15/10/03 - Letter from Jake Arnott Publisher

15th October, 2003

Dear Mr O'Mahoney

Without Prejudice

Thank you for your letter of 6th October and my apologies for not replying sooner. As I explained when we spoke on the telephone, I was away last week so didn't read it until Monday.

I've now spoken to Jake Arnott and put to him your concerns. His response is that the character of Gary Kelly is not supposed to be you or any other real person but an entirely fictional character. TRUECRIME chronicles a period when the rave scene was exploited by numerous criminal gangs and individuals, and although some of the events depicted have necessary parallels with actual events and there are superficial parallels between the characters in the novel and many people involved in criminal activities at the time, this is inevitable in a novel that aims to present a realistic portrait of an era. For instance, you mention the death of Leah Betts, but the teenage girl in the book is not named - she is a girl similar to Leah Betts but she is fictional, deliberately supposed to represent a type of teenage girl but not to be Leah Betts. At the same time, actual events such as this that have parallels in the book are a matter of public record, not facts that could only have been taken from your book.

Jake also points out that the personality, background and life history of Gary Kelly are quite different from yours. He doesn't come from the Midlands but is clearly a Cockney, has never been in the army, and isn't an associate of Tucker, Tate and Rolfe but of a separate, fictional gang; he doesn't have mental health problems so much as a problem refraining from violence; his arrest for possession of a firearm happens in 1985. And as you say yourself, unlike you he beats his wife, is tried for murder and takes drugs, as well as appearing in a film etc. That's the point. Gary Kelly isn't a real person but a character based on a type.

Furthermore, that stereotype is the celebrity villain who makes capital out of their own notoriety, not someone like you and others who evidently regret some of their past activities, which is something Jake respects and why he was particularly careful to ensure no one would get the wrong idea and assume Kelly was a portrait of anyone like that. Equally, the similarities that you perceive between you and Gary Kelly are similarities that could apply to any number of other people. There were many people who talked to the press about the drug supplied to Leah Betts; many people like Kelly have been involved with the Krays; the charity event he organises is a fictional example of the kind of charitable functions various criminals have been associated with; and the sort of council meeting in which Kelly loses his licence occurred across the country at the time, when local authorities were tightening up security regulations at nightclubs like Hacienda and many people lost their licences.

I have to emphasise that this is a work of fiction. People often think they can identify themselves or others in novels, of course, but just as often other people think they recognise the same characters as someone entirely different. They forget that novelists use their imaginations and create imaginary characters. Of course characters bear resemblances to real types or they wouldn't seem human or credible, but that doesn't mean they represent a real-life counterpart. That is why on the title page of TRUECRIME it is advised that 'All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental'.

I hope this explanation allays your concerns, but please let me know if I can explain anything further.

Yours sincerely,
Carole Welch
Sceptre Publisher.

SCEPTRE
An imprint of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers
338 Euston Road London NW1 3BH