In the late 1700s, the shops of west London were terrorised by an all-female crime gang known as the 40 Elephants.
No, this is not a post-Me Too play on gender roles, nor a BBC crime series starring Maxine Peake (although it should be and I would watch that). It’s a true story. Formed around south London’s Elephant and Castle, and allied with the notorious McDonald brothers, the gang had a penchant for dressing well and living the high life – funded, in most part, by organised shoplifting, plundering thousands of pounds worth of goods.
