Chapter 21
Raymond Foster - Clive Manning
Raymond Foster had been born in the suburb of Harold Hill, during 1973 to Scottish parents Andrew and Bella. It being a tough area to live made it a tough upbringing. His Father Andrew was a well-known character in the area, being involved in most of the small-time crime that influenced Raymond's growing up.
His lack of schooling did not worry the family, as it was taken for granted that he would one day take over what his Father had set up. In fact, it was hoped that he might expand the business further.
However, all those plans were placed on hold the day he reached the age of sixteen, when his Father was arrested for dealing big time in stolen property. For which he was eventually sentenced to four years in prison. This was the signal for Raymond to take over, although he was not prepared for the promotion.
He was thrust into a world of crime on a scale that was way above his none existent educational standard. Oh, he could break into any home or industrial site, but it was the running of the business that he had not been prepared for. Mainly because his Father never dreamt or expected that one-day he would be caught. Plus, he was not going to let somebody else get his hands in the till, before it was necessary.
It was not long before many of the locals became a little scared of him, as he tried to portray himself as the toughest guy in the area, and living off his Father’s reputation. Who was big in structure, and could plant a fist into anybody’s face, without any warning of it coming.
The crime rate in the area increased, and all who live there believed him to be the culprit. However, not many people took him on, even those who felt his bark was worse that his bite, were not that game. As he was unpredictable in whatever he did or was involved in.
The illegitimate birth rate in the area also increased, and once again rumour had it that Raymond was the main culprit. The way in which he flashed his money around attracted many of the local girls to him like a magnet.
One such girl was Susan Darcy who had a son named Michael. Just like all the other girls, at no time did he ever offer financial help for their up-keep.
Gradually he managed to take control of the business, and his crime dealings started to attract other crime figures from other areas to undertake deals between them. In fact, he managed to scale up the business to include other more profitable crimes. There was even a suggestion that he was starting to secretly import firearms. While assisting other crime groups some of who were outside the country. The business was growing fast, and so he decided to move to a much larger more profitable area.
Raymond chose Norwich as it had an airport, with regular flights in to and from Europe. With what looked like a fresh start, he even came up with a new name for himself. It was all under taken legally via deed poll. Over the next couple of weeks, he became Clive Manning, and for what he hoped was a fresh start in a new up-scaled criminal business.