Linda Calvey: Coroner said my husband's files were destroyed

Redbridge-born Linda Calvey needed the files on her husband’s 1978 killing so her publisher could fact-check her upcoming memoir.

But the South London Coroner’s Service told her the records no longer existed because it had a policy of destroying files after 19 years.

The revelation sparked outrage, with historian and author Carl Chinn calling it “shocking, appalling and dangerous” – but we later discovered no such policy existed.

We have since been told the files are still preserved in an archive.

“It’s absolutely disgusting,” said Linda. “How many other people have been wrongly given the same information when they tried to access files?”

The service has apologised for giving out false information.

Shooting

Linda, an east end legend, was dubbed “the Black Widow” by the tabloid press after she was convicted of murdering her love Ronnie Cook in 1991.

She spent 17 years in prison alongside notorious killers like Rose West and Myra Hindley.

Linda was released in 2008 and continues to maintain her innocence, but adopted her tabloid nickname as the title of her 2019 memoir.

The South London Coroner's Service, based at Davis House in Croydon, wrongly told crime writer Linda Calvey that the records of her husband's killing by police had been destroyed (Image: Google Streetview)

The book was a hit, with fans including Martina Cole and Kimberley Chambers.

She has since transitioned to writing crime fiction, but in early 2024 Linda will publish her second autobiographical book, titled Life Inside.

In it, she writes about her first husband, armed robber Michael Calvey, being shot dead by police during a raid on a supermarket in 1978.

Inquest

The couple lived in Walthamstow but Michael was shot dead in Eltham.

The inquest, at Southwark Coroner’s Court, made national headlines.

Linda commissioned a private autopsy, which determined that Michael had been shot in the back.

We have retrieved articles from newspaper archives showing that pathologist Dr James Cameron testified to this at the inquest in February 1979.

But press reports do not cover other key details Linda remembers about her disputes with the authorities over the circumstances of Michael’s death.

When Linda was told the inquest records were destroyed, it jeopardised her publisher Welbeck's ability to fact-check her upcoming memoir Life Inside (Image: Welbeck)

When her publisher, Welbeck, asked if she could provide any corroboration for her memories, she sought access to the inquest files.

“Destroyed”

But the South London Coroner’s Service wrote to her: “Please note documentation for case referrals from the year 1978 would not be available and destroyed. Croydon HM Coroner’s Court does not have the facilities for long term storage.”

In a follow-up message, it added: “A case referral in 1978 would have been a paper file and stored for approximately 19 years before being destroyed.

“The paper documents would not have been uploaded onto an electronic storage device or any other storage facility available at that time.”

Linda approached the Recorder

“It’s not right,” she said. “They’re wiping out history.”

Historian and author Carl Chinn, best-known for his non-fiction books on the real Peaky Blinders, agreed that such a policy would be “outrageous”.

“I can’t believe it,” he said. “I’ve never heard of anything like this.”

Historian Carl Chinn, author of The Real Peaky Blinders, expressed outrage when the coroner's service claimed it was destroying files after 19 years - but the service then u-turned and claimed it wasn't (Image: Kay Chinn)

Mistake

When we sent a list of questions to the coroner’s service, it then denied it had destroyed any records.

In fact, it said, it does not even keep its own records. It sends them to the London Metropolitan Archives (LMA).

LMA confirmed it had possessed Michael Calvey’s inquest file for some years, but that in 2020 it was moved to a different archive.

The coroner’s service apologised for Linda’s treatment – but could not explain why a member of staff cited a non-existent policy of destroying files after 19 years.

“I am sorry that the incorrect advice was mistakenly given,” said its boss, Stephen Rowan.

“All staff in the service have been reminded of the process for responding to similar inquiries to ensure that the correct information is consistently provided at the first time of asking in future.”

Linda thanked the Recorder for tracking down the file, but remained unimpressed with the coroner’s service.

“They are telling you all of this, but they haven’t told me,” she said. “Nobody has contacted me and said sorry.

“I think there are big questions, not just in my case but for lots of other people who might have wanted to look into things that have happened in the past.”