a brief introduction to its main character a legend in his own lifetime, "Patsy Feeley", sitting alone in his Dagenham flat and soon he finds himself reminiscing on his extremely colourful life.
Patsy was a pioneer in his chosen career which is one of crime and Terry captures the way Patsy is propelled almost unwittingly from being a petty criminal at a very young age into a professional and well respected player. He describes how his experiences in the new and controversial borstal "short sharp shock" regimes proved that far from teaching him a lesson was totally ineffective as it did quite the opposite and just fed his youthful thirst for the life of excitement and danger he thrived on and found as an active criminal. He also found that he met like minded young lads from all over who turned the borstal into their own "university of crime" as they learned from each other and thought up knew and exciting ideas to perfect their art. The book describes with great accuracy and graphic detail the transition from old school burglaries shortly after the second world war to the extremely professionally planned armed robberies on banks and security vans which for a time was the ultimate buzz and provided the ultimate prize.
The book also describes the sadness involved in Patsy's life and describes with great accuracy his time spent in some of the worst karzis in our prison system, the down side of his life of criminal excitement, as well as his personal suffering when crippled by a severe stroke and cancer.
This is an excellent book and as an ex prison officer with my own views on our archaic decaying prison system I can fully understand everything Terry describes when taking us on this journey of Patsy's life. It describes a mans struggle to provide a lifetimes support to his family and the suffering he endured as a result also it highlights his immense strength of character in how he adapted to his illnesses and overcame the everyday hazards of living life confined to a wheelchair to continue to enjoy life to the full.
Whether you have an interest in the early days of the London underworld or have experience of struggling with life’s hazards as a disabled person or just want to read a book about one mans courage and tenacity as he battled through all life threw at him and came out the other side with a smile on his face you must read this book. (Picture: Author Jim Dawkins with Author Terry Smith)
Jim Dawkins, Author of 'The Loose Screw'

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-- Newspaper and Website Reviews

NIL DESPERANDUM
'ON' Magazine (BT Vision)

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NIL DESPERANDUM
'ON' Magazine (BT Vision)

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Any reader will know what to expect with this underworld specialist author, old skool, the art of villainy thats the real deal, proper.
www.casspennant.com

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Terry Smith is a staunch, trusted member of a small circle of good men. I could tell Terry anything and not worry about confidence being compromised. Read this book, it's real, it really happened!
www.royprettyboyshaw.com

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Nil Desperandum is a book that could never have worked unless the person who actually wrote it was the author and the person it was actually written about was the subject.
Terry Smith wasn’t exactly raised with a silver spoon in his mouth. He had, by his own admission, a “tumultuous childhood” and received a lengthy stretch inside for armed robbery. He escaped, was recaptured and received another 16 years for his bravado. Ironically, it was this second sentence that may have been his salvation as he discovered therein that he had the ability to write. Now released and fully reformed, he has penned a gripping biography of one of the East End’s most resilient characters, the legendary Patsy Feeley.
Feeley may have been a criminal, but life has thrown back at him a lot of hard times to balance the scales. Some of those times, such as facing a lengthy prison sentence, one could argue to be self-inflicted. Others, such as battles with throat cancer and a stroke, seem to have been dished out by the whims of fate. Whatever one may think of Feeley’s past, he has faced up to his problems with great courage.
We hear a lot of talk nowadays about “getting tough on crime and the causes of crime”. I don’t think anyone should pontificate on the subject until they’ve read this fascinating book.
Mike Hallowell, The Shields Gazette

