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| Peter Scott obituary | Peter Scott obituary |
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| Peter Scott, the "King of the Cat Burglars", who has died of cancer aged 82, was once Britain's most prolific raider of the wealthy, specialising in the theft of jewellery and artworks from Mayfair mansions and stately homes. He was the subject of a film, starring a young Judi Dench, and the author of a memoir in which he claimed he was "sent by God to take back some of the wealth that the outrageously rich had taken from the rest of us". | Peter Scott, the "King of the Cat Burglars", who has died of cancer aged 82, was once Britain's most prolific raider of the wealthy, specialising in the theft of jewellery and artworks from Mayfair mansions and stately homes. He was the subject of a film, starring a young Judi Dench, and the author of a memoir in which he claimed he was "sent by God to take back some of the wealth that the outrageously rich had taken from the rest of us". |
| Born Peter Craig Gulston into a middle-class Belfast family, he was educated at the Belfast Royal Academy, where a contemporary was John Cole, the former BBC political editor and Guardian journalist. By the age of 12 Peter had decided on a life of crime rather than any of the legal options that would have been available to him. His teenage apprenticeship involved burgling houses in the wealthy Belfast suburbs, with his college scarf, rugby bag and debonair manner as disguise. He reckoned to have carried out more the 150 such thefts by the time he was finally arrested in 1952 and sent to Crumlin Road jail for six months. | Born Peter Craig Gulston into a middle-class Belfast family, he was educated at the Belfast Royal Academy, where a contemporary was John Cole, the former BBC political editor and Guardian journalist. By the age of 12 Peter had decided on a life of crime rather than any of the legal options that would have been available to him. His teenage apprenticeship involved burgling houses in the wealthy Belfast suburbs, with his college scarf, rugby bag and debonair manner as disguise. He reckoned to have carried out more the 150 such thefts by the time he was finally arrested in 1952 and sent to Crumlin Road jail for six months. |
| Realising that he was now a marked man in Belfast, he changed his name to Scott, moved to London and found work as a club bouncer in the West End. But off duty, he won a reputation as an accomplished and athletic cat burglar, able to climb and penetrate the best-guarded home counties mansions. He specialised in stealing from the very rich or, as he put it, "the real meaty jugular vein of society". Jail time – by the end of his career he had served about 14 years – was the price he was prepared to pay for being a real-life Raffles. | Realising that he was now a marked man in Belfast, he changed his name to Scott, moved to London and found work as a club bouncer in the West End. But off duty, he won a reputation as an accomplished and athletic cat burglar, able to climb and penetrate the best-guarded home counties mansions. He specialised in stealing from the very rich or, as he put it, "the real meaty jugular vein of society". Jail time – by the end of his career he had served about 14 years – was the price he was prepared to pay for being a real-life Raffles. |
| While inside for an early stretch, he met the then best-known thief in London, George "Taters" Chatham. Together the two of them stole millions of pounds' worth of art and jewellery. Over the years, Scott claimed to have robbed Vivien Leigh and Zsa Zsa Gabor and to have taken Sophia Loren's £200,000 necklace when she was in Britain filming The Millionairess in 1960. He robbed the late Shah of Iran's English mansion, making sure not to disturb the peacocks, which acted as guard dogs. The French Riviera was another happy hunting ground. | While inside for an early stretch, he met the then best-known thief in London, George "Taters" Chatham. Together the two of them stole millions of pounds' worth of art and jewellery. Over the years, Scott claimed to have robbed Vivien Leigh and Zsa Zsa Gabor and to have taken Sophia Loren's £200,000 necklace when she was in Britain filming The Millionairess in 1960. He robbed the late Shah of Iran's English mansion, making sure not to disturb the peacocks, which acted as guard dogs. The French Riviera was another happy hunting ground. |
