Gypsy Jane - I've Been Shot Four Times and Served Three Prison Terms?This is the Incredible Story of
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The next day I booked a photo shoot for John and me so that he would have some nice photos to remind him of me. We got all dressed up and the photos were beautiful. We had 45 pictures done all together and they were very professional. It was another lovely day I spent with my son and he now had a collection of the most beautiful photos of us together.
I knew that the police were getting worried because I’d heard that people were telling them what I was plotting but I didn’t care anymore. I had a policeman come to my home saying he was doing a survey. A likely story! I mean, have you ever heard of that happening? I just welcomed him in and answered his questions. He gave himself away by what he said but I was just polite and played his game. I got the impression he was trying to find out what sort of mental state I was in.
I listened to the radio station Kiss every day, as I had done for the last ten years. But now I noticed they were asking every day for people to come forward if they knew anything about a murder that was about to be committed. It seemed mad that, all of a sudden, they were airing this. It was some sort of police appeal. But again, I just ignored it. It was time to plan how I was going to carry out the killings. I was going to do them all on the same day. One was to happen in Kent, one in the East End and the other two in Essex. I was going to do Ken first and I was going as the Gran in full combat. Then I’d go straight to the East End and do Frank.
I bought a burqa, the Muslim clothing worn by women to cover themselves from head to toe. I would wear it after I had done Ken because I would blend in perfectly in the East End, which was full of Muslims. I would just fit in and nobody would recognise me. All that would show would be my two eyes. Then I would go on to do Bob and Toni.
I bought a wig, contact lenses and a businesswoman’s suit to disguise myself. I looked totally different in that get-up. I was going to get close to Bob and Toni’s flat without being recognised, then I was going to stab them both through the heart, just as they had done to me. Toni lived on the ground floor and you could look out to the road from her front window. I was going to tie them to chairs, barricade us in and then phone the police. I would open the curtains and wait for the law to come. And when they did, I planned to stab both Bob and Toni. The police would have to shoot me to try and save them and we would all be gone.
I’d got everything I needed and I’d planned it all. But time was running out. The date of 25 August, my court appearance, came and went but I didn’t attend. I got a letter from Essex police telling me to hand myself into a police station. It said I had broken the terms of my bail by not appearing. It was time to leave my house and get out of Essex. I couldn’t risk getting nicked so I left for Kent and the gypsies. On the way I went to see my son. I knew I was never coming home again. By the end of the month I’d be dead and so would the others. I’d done everything I could to make John’s life easier and it was time to go. I grabbed hold of him and, as the tears filled both our eyes, he said, ‘Goodbye,’ to me. It was the saddest thing I’d ever had to do, waving my boy goodbye and knowing I would never see him again. It broke my heart.
The gypsy queen had done me proud and my funeral had been planned to perfection. My coffin was to be carried from the house in Essex I had shared with Bob to my son’s home. Then it would be put into a car and driven to my dad’s house in Silvertown, where it would be transferred to a horse-drawn carriage to make the final leg of the journey to the East London cemetery in Plaistow where I would be cremated. All the flowers had been arranged. I’d picked them all. I was to have two swords, two guns and a framed photo of me and Matt placed on my coffin. Oh, it would be beautiful!
I went to say my goodbyes to young Matt and Phoebe. Little Matt didn’t want me to go but I had to. I waited for them to fall asleep and I kissed them both goodbye as they slept.
At 6am on 30 August I put all my disguises in Phoebe’s car, along with my sword and a combat knife. The blades were razor sharp. I got to Ken’s place in Chilham at about 7am but his garage was shut so I went into a cemetery nearby and read the memorials while I waited. Around 9am I turned my phone on to check for any last messages. I immediately heard interference, followed by the sound of an approaching helicopter. I turned the phone off. It had to be the cops. I knew they were on to me but I didn’t care. It looked like they had only sent the helicopter so I stuck to my plan. I could still get Ken, I thought. His garage was on a main road and there wasn’t anywhere to park so I planned to use the train station’s car park next door. But no sooner had I driven into the car park than loads of police appeared behind me.
