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John Laidlaw
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‘We tried to give the Tube gunman a chance in life’
He wanted to rejoin old boxing club
A GUNMAN jailed for life made one last attempt to rejoin the boxing club he loved only weeks before committing a double shooting.
John Laidlaw, 24, had fought at the Angel Amateur Boxing Club when he was 17 and last year, following a lengthy spell in prison, he hoped the strict training regime would bring him salvation.
John Jacobs, club president, said: “He came back here out of the blue after a long prison sentence but we said he had to sort everything out with the police and social services first.”
The Angel Amateur Boxing Club prides itself on instilling discipline in hard-to-reach youngsters and operates a strict ‘three strikes’ rule.
Mr Jacobs said: “We told him we would then consider his case democratically like anybody else. He said he had cleaned up his act to re-apply and then went missing for a few weeks.
“The next thing we knew he had committed those terrible acts.”
Laidlaw, 24, of Sussex Way, Archway, was last Friday sentenced to five life sentences after a shooting spree in Upper Street and Finsbury Park where he gunned down a middle-aged social worker and a young woman.
Mr Jacobs, who has been involved in boxing for most of his life, said he was “aggrieved” to read in a tabloid newspaper that Laidlaw won trophies as a member – when in reality he only ever fought seven bouts in club shows.
He said: “John Laidlaw was registered seven years ago for eight months, fighting seven bouts and winning three.
“To say he was ever a champion is a falsification. But we did everything in our power to give that boy a chance.”
Last May, Laidlaw shot at three strangers in 30 minutes after a “pavement rage” incident.
Although he had been in scrapes with police from the age of 14, after leaving the club Laidlaw was involved in a number of violent muggings.
He served 15 prison sentences for grievous bodily harm, burglary, robbery and racially aggravated threatening behaviour.
Although Laidlaw once said he wanted to “kill all black people”, police believe there was no specific racial motive, even though one victim and another intended victim were black.
Reacting to Laidlaw’s conviction, Mr Jacobs said: “I’m amazed because, from my recollection, he had no disciplinary marks against him.
“There’s something wrong with the system when a boy goes down and no one was more surprised than us.
“He was an excellent lad for the short period he was with us.”
“We were absolutely shaken because he was one of the best boys and you could have held him up as an example.
“He was most attentive and co-operative.”
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