Jimmy Boyle

Who is Jimmy Boyle?

Jimmy Boyle is a Scottish sculptor, novelist and convicted murderer.

In 1967 he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the murder of another gangland figure, William "Babs" Rooney. During his incarceration in the special unit of Barlinnie Prison, he turned to art and wrote an autobiography, A Sense of Freedom, which has since been filmed and starred David Hayman as Jimmy.

On his release from prison he moved to Edinburgh to continue his artistic career. He designed the largest concrete sculpture in Europe called "Gulliver" for The Craigmillar Festival Society in 1976. The following year he co-wrote the play The Hardman with Tom McGrath, premiered at the Traverse Theatre.

Boyle has also published Pain of Confinement: Prison Diaries, and a novel, Hero of the Underworld. The latter was adapted for a French film, La Rage et le Rêve des Condamnés, and won the best documentary prize at the Fifa Montreal awards in 2002. He also has written a forthcoming novel, A Stolen Smile, which is about the theft of the Mona Lisa and how it ends up hidden on a Scottish housing estate; Disney reportedly bought the film rights.