BBC Scotland News
In January 1997, long before the modern events of the online “Podophile Hunters”, a Scottish grandmother gained fame overnight when she successfully fired a guilty child sexual criminal from the Raploch Housing Estate in Sterling.
Margaret ‘Big Mags’ Honey and his brand Justice converted him into a maternal media personality.
One of his most famous demonstrations was on a popular day TV show Kilroy, where he was invited to discuss the ‘Podophile Panic’ that was sweeping the county.
Honey argued with the host of the show, squabbled with other guests, and threatened two people in the audience, clearly disguised, convicted of abusing children.
Her profile sky touched and as a self-style Paddophile Preacher, she began to pop up in protests across the country in her new role.
She was hugged as a salt-to-a-talker, in many quarters to stand for a decent world and take action, as she puts it, cures a problem, no one else was dealing with.
Sometimes with a microphone, sometimes with a placard, if the mags was part of the crowd, she was interested in the press -and the media continued to appear.
“I think it was something at her origin that she really believed,” how Donald, Henny’s granddaughter says, Who has spoken for BBC Podcast for the first time,
“The community was suffering enough without pedophiles.
“He was not the only person who stood. He just happened to shout the most loud.”
But Honey was disturbing a mystery and it was not too long before coming out.
Six months after Honey’s vigilance, and her steep fame increased, the focus of the press shifted to the criminal rap sheet of the Honey family.
Big Mags was the head of the “One Family Crime Wave” responsible for the theft and violence in Sterling.
He was described by Tabloids as “the family of Scotland from hell”.
The Daily Record’s Mark McGivarn recalls, “Some of them could score crimes against his name.”
He says, “The amount of crimes committed by that family in sterling was legend, so they were not great to be around,” they say.
Family crimes were exposed and at the end, with the patience of the local community, Big Mags and Hanies were forced to leave the property by 400 -in -law mob – six months ago to remove Podophile Alan Christie.
The crowd gathered near the Mags flat, “creating an bonfire and put Honey on top”.
As the mantras became strong, the police van was scattered in the Huntly Crescent to stop a riot.
Honey came out in a pink T-shirt and slippers and gave a finger to the crowd as she took away for her safety.
After his exile from the Raploch Estate, Honey was placed in the residence of the Temporary Council.
But there is no other local authority in Scotland or in the north of England, ready to rebuild it, she eventually settled in Lower Bridge Street, away from her old petting ground of a stone.
Through this she remained a reason and the Scottish press still loved a big mags story.
In 2000, a deep mystery emerged about maternal and honey clan.
Mark McGivarn’s newspaper launched its “Shop-e-Deeler” campaign, which encouraged the readers to anonymous tip to the largest heroin dealers in their plans.
The phones were burnt, several callers ringing to put large mags in the frame, exposed it as a big owner of a drug dynasty, who used to drive heroin from his flats.
McGiveern Remember how to fear to celebrate the status of Mags.
“She was a public person, a community leader, quite a large heroin dealer, and she was a gangster,” she says.
The journalist had a well -placed source, which at the top with Mags had a honey drug operation, so he “scratched” around and looked at family members to sell drugs from flats.
MCGIVERN also bought a couple of heroin from Honey Lieutenants as part of his investigation.
Despite being stuff to run the story, he thought he would try his arm directly on the deal with the boss.
“I have gone in, I have been asked to come to the living room and I wondered that the mags was sitting in a throne, a big chair in the middle of the room,” Reporters remember.
“I asked to buy drugs – heroin – and he looked at me and said: ‘We don’t sell heroin here’.
“I was thinking, ‘How am I going to leave from here?”.
Somewhat scared and felt, McGivarn pulled out of the “fort honey”, as it was known, and returned to write his story.
Daily record splashed the face of Mags in the newspaper with “dealer number one” headline.
After a police sting operation. Four members of the Honey clan were arrested for drug crimes and an attempt in the High Court in Edinburgh.
The court heard that in addition to paying £ 1,200 per month in the benefits of Honey State, it was earning £ 1,000 per day from the operation.
Judge, Lady Smith said that the 60 -year -old Mags was the mastermind behind the operation, which was known as “Honey’s Hotel”, dealt with a large amount of heroin.
Honey was imprisoned for 12 years35 -year -old his daughter Daini was sentenced to nine years, 40 -year -old niece Rosen was seven years old and 31 -year -old son Hugh was sentenced to five years.
How was Daina’s daughter just 10 years old when her mother and “Nana” went to jail.
What Kaisi told the BBC, “I remember that I went to school on the morning of his sentence and I came home and they were not just there.”
“This was, ‘Your mother is in jail, but you will see her soon”, how do you say.
“At that time there were many attitude towards him, ‘You have made your bed and you lie in it’, and there was not much idea for everyone.”
Despite these beliefs, local residents and journalists were surprised as to why it took so much time to finish the honey drug operation, which was allegedly extensive in the 1990s.
The members of the Honey family were convicted for their involvement in the 18 -month drug operation which continued to arrest in 2001.
Simon McCalin, a retired police officer who investigated Honeyes, told that BBC podcast Why did he wonder that his drug operation did not stop soon.
“The clear answer is that she was informing,” he said.
“Crime family and organized crime leaders, I have met all these people and I never met one who did not talk to the police at any level.”
Another police source confirmed that Big Mags would provide information to officers.
Mags Hyny died in 2013 at the age of 70.
Twelve years later, Kaisi believes her grandmother’s legacy is more complex than the media depicted in the media.
“Two things can be true at a time,” she says.
“You can be a drug dealer who sold drugs, who potentially kills people, but you can still be a loving grandmother and a good person.
“I still feel that we leave him to tell him his story.”
