Bobby Cummines

Robert Cummines (23 November 1951 – 5 March 2026) was an English rehabilitated business crime leader, protection racketeer, armed robber and criminal enforcer who was chief executive of Unlock, The National Association of Reformed Offenders from April 1999 until March 2012. Despite being described as a gangster in some of the media, Cummines refused the label, saying he never considered himself one, instead stating he was a "businessman whose business was crime".

He described the moment he decided to get into crime, saying as he was walking through Finsbury Park, he noticed two individuals he had previous encounters with and two police officers allegedly mistreated the two during interrogations, which led Cummines to speak up, saying that as the two involved were minors, an adult had to be present during questioning. According to Cummines, the two officers then left for a short period and returned with a straight razor which they threw on the ground in front of him, and said that they would arrest him as well for possession of the blade. He was told that if he pleaded guilty to the possession charge, he would only have to pay a 10-shilling fine, whereas if he chose to proceed to a trial, he would likely be convicted and sentenced to time in a borstal. He pleaded guilty and paid the fine.

Upon returning to his place of work (a shipping office), where his employers had read about the guilty plea in the newspaper, he was dismissed. Cummines said that with a criminal record, it was incredibly difficult to find another job, and so thought "if you're gonna make me a bad guy, I'll show you how bad I can be." He then studied for a degree with the Open University whilst in prison.

Queen Elizabeth II awarded Cummines the OBE in June 2011 in recognition of his services to reformed offenders.

His autobiography, I Am Not a Gangster, was published 15 May 2014 by Random House's Ebury Press imprint.