MARCO
Marco is a Hell’s Angel – and that means a lot. He runs a pub – named Goodfellows after the gangster film – and you know you’ve got the right place because Marco’s Harley Davidson is parked right outside and inside his Hell’s Angels of England jacket, with colours, is lying on a table.
I did a bit of research about the Hell’s Angels before I met Marco because I know little about them and, like a lot of other people I suppose, I have this picture in my head of men with big beards, long, grubby hair, perhaps holding a bottle of Jack Daniels in one hand and, of course, wearing the well-worn leather jacket with skull and crossbones.
Well, I was right about the jacket. But as for my idea of bikers surrounded by snakes and naked ladies – forget it!
The Hell’s Angels live by a code of honour and silence. I knew Marco wouldn’t let me into too many secrets, so I had to ask around. What I found out was astonishing – the Hell’s Angels are the fastest-growing, criminal (some would say) organisation in the world.
They earn money – big money. The organisation is made up of different clubs all over the world. America is big on Hell’s Angels but Europe is rapidly becoming big, too. Yet here, in the UK, I was told there are only about 12 genuine Hell’s Angels clubs with between 20 members to just five or six in each – that’s just 200 true Hell’s Angels. And, at the moment, there are a lot of ‘wars’, fierce rivalries in which people are actually getting killed.
So, there aren’t many genuine Hell’s Angels – although there are obviously a lot of wannabes – because getting into what is really a brotherhood is no easy matter. Being a Hell’s Angel is a total lifestyle. There are a lot of parties but a lot of jealousies, too, especially when a new member comes in and wants to make a reputation for himself.
To become a member of the club, first you have got to convince the other members about who you are, about your honesty and integrity because, to its members and to others, it is a very prestigious club. It takes a lot to get in but not much to be thrown out – lying is one thing that will get you out real quick – and a good beating to go with it. If you are caught thieving from another member, it will cost you everything: it will ruin your life.
To get in, someone usually shows an interest by simply turning up to drink wherever the Angels are drinking. There’s a ‘hanging around’ period of about a year. Then there’s a year of what the Angels call ‘prospecting’, when you get Hell’s Angels on the back of your jacket, the Death’s head and the name of your club. Next you might become a sergeant, making sure everyone is ‘taken care of’ – whatever that means – and you have to prove your worth and worthiness. If you’re up to it and if you get a 100 per cent ‘yes’ vote from your club, you get in.
And once you’re in, you’re accepted by Hell’s Angels all over the world. Hell’s Angels do business in Africa, America, Australia and, wherever they travel, they never have to take cash – apparently, you just get off a plane, ring a contact and they will fix you up with accommodation, money and, of course, transport!
It all sounded very impressive, albeit in a bit of a scary way. So driving over to Marco’s pub, I felt a bit apprehensive. Getting an interview with this genuine Hell’s Angel for this book had been hard – harder than getting Johnny Adair, the terrorist; harder than getting the gangsters; harder than getting the Triads.
The reason is simple – they all stick together. They have to go in front of a ‘board’ and have every other member’s seal of approval before they agree to talk to you, or they’re not allowed to talk to you.
In the event the pub turned out to be smashing – just a normal, very nice pub. Marco was intelligent, charming, witty, and quite flattering in the things he said to me. The first thing I noticed when we met was his jewellery – lots of it and lots of Death’s heads – closely followed by his piercing blue eyes which momentarily met mine. There was no grubby long hair, no beard – he was strikingly neat and tidy – and the Jack Daniels was behind the bar.
But his neatness was offset by an unmistakable whiff of raw power. You can see in his eyes if he likes you … But if he doesn’t …
BACKGROUND
I’m half-Italian. I was brought up in East London – Peckham, Barking, Whitechapel. When I worked in a club, they called me a Cockney Wop.
It wasn’t what you’d call a normal childhood I suppose – I was brought up in children’s homes, then Borstal, then prison. There were seven of us in my family – four sisters and three brothers. I was second down, second eldest.
LIFE OF CRIME
A little bit. I’ve been in prison for affray, armed robbery – kid’s stuff. I’ve done four years all told.
IS PRISON A DETERRENT?
No. You’re the only deterrent, it’s up to you – prison is just something you get on top. Age doesn’t deter you either. I think the older you get, the wilder you should get. You don’t want to end up in a hospice somewhere. Why do you want to calm down as you get older? If you calm down, you die.
DO YOU BELIEVE IN CAPITAL PUNISHMENT?
No. I don’t think it deters anyone from anything. If you’re going to kill someone, you’re going to kill them. You’re not going to sit there thinking about it, about what’s going to happen to you.
WHAT WOULD HAVE DETERRED YOU FROM A LIFE OF CRIME?
I haven’t had a life of crime – but nothing would deter you. I believe you’ve got to live your life the way you want to live it and don’t let anything deter you from that because otherwise you spend your life regretting it.
HAVE YOU EVER BEEN STABBED/SHOT?
Neither. I’ve been shot at – but never shot.
SCARIEST MOMENT?
I think going out with a girl for the first time was the scariest.
SADDEST MOMENT?
Getting dumped by the girl!
WHAT RATTLES YOUR CAGE?
Bullshit pisses me off. People who try to impress you, name droppers, all that. People who try to get round you, who fake friendship.
HAVE YOU EVER REALLY LOVED ANYONE?
Yes. Once. I believe you only ever really love once. I don’t think you know when you’re in love – you only know it when you’ve lost it. But it’s definitely true that it’s better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.
WHAT FRIGHTENS YOU?
Living too long. Living too long and not being capable of doing things for yourself. I’d hate to have to be looked after, walking around with a Zimmer frame, walking up the road talking to yourself and swearing at people, all that kind of thing.
DESCRIBE A HARD BASTARD
A Smith and Wesson.
NAME A HARD BASTARD
A Glock.
WHERE DO YOU SEE YOURSELF IN FIVE YEARS?
Exactly what I’m doing now. Being a Hell’s Angel. I enjoy my life. Being a Hell’s Angel is being a total, honest, genuine person to another brother, a club member. There’s nothing you wouldn’t do for that person, you’d go to jail for that person, you’d die for that person if you had to.
To me, if you’ve got a friend, you’d do anything for that friend and you expect that back. There’s no excuses. What we’ve got is, I think, what a lot of people want – they want to know that if something happens to them, their family would be looked after not just for a while but for years if necessary. To become a Hell’s Angel you have to be over 21, be a male, have a Harley Davidson and have it in your heart to become a Hell’s Angel and live by the code. It takes about two or three years. You only wear colours when you become a full member.
I’ve been a Hell’s Angel since I was 18 – they’ve changed the age now to 21 – but I joined when I was 18. The Hell’s Angels have conquered more countries than any other force in history. There are Hell’s Angels everywhere. We’re not all the same, we’re all individuals. We don’t all like rock music. But we’ve all got one thing in common – we all want to keep our independence. We’re a democracy. If anything has to be decided, the majority rules. If you want to do something – like this interview – you go to a meeting. It’s discussed and a vote is taken and then you abide by that.
If the vote had gone that I shouldn’t talk to you for this book I would have abided by that.
ANY REGRETS?
No. I’d do it all again.