This week 30 years ago: Holloway man robbed £144,000 as he ‘couldn’t stand’ sponging off his wife

A Holloway couple’s romance ended in heartbreak – at the Old Bailey.

James Lawson was already in prison after being caught in an armed robbery in Hampstead. He married stockbroker girlfriend Maxine while behind bars.

But a week later, he was sent down for 12 years after pleading guilty to two security van robberies totalling £144,000.

The couple shared a flat in Camden Road. The court heard Lawson, 27, “could not stand the humiliation” of being unemployed and living off 24-year-old Maxine’s £70,000 stockbroker salary.

Meanwhile, veterans went to war with Islington Council after it gave permission for a Christmas funfair to be based around the Islington Green war memorial.

Members of the Royal British Legion’s Islington branch were incensed.

President Bill Bayliss, who fought in the Second World War, said: “It’s the closest thing councillors could ever get to dancing on the graves of people who died for their country.”