But a spokeswoman said the film, which opened just over a week ago, was breaking British box-office records for a 18-rated movie, despite moderate reviews. 'People involved in organised crime are leeches on our society, exploiting local communities for their own selfish ends.'įreuds, the PR agency which is promoting Snatch, refused to comment. Mr Abbott said film-makers had forgotten their sense of social responsibility in their desire to make money. 'In this ruthless and very real world, people get threatened and killed.

The threat of force is an essential component. Violence is associated with many aspects of serious and organised crime. 'From David Bailey's portrait of the Kray brothers, the exotic exile of Ronnie Biggs to the current genre of major feature films.there is a concerted attempt to show organised crime as 'a bit of a laugh'.' 'But far more often, the image of organised crime is a darkly glamorous one. 'A graphic example was the dead bodies found in the back of an airtight lorry in Dover. 'I have been keen to illustrate the human misery caused by organised crime,' said Mr Abbott. Mr Abbott criticised three films: Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels - starring the pop singer Sting, the former footballer Vinnie Jones and the bareknuckle fighter Lenny Maclean - Snatch, which features Hollywood star Brad Pitt, and Gangster No 1ĭuring a speech to launch the agency's second annual report, Mr Abbott also condemned the media coverage of the release of the London gangster, Reggie Kray, saying people were looking back at his murderous reign in 1960s east London through 'rose-tinted spectacles.' We can't stop people seeing these films, so we must have confidence the audience knows the difference.'

'There is a huge gulf between fiction and reality. What filmgoers must realise is that the type of people our detectives deal with are vicious and very unpleasant. 'They come in and out of fashion and currently they are the vogue. 'These types of films are not new,' said a spokesman. Mr Abbott's remarks won immediate support from the National Crime Squad, which works closely with NCIS.

The agency, which gathers intelligence on underworld figures and identifies the latest crime trends and trafficking routes, has also been alarmed at the number of murders linked to low-level criminality. Although Mr Abbott admitted there was no proven link between the genre and rising crime, he pointed to a disturbing use of violence by minor figures in the underworld in the last two years, particularly from drug dealers trying to recover small debts.

Lock stock smoking barrels