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WITHIN THESE WALLS:
How do prisons and the residential care system compare? A former armed robber who has done time in both speaks out
Duncan Campbell, Wednesday January 24, 2007
THE GUARDIAN
Patsy Feeley was one of the country's most active armed robbers in the 1960s and 70s, plundering banks and security vans across the south-east of England. It was a long life of crime that was interrupted frequently by spells in approved school, borstal and prison. Then, serving an eight-year jail sentence for one of his robberies, he suffered a major stroke that led him to a residential care home. Now, in a biography written by another former armed robber, Terry Smith, he compares the two institutions and comes to some surprising conclusions.
Feeley, 70, has just undergone a triple heart bypass operation in the London Chest Hospital in the East End. When he is recovered, he will return to one of the many residential care homes he has stayed in since his release from jail. He has spent about half his life in one institution or another, some 15 years in jail or borstal and slightly longer in various care homes.
BETTER THAN SEX:
He recalls how he began his life of crime in 1946 as a small boy stealing from a post office in Dagenham. "It started off as something to do and then you get better at it," he says. He liked the life of the armed robber. "It was a bit like having sex, only better." But he was often caught and his time inside included spells in Portland borstal, Wormwood Scrubs, Parkhurst, Wandsworth, Brixton and Pentonville prisons.
Penal regimes have changed considerably since he was first sent away. Back in the 50s, discipline was strict. In Portland, for instance, the programme was: rise at 4.30am, cocoa at 5am, then physical training, 6am breakfast, 7am parade, followed by work. One of his tasks was to make stuffed mattresses and coconut mats for schools. He soon became a regular visitor to penal institutions and might have continued being a frequent guest of Her Majesty had it not been for his illness, which was not immediately diagnosed.
"The prison service is not renowned for dealing with prisoners suffering from non-transparent ailments or illnesses, such as back problems or stomach complaints," he says. "They are good at stitching up the odd cut or dishing out the all-healing panacea of aspirin but were always suspicious when they couldn't physically see the problem."
After his release from prison, and paralysed down one side of his body, he lived briefly with his family before deciding that he was too much of a burden on them. He has since been in many different care homes and it has, with the exception of his current care home, often been an unhappy experience.
"I miss prison in a way," he says. "You know where you stand there. In care homes, it's different." At night in jail, he recalls, you could say goodnight to your friends and know that you would see them again the next morning. In care homes, there is a much smaller pool of people to get to know, and friends who come to visit may not reappear for a couple of weeks. The food was better in jail, too. "In some care homes, it's terrible," he says." They think they can get away with that because so many of the residents may have dementia or Alzheimer's."
Feeley says he knew what his relationship should be with other inmates and staff in prison, but that the lines are much more blurred in care homes. "Experience had taught me that no matter what institution you were in, whether the army, borstal, prison, mental hospital or residential care home, you always encountered one person who took a dislike to you," he says in the book, Nil Desperandum.
One wet day, he recalls, while having a cigarette - against care home rules - in the doorway of the fire exit, he had a row with the superintendent and, as she tried to push his wheelchair into the courtyard, the chair caught on the lip of the door and he fell out. Feeley threw a flowerpot at her. She called the police.
The incident meant Feeley was put on a blacklist of care homes. "What used to annoy me in those care homes was the almost continuous fiddling that was going on by the care attendants and housekeeping staff, and the psychological mind games they would play with their charges, such as depriving them of little luxuries like money and the occasional drink. What really got my nut was the misappropriation of residents' property and drugs from the in-house pharmacy."
One home he was in was closed down because staff had stolen drugs from the pharmacy. "These people are always able to misuse their power to such a degree that they begin to view themselves as untouchable." When prison officers wanted to rough up a prisoner, he says, they would do so without other prisoners watching, but in care homes residents are often manhandled in front of others because staff think they can get away with it.
GOLDEN RULE:
There seems a certain irony about a professional criminal objecting to other people's misbehaviour, but Feeley insists: "I would never steal from old people like they do. The people who do that are filth." Whether the institution is one for punishment or care, he says, staff should follow one golden rule: "They should treat the people inside with dignity."
Smith, who has also spent time inside, started interviewing Feeley for a book about renowned armed robbers, but felt that Feeley's experiences of two different worlds were worth a book. "We could all end up in care homes," says Smith. "It's an eye-opener for people getting older."
For Feeley, being involved with the biography has been the best therapy. He says that, before, he had been so depressed that he had considered suicide and had started storing sleeping tablets, but the book, and his renewed friendship with Smith, has given him a new lease of life.
While he says he has no regrets about his chosen path, he admits that "armed robbery is a prehistoric career ... time is the currency of the modern armed villain, and if you are arrested and convicted your balance immediately goes into the red".
* Terry Smith's Nil Desperandum: Never Despair - A Biography of Patsy Feeley is published by Apex Publishing, RRP £7.99. apexpublishing.co.uk
The Guardian: Society Guardian

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BOB AND TERRY'S BOOKS ARE NO FIGHTS OF FANCY
Stratford & Newham Express

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A fascinating read.
Duncan Campbell, The Guardian (Senior Correspondent)

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NIL DESPERANDUM: 'NEVER DESPAIR'
Inside Time: The National Monthly Newspaper for Prisoners

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-- Radio and TV

Terry Smith took part in a discussion about prisons on the BBC One Television show 'The Big Questions' presented by Nicky Campbell and Sonia Deol.
BBC One: The Big Questions

-- Readers Comments

-- Book Signings and Events

Terry Smith signed copies of his book at his book launch at 'The Peacock Public House,' Canning Town, London.
The Peacock Public House, London

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Terry Smith signed copies of his book at his book launch at 'The Peacock Public House,' Canning Town, London.
The Peacock Public House, London

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-- Libraries that stock this book
Barking Central Library, Essex
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The British Library, Boston Spa
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Hackney Central; Library, London, E8
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Homerton Library, London, E9
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Clapton Library, London, E5
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CLR James Library, London, E8
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Community Library Service, London, N16
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Shoreditch Library, London, N1
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Stamford Hill Library, London, N16
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Stoke Newington Library, London, N16
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East Ham Library, London, E6
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Forest Gate Library, London, E7
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Monor Park Library, London, E12
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North Woolwich Library, London, E16
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Plaistow Library, London, E6
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Stratford Library, London, E15
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Green Street Library, London, E13
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Beckton Library, London, E6
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Canning Town Library, London, E16
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Custom House Library, London, E16
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The University Library, Cambridge
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The National Library of Wales, Aberystwyth
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The National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh
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The Library of Trinity College, Dublin
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The Bodleian Library, Oxford
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