This programme in 1991 was prompted by the assassination of Gary Thompson, the millionaire hot
dog and burger overlord of the Midlands. He was murdered as he returned home with tens of
thousands of pounds in takings in the boot of his Rolls Royce. He controlled all the best sites and
those traders who did not meet his terms were subjected to intimidation, violence and fire
bombings. Thompson’s death sparked allout war as rivals fought to take over his empire. It was a
prize worth seizing. Over a weekend, big music and sporting events could produce an income of
£250,000.

And the team was to discover, that at small locations – burger stalls on street corners in London and
across the country – gangs were in control and violence was rife. Roger Cook was in the middle of it
and the target of some of it. Some of the characters involved were as bizarre as they were vicious.
In the Midlands, Joe Persico, a man with convictions for kidnap and torture, was a leading contender
to take over the Thompson empire. He first threatened to kill Cook – and then abruptly changed
tack and offered to buy the Cook Report mobile burger van following the publicity the film had given
it. It was an extraordinary programme that exposed the underworld behind the everyday and
produced a huge audience response.

Roger Cook Reports
This is an independent, not for profit channel celebrating the pioneering investigative work of The Cook Report, its presenter Roger Cook and the team behind him. Nothing like his series was made before or has been made since.

We have acquired most of these episodes unofficially by reaching out to the Great British public. So some of what we’ve found is not the best technical quality and we don’t have the copyright, which belongs to ITV. Do you have any old Cook Report programmes in your VHS collection? If so, we would appreciate it if you would allow us to digitise and share them on the channel. Thanks in advance! Email: [email protected]

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