Glasgow's ‘Reign of Terror’: Street Gangs, Racketeering and Intimidation in the 1920s and 1930s

Abstract

The Glasgow gangs of the 1920s and 1930s were widely viewed as fighting gangs rather than as criminal gangs in any wider sense. Retrospective accounts frequently suggest that the gangs only fought each other, leaving ‘ordinary’ residents of the city's working-class districts safe from the threat of robbery or random assault.This article offers an alternative perspective. It examines widespread reports of extortion by the gangs, whose ‘protection’ rackets targeted traders in both the legal and illicit sectors of the local economy. It further explores allegations that the gangs mounted a ‘Reign of Terror’ in the city's East End and South Side. Gang members demanded contributions from local residents towards bail monies and fines, and used violence and intimidation to deter victims and witnesses from testifying to crimes of theft as well as violence in court.