Craig's a diamond geezer; The Ex-EastEnder plays a Cockney spiv again as the mastermind behind a pounds 350m raid on the Dome. And he admits he could so easily have strayed off the straight and narrow when he was growing up.
Byline: Paul EnglishWITH a Cockney accent, fearsome build and his reputation for playing the tough guy, Craig Fairbrass was born to play the man who almost pulled off the most audacious diamond heist in Britain.
As London underworld figure Ray Betson, the mastermind behind the attempt to snatch a diamond worth pounds 350million from the Millennium Dome, the actor drew on family experience to play the cunning crim.
Fairbrass, who played lantern-jawed bruiser Dan Sullivan in EastEnders, says: "I had family who belonged to the underworld when I was growing up in London. I was very aware of that lifestyle when I was young, without a shadow of a doubt."
As a schoolboy, Craig knew more than his classmates about the dealings of the gangster world courtesy of the career paths of his uncles Alan and George Dixon.
They had some tasty connections in the same shady circles operated by infamous gangsters the Krays.
The Dixon duo were jailed for 21 years in the early '70s for running a protection racket and after their release joined Craig's dad Jack in attempting to protect their young nephew from falling into crime.
And their diligence paid off when Craig confessed he'd rather act the hardman than become one.
The 38-year-old says: "My dad really tried to protect me.
"He was over the moon when I told him I wanted to be an actor.
"The thing is, it's really easy to fall into that life. Anyone can go that way. It's all about choices, and you either make the right ones or the wrong ones.
"But my old man was on top of me all the time. Absolutely all the time."
Having chosen acting, Craig could have been excused for thinking he had escaped the sort of murky notoriety attached to his family.
That's not strictly true, as viewers will discover this week in Channel 5's The Great Dome Robbery.
He says: "The funny thing is that people who've previewed this docu-drama say it looks very natural and that I don't even look like I'm acting. To be honest it didn't stretch me too far. I wasn't playing a scientist, you know. I just did what I thought I should do as a robber. It wasn't difficult."
Which is clearly what the casting director had in mind.
Craig - who has sons Jack, 14, and Luke, 12, to ex-glamour model wife Elka - says: "When they called me up to arrange a meeting about the part they told me the guy I was playing was a big guy - over 6ft - who trained.
"When they showed me a picture of him, I saw it myself. I was similar to him - but thankfully I've not been mistaken for him yet."
The Great Dome Robbery was, in fact, never a robbery.
Viewers may recall the staggering news reports in November 2000, detailing the Bond-like stunt.
The would-be robbers, incredibly, smashed a JCB through the wall of the Millennium Dome to get to the fabulous DeBeers diamond.
For Betson the job was a must-do. Two recent abortive security van heists had cost him dearly and he needed to recoup the substantial amount he'd spent on planning the failed blags.
He needed a big score and began to plan the biggest, and one of the most daring robberies Britain had seen.
His team would drive through the perimeter fence with a JCB, overpower the guards, steal the diamond and escape by speedboat via the Thames, in a copy of the scene from James Bond film The World Is Not Enough.
This team of diamond geezers included regular crew members, 58-year-old armed robber Terry Millman and long-term associate Will Cockram, speedboat pilot Kevin Meredith, bent estate agent and money launderer Aido Clarrocchi and small-time gypsy and transport expert Lee Wenham.
What Betson wasn't reckoning on, however, was the Flying Squad being hot on their heels from the off.
Wenham's family were under surveillance for vehicle fraud, and when Betson and Cockram started turning up for meetings, it was clear that something big was in the wind.
In the end, the robbery was foiled by 100 cops - but not until the JCB had ripped into the Dome and come within feet of the loot.
Although it all went the same shape as the diamond in the end - pear - Craig reckons it was a well- thought out plan. He says: "If it hadn't been for the police watching one of the men for something else then they might not have made the connection.
"There's a 99.9 per cent chance these guys would have walked right in there and taken that diamond.
"They had done their homework and they were very unlucky.
"They already had the diamond sold. I'm sure it was an overseas deal.
"I can't imagine they'd be walking around in Camden market with it in their pockets saying, `Alright mate, wanna buy a diamond'?"
Craig slips into a slightly rougher Mockney accent when he's impersonating the criminals, but don't be fooled into thinking he's a one-trick pony who won't get any jobs outwith London. In 1990 he starred alongside Sly Stallone in Cliffhanger.
And he's just lined up more Stateside film work, with a part in the forthcoming werewolf thriller Skinwalkers, directed by James Isaac, who has worked on flicks including The Fly, Gremlins and Return Of The Jedi.
He says: "I really can't wait to start filming. We have a couple of weeks in LA and then 10 weeks in Luxembourg.
"I've always wanted to play a werewolf, ever since I saw Oliver Reed in Curse Of The Werewolf, and I must have watched American Werewolf in London 100 times.
"So here I am - desperate to be covered in fur and howling. Wonderful."
He's also waiting to get the go-ahead to play a hero, for a change, in Once A Pilgrim - a film about troops in Sierra Leone.
It's a role he's very excited about. He says: "If I never worked again after this one I'd be happy.
"This is the sort of part I've been waiting for all my life and it has just more or less fallen into my lap. I really hope it happens."
That apart, the door is still open for him to return to EastEnders, just like Letitia Dean and John Altman.
Would he go back to Albert Square?
He says: "Well, I am sick of people coming up to me and saying, `Oi, get back in there and liven things up a bit'. The public still identify me with Dan, although I think I'm managing to shake that off a bit at last.
"It doesn't bother me in the slightest. There was a time when I would have killed my next door neighbour to be famous, so I'm grateful.
"I have a great relationship with the BBC and if there's a good storyline at the right time, who knows?"
Does this ex-brickie who turned away from the dark side have a grand plan?
He says: "Each day can change with a call. I go with the flow."
l The Great Dome Robbery, Ch5, Saturday, 9.55pm
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| Title Annotation: | Cover Story |
|---|---|
| Publication: | Daily Record (Glasgow, Scotland) |
| Date: | Jul 13, 2002 |
| Words: | 1184 |
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