The Birth of Britain's Supergrass System
In the oak-panelled Court Two at the Old Bailey, an extraordinary scene unfolded that would change British criminal justice forever. Derek "Bertie" Smalls, a squat, balding armed robber with a walrus moustache, had just given evidence against his former criminal associates when the seven defendants in the dock burst into song.
They performed "Whispering Grass," with its telling line: "Why tell them all your secrets?" Then, more ominously, they made gun gestures while singing "We'll Meet Again." The message was clear: Smalls had broken the underworld's sacred code of omerta, becoming Britain's first official supergrass.
The Deal That Changed Everything
The 38-year-old career criminal had been "turned" after his arrest for a £237,000 bank raid in Wembley in August 1972. Facing serious time, Smalls struck an unprecedented deal with then director of public prosecutions Sir Norman Skelhorn. In exchange for his cooperation, he received complete immunity from prosecution for his role in 20 robberies.
Over six months of trials at the Old Bailey, Smalls's evidence proved devastatingly effective. His testimony led to 28 criminals being jailed for a combined 414 years. Among those put away was Mickey "The Pimpernel" Green, the leader of the notorious "Wembley Mob" who later built a £50 million drug smuggling empire after serving his sentence.
Chief Supt Jack Slipper, the detective famous for tracking down train robber Ronnie Biggs, declared afterwards: "Smalls is the greatest weapon the police have ever had against the underworld. He will have to spend the rest of his life with a £1million price on his head because so many people want to get even with him."
The Supergrass Legacy and Its Consequences
Smalls's decision sparked a revolution in British policing. The supergrass system became widely deployed, with informants like Maurice O'Mahoney following in 1974. O'Mahoney received just five years for offences that would normally attract a 20-year sentence, in exchange for helping jail 20 robbers.
The system had its critics within law enforcement. Detective Sergeant Tony Lundy, Scotland Yard's most prolific thief taker, expressed concerns about using unreliable witnesses. Regarding another supergrass, Micky "Skinny" Gervaise, Lundy said: "I didn't agree with Gervaise being a supergrass. He wanted to help and started to talk but I said 'no way! He's an out-and-out liar.'"
Remarkably, Smalls managed to live peacefully in London for three decades despite gang bosses including the Kray twins reportedly maintaining the £1 million bounty on his life. In a surprising encounter years later, he met Bobby King, one of the Wembley Mob members he'd helped jail for 16 years. King later said: "I was really quite pleased with myself that I'd driven off and hadn't had the slightest urge at all to have any sort of revenge."
Smalls died at age 72 in his Croydon home in 2008, having permanently altered the relationship between British criminals and the justice system. His legacy created a template for using criminal informants that continues to influence police work today, proving that sometimes the most effective weapon against crime comes from within the criminal world itself.
