Cronin Cuts Loose

Sex beast John Cronin is on the loose again. Seems this is his reason for being in life - when he is not conning old priests. For a time I had a direct line in to Cronin (although he didn't know that) and it led to many a splash as well as a High Court appearance for contempt.

I love the tale of when Cronin was lifted for robbing St Mary's Cathedral in Edinburgh years back. He was questioned at length but refused to stray from his line that he was a bona fide Irish priest and there had been some kind of mix up. His accent, mannerisms, the whole shooting match was totally convincing, which impressed the seasoned cops grilling him but the interview was going nowhere.

So the DS called a halt and gave Cronin the ultimatum: "We're going to give you five minutes and come back in. If you persist with this priest shit we are going to kick **** out of you." He sang like a choirboy.

But if Cronin is rampaging through the country - or more likely in Ireland - it must mean it's time for Scottish Television to roll out that old footage of me and others in the hack pack chasing down the fruitcake as he legged it from Haddington Sheriff Court.

So for a laugh, here is the clip (timed 2.52). Others giving chase are Simon Houston, Stevie Smith (now reinvented as a lawyer) Nick Thorpe and the late Geoff Brown.