‘Stop, armed police!’ they shouted. I looked round and they were pointing their guns at me. ‘Get out of the car. Get out of the car with your hands up.’
I stuck the car into reverse, took off around the police car trying to block me off and out of the station. The chase was on. I was going as fast as I could but I was not familiar with the lanes in Kent and it was not long before I lost control of the car and smashed into a tree. I was unhurt but I couldn’t believe what had happened. I was surrounded by police. It had all gone wrong. Matt was waiting for me. But there was no way out of this now, even though I just wanted to be with him.
An officer with a gun approached the front of the car. I grabbed the combat knife, jumped from the car and went for him. ‘Shoot me, shoot me!’ I screamed like a mad woman as I ran at him brandishing the blade. I wouldn’t have hurt him. I don’t hurt the innocent. I was just trying to provoke him but then I felt a massive impact from behind. It was like an electric shock. I was losing balance now.
‘Shoot me!’ I screamed again, still waving the knife but staggering. I just wanted to get with Matt. I was still standing when I felt a second massive hammering sensation in my back. I was lurching like a drunkard, trying to see what had hit me. I was weak now, almost falling but still pleading, ‘Shoot me, please shoot…’ Then a third hammer blow battered my body. It was like being hit by a lightning strike. That third one did me and I finally slumped and sank to the ground. I was down and I couldn’t move. ‘Why don’t you shoot me?’ I asked as they stood over me with their guns. ‘Matt’s waiting for me and you have ruined everything. What are those stupid things you done me with?’
‘Tasers,’ one of the officers replied. And he added, ‘Jane, it’s been ten years since we shot you. Why have you still got the hump with us?’
‘I haven’t got the hump with yous,’ I said. They got me up and cuffed me. ‘I’m here to do Ken. He killed Matt. My problem’s not with yous.’
I was arrested and taken to Folkstone police station, where I was charged with carrying two offensive weapons, aggravated car theft and affray with the police. I later pleaded guilty to all charges and was sentenced to 18 months at Canterbury crown court. Thanks to my solicitor, Donald Worsley, who was the best in the land in my book as he went that extra mile for me.
I’m glad now that I didn’t kill anyone and I’m glad I’m still alive. I believe in my heart and soul that I regained my honour and Matt’s honour. It turned out that Ken and his wife had received police protection after he told them what I’d said on my previous little visit. The police had already received tip-offs that I was after Ken. And he ended up needing protection from a woman. I ask you, does it say a lot for him? The police put him into a safe house that morning and he could hardly say he was the man people thought he was.
Then there was Frank. He had me taken off the beach by armed police. I feel he showed me what he was really like.
And, finally, there was Toni and Bob. What could I say about them? To be quite honest, her and Bob deserve one another. She still lives in her flat with her man though so who knows what they are doing now – and who cares? And as for Bob, he turned out to be the biggest letdown of all.
I served just over half of my 18-month sentence at Bronzefield prison in Middlesex and became a free woman again on 14 June 2011. I am now out on licence. The conditions stipulate that I stay away from Ken, Frank, Toni and Bob. If I breach them, I will be back in jail. But
I’ve done enough jail time to last me a lifetime and I don’t want to go back.
I’m home now and I’m going to be a grandmother, as my son is having a baby with his girlfriend. Life goes on. Matt didn’t take me that day because it wasn’t my time and he can now rest in peace.
I’m Jane Lee – otherwise known as the Gran
Me in the middle, flanked by my brother John on the left and Shell on the right.
Me and my Staffordshire bull terrier Buller.
My son John and me.
Matt – my love.
Sharon the gypsy queen – who was always there for me – with her husband Clint and me.
My son going clay pigeon shooting at the age of 8.
Me and John.
Me and John.
Barbecue with me and John to the right and his friend Kirk on the left.
Me.
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First published in paperback in 2012.
ISBN: 978–1–85782–664–7
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© Text copyright Jane Lee and Dave Jarvis, 2012
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All photographs from the author’s collection.