Where is the jewel thief now?

Jane spoilers follow.

The new six-part ITV drama Jane is based on the memoirs of the real Joan Hannington, who called herself “Britain’s most notorious diamond thief.”

Sophie Turner plays Joan in the new drama and spent time with the real Hannington before the cameras started rolling, having read her memoir several times to get into the character’s skin.

Hannington operated in the 1980s, before the widespread use of video surveillance and computerized inventories for jewelers’ inventory, so the diamonds she pinched never went missing.

Series writer Anna Symon met with Hannington to get approval for the adaptation of her memoir, Joan: The true story of how I became Britain’s most notorious diamond thiefwhich has been updated and re-released to coincide with the show.

During a question and answer session before the drama’s release, Symon said digital spy and other media: “We met in a cafe in north London. I was quite nervous. A, having read her book and hearing about some of the crimes she had committed, and B, obviously wanting to his approval.

“Luckily, she approved of my ideas. The first thing she said was, I don’t want you to do this unless you tell the story warts and all, by which she meant she wanted his childhood is included, which we will return to later in the series.

“I think she wanted people to know that this behavior came from somewhere, and I would have done it anyway, because I wanted to tell Joan’s real story. I wanted to tell the truth about the incredible complexity of his character.”

Hannington grew up as the youngest of six children in west London and had an abusive childhood at the hands of her father. She ran away from home at the age of 13 and later married Ray Pavey, a convicted armed robber.

As the ITV drama shows, that marriage disintegrated after they had their daughter Debbie and a desperate Hannington turned to social services, who took Debbie into their care.

Subsequent events in Hannington’s life remain fairly close to the first episode of the ITV television series, as Symon explains: “The swallowing of the diamonds actually happened, the stealing of the car to go visit his daughter while she was in foster care, and then I got arrested for it because the car was stolen.

“So much in that first episode in particular was absolutely taken from the real world.”

This includes meeting the man who became her husband and partner in crime one evening at a local pub, Ronald Thomas Hannington, also known as Benny Boisie.

An antiques dealer and thief, 17 years Hannington’s senior, he taught her the ropes and supported her efforts to get Debbie back, even if they ultimately came to nothing.

Hannington was 24 when she was arrested for using a stolen checkbook in 1980. She married Boisie at the Acton registry office and two weeks later she was sentenced to 30 months in prison.

They later had a son, Benny, and when Joan was released, she found another job in a jewelry store without disclosing her criminal record. Here she continued to find jewelry.

The initial ingestion of the diamonds became a pattern for how Hannington committed her crimes, as she would take down jewelry and replace it with fakes, which went undetected.

Hannington said she practices generating saliva in her mouth so she can swallow multiple rings at once.

At the height of his madness, Hannington said more than £800,000 worth of gems was buried in a biscuit tin in his garden.

She said of this period of her life (via The Sun): “Being a woman doing this type of thing at that time wasn’t the norm, but it was an incredible buzz. I didn’t need to sleep with anyone for their money. I had my own money, I bought my own cars and fur coats.

After the death of her husband Boisie, Hannington decided to get her life in order and move away from crime.

“Money never brought me happiness,” she later said in an interview. “I just wanted to prove that I could raise a good child in a straight world.”

Hannington wrote his memoir, published in 2002, and began trying to connect with his daughter Debbie. While promoting her memoir in the 2000s, Hannington said she had found love again and that her son Benny was working as a builder. She also stated that she met Debbie, although their current relationship status is unclear.

Hannington participated in parts of the promotion of Jane and attended the launch of the show alongside his son Benny.

She said at the event: “I’m not complacent about it. I’ve led a certain life, even though I’ve been retired for 40 years. This all happened in the 80s and be sitting here at 68 with my son and my granddaughter – I’m not a showbiz person, I’m a very private person and I find it incredible.”

She added of the ITV drama: “I think everyone here knows me well enough to know if I didn’t like it I would say so. It’s fantastic. All the actors – great roles, the small roles – the writers, all of them have just done an incredible job.”

Learn more about Jeanne

Jane airs its first episode on ITV1 on September 29, with all six episodes becoming available on ITVX following the broadcast of the first episode. The drama will air on The CW in the United States.

Assistant TV editor

Previously a television journalist The mirrorRebecca now carries out expert analysis of the television landscape to digital spywhen she’s not talking on the BBC or Times Radio about everything from the latest season of The Bridgerton Chronicles Or The White Lotus to the chaos that unfolds in the different love island villas.

When she’s not binging on a box set, Rebecca’s sightings in the wild include appearances on the red carpets of the National TV Awards and BAFTAs, as well as post-match explainer videos from the reality TV show that we all watch.