Irene Radford was a major villainess in The Bill in 2004.
Background[]
Irene was originally born in the UK. From her own words, her father was a villain and she married Leonard Radford. At somepoint in the 80s a WPC ambushed a diamond raid and nearly arrested Irene. Coincidentally, that officer was Gina Gold.
In 1983 Len was involved in a cash van robbery, and the Flying Squad ambushed the job. One of the officers was Brian Thatcher. It appears Len was shot by Thatcher, but suddenly, Thatcher was shot and died. Irene moved to Spain with her sons Wayne and David, while religious son Karl stayed put, and became a priest. For years it was believed that Len killed Thatcher, until a murder inquiry in late 2004. The gun used had bullets that matched the calibre in the Brian Thatcher case. Several attempts were made to arrest Irene and her sons Wayne and David were made by Brian's son, Sun Hill DC Rob Thatcher. Finally Wayne was jailed for intent to supply, however, soon after he was found dead in his cell. Later in the murder inquiry DC Ken Drummond and now-Inspector Gina Gold, who both knew Irene in the past, discover the person who shot Brian Thatcher. Rob finds the tape and goes on a warpath where he beats up David and lures Irene to a local forest. He manages to get a gun from her, the same one that killed his father. David arrives and shoots Rob in the arm, wounding him. However, arrive. David drops his gun and is arrested for attempted murder. As Rob lowers his gun, Tony and Reg swoop in on David, and Rob makes a run for it. Irene vanishes and returns to Spain, but she comes back. It appears she has come to break David out of a prison van. This fails and she abducts Gold. After holding the inspector hostage in a warehouse and ordering the execution of Len's accomplice Jack Gaunt to stop him testifying against her, Irene drives to a local airfield, but SO19 and police surround her getaway plane. As Gina convinces her to surrender Rob appears and shoots her dead. After a standoff, Rob is shot dead by SO19.
Irene was portrayed by the late Lynda Bellingham.