Film of infamous murder

Jan 21 2008 by Neil Mckay, The Journal

A FILM based on one of the North-East’s most notorious murders is planned.

The script centres on the murder of gaming machine collector Angus Sibbet in South Hetton, near Peterlee, County Durham, in January 1967.

The killing became known as the One-Armed Bandit murder and partly inspired the 1971 gangster classic Get Carter, starring Michael Caine and Britt Eckland and set in the North-East.

In an effort to attract funding for Bandits, the film’s producers Tanner Films are staging a presentation outlining the project and inviting people to try the trench coat worn by Caine in Get Carter.

Tanner Films was formed by former journalist Patrick Lavelle more than 18 months ago with the sole purpose of producing Bandits.

So far the project has attracted about £75,000 in private development funding and has some fairly big names attached, including that of Sunderland-born Oscar-winning producer David Parfitt.

Mr Lavelle said: “I have had to do Dragons’ Den-style pitches to several people to secure the investment so far but we need another big push to let people know how successful this could be.

“It is my firmly-held belief that this feature film could do just as much for the North-East in terms of films as Get Carter did in 1971.”

The presentation, titled A North-East Movie in the Making, will be held at 4pm in Sunderland’s Roker Hotel on Tuesday.

Anyone interested in attending should contact Tanner Films on (0191) 528-2263.