Killer who inspired Get Carter dies aged 83: Murderer convicted of 1967 ‘One Armed Bandit’ gangland killing of fruit machine cash collector passes away after long illness
- Michael Luvaglio, passed away aged 83, was convicted over notorious murder
- He and Dennis Stafford were both found guilty of the shooting of Angus Sibbet
- The so-called One Armed Bandit murder helped inspire 70s classic Get Carter
A convicted murderer, whose crime inspired 70s classic Get Carter, has died after a long illness and lengthier battle to try and clear his name.
Michael Luvaglio, passed away aged 83, after decades of efforts to prove his innocence alongside Dennis Stafford.
They were both found guilty of the shooting of Angus Sibbet, 33.
Mr Sibbet had been a money collector for a company called Social Club Services, run by nightclub kingpin Vince Landa, which supplied the region’s clubs with fruit machines.
Due to connections with the fruit machine business, his death became known as the ‘One Armed Bandit murder’.
Michael Luvagli outside the High Court in the most recent attempt to clear his name of murder
Angus Sibbet, pictured her in 1966, was the victim of the notorious One Armed Bandit murder
Elements of the famous crime inspired the 70s classic Michael Caine film Get Carter
Stafford and Luvaglio each served 12 years of their life sentences before being released on licence.
The killing helped inspire elements of the 1971 film Get Carter, which itself was an adaption of the book Jack’s Return Home.
Michael Caine played Newcastle-born gangster Jack Carter who returns home from London to avenge his brother’s murder.
Michael Luvaglio pictured at the time of his conviction for the murder of Angus Sibbet
Dennis Stafford was convicted alongside Luvaglio and also claimed he was innocent
The Mark X Jaguar saloon car where murder victim Angus Sibbet was found dead in 1967
The car containing the body was found under Pesspool Bridge in Easington, County Durham
Director Mike Hodges was fascinated with the One Armed Bandit murder and used general gangland elements from it to inform the film.
Both Luvaglio and Stafford protested their innocence but bids to challenge the conviction were refused.
Luvaglio always said he did not deserve to die as a murderer in the eyes of the law.
Paying tribute to him. filmmaker Neil Jackson, of Consett, County Durham, vowed to continue the fight to clear his name.
He said: ‘I think that is the hardest thing really, Michael always said he never wanted to die legally convicted of murder.
‘We tried very, very hard but unfortunately that wish didn’t come true.
‘He never lost the hunger to overturn his conviction and although we tried so hard, I’m utterly devastated we were unable to clear his name while he was alive. He deserved that.’
Neil contacted Luvaglio about making a documentary but after forming a friendship, joined the fight for justice.
He carried out a three-year investigation and handed a dossier which contained fresh witness interviews and analysis of photo evidence, to the Criminal Case Review Commission – an independent public body set up to investigate possible miscarriages of justice.
But the attempt to have the case sent to the Court of Appeal was rejected.
He said: ‘I promised Michael when I met him that would not be the end. That’s what we will do in his memory, hopefully get someone. We still aspire to solve it.
‘We promised him we’d do it and we won’t give up.’
‘I am following a couple of leads this week and if anyone does have information they should contact me.’
Neil, 46, described Luvaglio as a ‘very kind, very thoughtful’ person who would always put others before himself.
He said: ‘I remember one year I rang at Christmas and there was all this noise in the background and he was feeding the homeless, dishing soup out. That is the sort of person he was.
‘When he left prison he set up a charity to help people with mental health problems. Hundreds and hundreds of lives he changed with that.’