'Woman tricked me out of a fortune'

INFAMOUS bare-knuckle fighter Roy "Pretty Boy" Shaw was "deceived" out of a vast chunk of his fortune by a cocaine-abusing woman 30 years his junior, it was alleged at London's High Court.

Mr Shaw said Linda Finnimore tricked him out of much of his fortune between August 2006 and November 2007.

Accused Linda Finnimore outside The Royal Courts of Justice

Jeremy Callman, representing 72-year-old Mr Shaw, told the judge, Sir John Lindsay, that Ms Finnimore had used "false misrepresentation", "undue influence" and "deceit" to get the cash.

Her lawyers say she is entitled to the money and was Mr Shaw's "common-law wife" after meeting him in the 1990s, while visiting Reggie Kray in Maidstone prison.

However, Mr Shaw says he met Ms Finnimore, who is from Newton Abbot, South Devon, in 2006 in a bar in Spain and, although friends, they were not as close as she claims.

Mr Callman said that Ms Finnimore had 13 previous convictions for offences including obtaining property by deception, making false statements to obtain a passport and theft.

She had also used a series of aliases, he claimed, telling the judge: "She has a very complex life of multi-personalities."

Mr Callman said the police had been told about what had happened but no action was taken by the Crown Prosecution Service because of lack of evidence.

He said his legal team had now uncovered "a startling amount of evidence" and he asked the judge to refer the matter to the CPS if he found for them in the civil action.

Mr Shaw, who was born in Stepney, east London, is also known as Roy "Mean Machine" Shaw.

He is a former criminal and prisoner, and was both a professional boxer and unlicensed fighter during the 1970s and 1980s.

He was sentenced to 18 years' imprisonment for armed robbery in 1963.

Mr Shaw has stated in interviews that he "simply hates the system" and has been in 22 prisons during his life.

His bare-knuckle boxing career began when he was 42 with many infamous victories, including one over Donnie "The Bull" Adams.

His unlicensed fight record is, after 11 fights, nine wins, eight knockouts, two losses and no draws.

He has retired from both a life of crime and bare-knuckle boxing and now lives in Waltham Abbey, Essex.

Jeremy Callman told Sir John Lindsay that, if he finds in favour of Roy Shaw, he should refer the case to the Crown Prosecution Service to consider whether there should be a criminal prosecution of Ms Finnimore.

The court heard that, at one point, Ms Finnimore faced charges over the alleged deception of Mr Shaw, but earlier this year the CPS dropped the case against her.

She denies any wrong-doing.

Mr Shaw is due to begin giving his evidence today.