MY first, albeit indirect, contact with Patrick 'PJ' Maguire was when some years ago I interviewed his sister Sue about an unrelated Jermaine Robotham, the father of her children.
Then and over subsequent years, I learned about a high profile, devil-may-care criminal who was an unmistakable thorn in the side of the law-abiding citizens of Gloucester.
But whenever newspaper stories about the man (often penned by yours truly) appeared, my telephone would be red hot and the reception area of The Citizen would bustle with indignant Gloucester residents.
For fitness fanatic PJ was as popular with his comrades in arms as he was unpopular with the police and most of the public.
He is a flamboyant character, whose sense of cheeky humour has brought reluctant smiles to many faces. He once taunted police by driving a swanky motor bearing the number 'n1cked' around city streets.
But his attitude has done him no favours as the police were on his case and a number of convictions and jail sentences were inevitably to follow. A senior police officer summed it up when he told me yesterday after PJ was sent down: "He is larger than life and thinks he is very clever. But if that is so, why does he keep getting caught?" Although PJ grinned broadly when he went down, in the back of his mind, I wonder if he is beginning to realise that crime simply does not pay.
