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James Boyle (born 17 May 1944) is a Scottish former gangster and convicted murderer who became a sculptor and novelist after his release from prison.

Imprisonment

In 1967, Boyle was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of another gangland figure, William "Babs" Rooney. He served fourteen years before his release in 1980.^[1] Boyle has always denied killing Rooney^[2] but has acknowledged having been a violent and sometimes ruthless moneylender from the Gorbals, which was once one of the roughest and most deprived areas of Glasgow. During his incarceration in the special unit of Barlinnie Prison, Riddrie, he turned to art, with the help of the special unit's art therapist, Joyce Laing.^[3]^[4] He wrote an autobiography, A Sense of Freedom (1977), which was later turned into a film of the same name. In 1979, whilst still a prisoner at Barlinnie, he was commissioned to produce a memorial statue of poet William McGonagall, which was however never completed due to various difficulties with the project.^[5]

In 1980, while still in prison, Boyle married psychiatrist Sara Trevelyan. In 2017, Trevelyan wrote Freedom Found,^[6] a book about her twenty-year marriage to Boyle. In an interview after the book's publication, she stated that she had never felt unsafe with him. ^[7]

Life after release

Upon his release from prison on 26 October 1981, he moved to Edinburgh to continue his artistic career. He designed the largest concrete sculpture in Europe called "Gulliver" for the Craigmillar Festival Society in 1976.^[8] In 1983, Boyle set up the Gateway Exchange with Trevelyan and artist Evlynn Smith; a charitable organisation so he could keep in contact with ex prisoners. As part of his life licence, he wasn't allowed contact with ex prisoners, so it was a front to circumnavigate the legal system. The Gateway Exchange offered art therapy workshops to recovering drug addicts and ex-convicts. Though the project secured funding from private sources (including actor Sir Sean Connery, comedian Sir Billy Connolly and John Paul Getty) it lasted only a few years.^[9]

In 1994, his son James, a drug addict, was murdered in the Oatlands neighbourhood of Glasgow.^[10]

Boyle has published Pain of Confinement: Prison Diaries (1984), and a novel, Hero of the Underworld (1999). The latter was adapted for a French film, La Rage et le Rêve des Condamnés (The Anger and Dreams of the Condemned), and won the best documentary prize at the Fifa Montreal awards in 2002. He also wrote a novel, A Stolen Smile, which is about the theft of the Mona Lisa and how it ends up hidden on a Scottish housing scheme. It was rumoured that Disney bought the film rights, but Boyle has denied this.^[11]^[12]^[13]

In 1998, he was named as a financial donor of the Labour Party.^[14]

He divides his time between France and Morocco with his second wife, Kate Fenwick, a British actress.^[15]^[16] They married at a ceremony in Marrakech, Morocco on 27 October 2007.

Cultural impact

The character Nicky Dryden in the 1999 film The Debt Collector is reportedly loosely based on Boyle.^[17]

The punk band The Exploited released a song titled Jimmy Boyle in 1982.^[18]

References

^ "Glasgow gangster turned writer Jimmy Boyle: 'I would be dead now without books'". the Guardian. 20 May 2016. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
^ "Jimmy Boyle's life less ordinary". BBC News. 27 August 1999. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
^ Cooper, Neil (28 July 2022). "Obituary: Joyce Laing, art-therapy pioneer who helped transform the lives of prisoners in Barlinnie's Special Unit". HeraldScotland. Retrieved 26 August 2022.
^ The Special Unit, Barlinnie Prison : its evolution through its art : an anthology of essays, statements, art works, creative writings and documentary photographs. Christopher Carrel, Joyce Laing, Alice Bain. Glasgow: Third Eye Centre. 1982. ISBN 0-906474-18-3. OCLC 18497157.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)
^ Strachan, Graeme (2 March 2019). "The curious tale of the Barlinnie lifer and Dundee's Bard". The Courier.
^ "Scotland Street Press | Bookstore | Freedom Found". www.scotlandstreetpress.com. Retrieved 7 June 2022.
^ Smith, Ken (20 February 2017). "Freedom Found: Sara Trevelyan on her life with Jimmy Boyle". The Herald.
^ Laughlan, Kim (10 July 2010). "Boyle sculpture expected to fetch £20,000 at auction". The Herald. Glasgow. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
^ "Obituary: Evlynn Smith". The Daily Telegraph. 30 April 2003.
^ Son of reformed gangland killer stabbed to death, The Independent, 16 May 1994
^ Gardiner, Claire (9 November 2003). "Jimmy Boyle agrees £2m film deal with Disney". Scotland on Sunday.
^ Cramb, Auslan (10 November 2003). "Disney in £2m deal for novel by Jimmy Boyle". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
^ "French fall for Glasgow hardman". BBC News. 17 November 2002. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
^ "'Luvvies' for Labour". BBC News. 30 August 1998. Retrieved 29 April 2011.
^ Sherwood, Seth (21 October 2007). "In Marrakesh, Homes Among the Palm Groves". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
^ Harrison, Anthony (16 February 2007). "Je ne regrette riad". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
^ Kelly, Richard. "The Debt Collector". Sight & Sound. British Film Institute. Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
^ The Exploited – Jimmy Boyle, retrieved 17 November 2023

External links

"Boyle's Boy". The Scotsman. 26 August 2007. Archived from the original on 16 July 2014.
Vedrickas, Genetta (31 January 2007). "My Home: Jimmy Boyle". The Independent. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014.
Greenwood, Lynn (5 February 2005). "Jimmy's jewel". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 April 2009.