Cop v Robber - London Gangster Sits Down with Former Cop Peter Bleksley

·1 hr 33 min·5 clips

A London gangster sits down with a former undercover cop to discuss serious crime and police tactics.

The room opens awkwardly. James sets it up as cop against robber, with Danny Simpson joking his way through it and Peter making clear he does not speak with police authority anymore. The banter is funny, but it bites. Peter says he watched Danny's earlier podcast with James, then the two realise they live close enough for Danny to joke about suddenly feeling nervous. Nobody tries to make it tidy. James says he disagrees with Danny's choices, but still keeps him close enough to ask what the pressure is doing to him. Peter brings his own anger too. He describes a file that should not have been made, printed, taken from police premises, or left somewhere it could be stolen. It hurt at the time. He says that anger helped push him to write his autobiography, because putting the grievance on the page gave him somewhere to put it. Then James turns to Danny with a blunt question: after prison, money, cars, and never feeling satisfied, when did his mental health hit its lowest point? Danny says it is happening now. He points to police attention around social media and social services, and says he feels helpless when it reaches his children. Peter does not soften the answer. He tells Danny some things are out of his hands, but some choices still belong to him, especially whether he keeps fighting the police. Danny pushes back hard. He says he was in a company van, wearing company clothes, when Metropolitan Police surrounded him at a BP petrol garage. The argument keeps coming back to responsibility. By the end, the practical point is bleak but clear: stop feeding the cycle, take control where you can, and do not waste a short life.

As heard by us

A former cop and a robber test anger, authority, accountability, and the possibility of moving on.

A former police officer and a robber sit opposite each other in a conversation shaped by distrust, resentment, and the difficult pull of personal responsibility.

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Why you'd press play

Want Danny Simpson and Peter Blakesley across the table for a raw cop-versus-robber conversation about pressure, anger, and changing course?

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