| In his memoirs, Gentleman Thief (1995), in which he referred to himself in the third person, Scott admitted to "an obscene passion for larceny". He made no excuses for himself because he was well aware that he could have made a comfortable honest living. He had no convictions for violence, except for the occasion when he broke a policeman's nose as he tried to escape; for this he received "a good belting". He described himself as "a man who has made all the mistakes that vanity, envy and greed create". | In his memoirs, Gentleman Thief (1995), in which he referred to himself in the third person, Scott admitted to "an obscene passion for larceny". He made no excuses for himself because he was well aware that he could have made a comfortable honest living. He had no convictions for violence, except for the occasion when he broke a policeman's nose as he tried to escape; for this he received "a good belting". He described himself as "a man who has made all the mistakes that vanity, envy and greed create". |
| Scott had a succession of glamorous girlfriends, often models, such as Jackie Bowyer, whom he met at the Maisonette Club, Mayfair, in 1963. She became the second of his four wives. The 1965 film He Who Rides a Tiger, directed by Charles Crichton, was lightly based on his career. Tom Bell played the Scott character and Dench a long-suffering girlfriend. | Scott had a succession of glamorous girlfriends, often models, such as Jackie Bowyer, whom he met at the Maisonette Club, Mayfair, in 1963. She became the second of his four wives. The 1965 film He Who Rides a Tiger, directed by Charles Crichton, was lightly based on his career. Tom Bell played the Scott character and Dench a long-suffering girlfriend. |
| By the time his memoir was published, Scott claimed to have retired from crime. But in 1997, he was involved in the theft of Picasso's Tête de Femme from a Mayfair gallery. Scott quoted WE Henley to the officers who arrested him: "Under the bludgeonings of chance, my head is bloody but unbowed." They were unimpressed. He was jailed for three and a half years for handling stolen goods, having pleaded guilty halfway through the trial. "I was poaching excitement," was how he explained his relapse. | By the time his memoir was published, Scott claimed to have retired from crime. But in 1997, he was involved in the theft of Picasso's Tête de Femme from a Mayfair gallery. Scott quoted WE Henley to the officers who arrested him: "Under the bludgeonings of chance, my head is bloody but unbowed." They were unimpressed. He was jailed for three and a half years for handling stolen goods, having pleaded guilty halfway through the trial. "I was poaching excitement," was how he explained his relapse. |
| Scott spent his later years as a tennis coach and tending the gardens of a church in Camden, north London – he had always sought horticultural work in jail – and offering advice to local youngsters about the pitfalls of crime. He took part, with other ex-cons, in a Channel 4 programme called The Heist (2004), in which make-believe robberies were carried out. In 2012 he was the subject of a short award-winning documentary, My Friend the Thief, made by Roland Hutchison, son of Baroness Kennedy QC. | Scott spent his later years as a tennis coach and tending the gardens of a church in Camden, north London – he had always sought horticultural work in jail – and offering advice to local youngsters about the pitfalls of crime. He took part, with other ex-cons, in a Channel 4 programme called The Heist (2004), in which make-believe robberies were carried out. In 2012 he was the subject of a short award-winning documentary, My Friend the Thief, made by Roland Hutchison, son of Baroness Kennedy QC. |
| Later in life he lived near King's Cross, on one of London's roughest estates, which he regarded as suitable penance. He sometimes acted as an intermediary between warring factions there. Before his knees gave up on him – damaged by various roof-top falls – he cycled around north London, white silk scarf flapping in the breeze. Towards the end, he drove an old Mercedes, given to him as a present by the law-abiding son of one of London's most famous gangsters, the late Billy Hill. | Later in life he lived near King's Cross, on one of London's roughest estates, which he regarded as suitable penance. He sometimes acted as an intermediary between warring factions there. Before his knees gave up on him – damaged by various roof-top falls – he cycled around north London, white silk scarf flapping in the breeze. Towards the end, he drove an old Mercedes, given to him as a present by the law-abiding son of one of London's most famous gangsters, the late Billy Hill. |
| Nicknamed the King of the Cat Burglars or the Human Fly, he was often referred to as a "master criminal", but Scott cheerfully described himself as a "master idiot". | Nicknamed the King of the Cat Burglars or the Human Fly, he was often referred to as a "master criminal", but Scott cheerfully described himself as a "master idiot". |
| He is survived by a son. | He is survived by a son. |
| • Peter Scott (Peter Craig Gulston), cat burglar, born 18 February 1931; died 17 March 2013 | • Peter Scott (Peter Craig Gulston), cat burglar, born 18 February 1931; died 17 March 2013 |
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