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McGraw: The Incredible Untold Story of Tam 'The Licensee' McGraw
Tam McGraw was one of Glasgow's most dangerous gangsters. He rose from poverty in the city's East End to amass a vast fortune from crime and, when he died in 2007, his empire stretched from Glasgow to the Canaries. When he was alive, few would talk openly about the man known as 'The Licensee'. But now his incredible, untold story can finally be revealed. Real stories about the time McGraw cheated The Godfather, risking his life to end a dynasty. How he was behind the UK's biggest coke heist and who paid the price. Who killed the six Doyles in the Ice Cream Wars. Why the BarL Team was never caught even with MI5 on their case. Armed jail breakouts - who arranged them, who grassed them. There are hit contracts, backstabbings, vendettas and scores to settle with everyone from The Godfather to The Devil, M Family, Specky Boyd and Paul Ferris. McGraw did all that and much more yet was never caught. Why? He was The Licensee. Licensed to Commit Crime.
348 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
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September 29, 2025Reg McKay was a social worker and then a crime writer for the Daily Record. He knows the East End of Glasgow and the main players involved in its underworld. I have never like biographies of gangsters as they never seem to ring true to me but this is different. It is a far from sympathetic account of McGraw. The way McKay writes reminds me of the likes of Roberto Saviano writing about the Camorra in Italy.
I am very interested in Italian culture and the mafia is a part of this culture. Saviano wrote recently, in response to the capture of Matteo Massina Denaro, that many the Mafia Don’s power is dependent on their connections with other families, politicians and the police. McGraw was known, according to McKay, to have links with the serious crime squad. Again this reminds me of what Saviano wrote; in particular that the state and the police in Italy have different factions that don’t alway have the same interests. McKay also describes this type of division within the Strathclyde police.
McGraw nickname was ‘the Licensee’ ie he had a license to commit crime. On the face of it how can this be? Should we conclude that the police are corrupt. It is a bit more complicated. I guess certain units in the police would argue that they need to have dealings with criminals in order to get intelligence. However things are more complicated when something goes wrong. When the Doyle family’s house was burnt down in a dispute about the territory of vans selling groceries, known as the ice-cream wars McGraw is in the frame. The police convict the wrong men and to this day no one has been convicted of the crime.
In the end, McGraw died of a heart attack. He died leaving a lot of unanswered questions and will remain in Glasgow folklore for a long time to come.
I am very interested in Italian culture and the mafia is a part of this culture. Saviano wrote recently, in response to the capture of Matteo Massina Denaro, that many the Mafia Don’s power is dependent on their connections with other families, politicians and the police. McGraw was known, according to McKay, to have links with the serious crime squad. Again this reminds me of what Saviano wrote; in particular that the state and the police in Italy have different factions that don’t alway have the same interests. McKay also describes this type of division within the Strathclyde police.
McGraw nickname was ‘the Licensee’ ie he had a license to commit crime. On the face of it how can this be? Should we conclude that the police are corrupt. It is a bit more complicated. I guess certain units in the police would argue that they need to have dealings with criminals in order to get intelligence. However things are more complicated when something goes wrong. When the Doyle family’s house was burnt down in a dispute about the territory of vans selling groceries, known as the ice-cream wars McGraw is in the frame. The police convict the wrong men and to this day no one has been convicted of the crime.
In the end, McGraw died of a heart attack. He died leaving a lot of unanswered questions and will remain in Glasgow folklore for a long time to come.
October 11, 2018
Grass
Ive read some of the other books (Ferris conspiracy/the godfather.) McGraw in these books is portrayed as some evil little back stabbing grassing little s h i t. This book just confirms it. Good riddance. Lol
Ive read some of the other books (Ferris conspiracy/the godfather.) McGraw in these books is portrayed as some evil little back stabbing grassing little s h i t. This book just confirms it. Good riddance. Lol
December 5, 2017
Gangsters it happens
I have read a lot of Scottish gangster books and they all seem to all tie in together making them highly believable
I have read a lot of Scottish gangster books and they all seem to all tie in together making them highly believable
January 15, 2019
Very good
Hard to believe this all went on but I do believe every word..What a read i couldnt put this down .
Hard to believe this all went on but I do believe every word..What a read i couldnt put this down .
June 16, 2019
Ok book but not the best
One thing I didn't like about this was the author baiting you in.to thinking something big is going to happen only for nothing.to happen. Was.like that until the very end. Also seems like the author has an axe to grind with the subject of the book
One thing I didn't like about this was the author baiting you in.to thinking something big is going to happen only for nothing.to happen. Was.like that until the very end. Also seems like the author has an axe to grind with the subject of the book
February 18, 2009
A fascinating true account of a clever Glasgow based criminal team, using buses to take underprivileged Glasgow children to Disneyland, Paris, then using the buses to smuggle large amounts of hash successfully from Spain to the UK over a number of years – making a fortune and leading the Police, Customs and sniffer dogs a merry dance in the process. Riveting stuff.
May 6, 2016
I had heard snippets about McGraw but didn't know enough about him hence I started this book. I like Reg McKay's writing style, very fluid and very authentically Glaswegian with slang thrown in when needed for good measure. McGraw doesn't come across as very likeable at all and even the other Glasgow hard men didn't like him. A fascinating book.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews