The Cheetham Hill Gang started small. In the early days petty theft, handbag snatching and robbing shops was their bread and butter.
And, initially at least, the pickings were slim. A good job would net those involved a few hundred quid. But soon the ambitious young gangsters set their sights on bigger and better things.
In the late 70s and early 80s a void had opened up in Manchester's gangland. Try MEN Premium for FREE by clicking here for no ads, fun puzzles and brilliant new features. The old established criminal order - loosely based around the Quality Street Gang - had been largely dismantled by a determined and concerted clampdown led by 'God's Cop', the late GMP chief James Anderton.
But that just created opportunities for others. "What is certain is that two events - the success of the armed robbery clampdown and the obsession with the QSG - not only hobbled the old order but also made room for the new," crime writer Peter Walsh says in Gang War, his history of Manchester's gang culture.
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