Behind the Mask: the Games Players (MF/MFmf)

[KP Presents]

Good evening, and welcome to Behind the Mask – and in the studio tonight we have two special guests who have come to tell some stories, and also to address some rumours and concerns that have recently arisen. We are pleased to welcome tonight The Games Players. Thank you for joining us tonight.

It’s our pleasure to be here.

We have agreed, in advance, to refer to you, the Male Games Player, as S and to your partner as T. Perhaps, S, you could start by reminding our viewers what brought you to this career?

Well, I have mentioned before I needed to raise some money fast, but there were two influences in my choice of modus operandi, if you will, both in the media. One is a well-known film where one man holds a mother and daughter hostage while his partner robs a supermarket, and the other an episode of an old sci-fi show where a man finds himself again holding a mother and daughter hostage.

But the idea of making it like a game to keep the kids calm, I take credit for that at least. As for T, well – I robbed one family where she and her niece were present, and I guess I made an impression.

Is that right, T?

It is – I can’t go into exactly how I ended up doing this after the event, but I found I had a knack for it as well, so we joined forces.

And very successfully to – but we want to give you to chance to address the accusation that has been made in some quarters about how you treat those people you rob. I am not going to go into the rather mucky details of the accusation, but perhaps you can start with a general comment S?

Well, simply put, it’s not true, and I do wander about the state of mind of some people who read the reports of what happened. Yes, there have been times when we have had to secure young children, but that is all – nothing else, and certainly nothing of the nature the accusations suggest. If we ever came across anyone doing that, we would report them to the police, never mind anyone else.

Yes, we are robbers, but that is as far as it goes – we do nothing that, if a member of our families asked us to do as a game, we would not do.

Perhaps you can give a recent example to illustrate the way you do work, S?

Well, a short time ago I was visiting a young family in Leicester – the man of the house ran a chain of local shops, and although the family photos we found showed their Muslim faith, his wife still had some very fetching jewellery on.

I picked an afternoon when she and her two daughters would be at home to visit, and her husband was at work. I wore my usual attire – a dark jumper and pants, and trainers, but as I made my way up the side of the house I put on black gloves, and also pulled the stocking down over my head.

The rear garden was empty, and the kitchen door unlocked, so I let myself in – and surprised the lady of the house as I did so. She was wearing a black and white checked long sleeved tunic with tiered sleeves, a pair of black leggings and peach coloured trainers – as well as a black scarf over her egad, and a peach-coloured hijab over her head, neck and shoulders.

She stared at me as I assured her I meant her and her family no harm – but I was there to rob them, and as such I needed to make sure they could not raise the alarm. I needed her to be calm first, before I explained how she would have to help me convince her daughters this was a special game.

How old were her daughters?

Twelve and eight. I kept my voice calm and reassuring, so that she believed me, and asked what I was going to do. I started by asking her to turn round and put her hands behind her back, nd then drawing a length of cord from my rucksack and securing her wrists together. I tend to prefer cord, and soon she had them secured as I asked her to take me to her daughters, and tell them about the game.

They were sitting in the front room, watching television – and both were wearing a black and white checked top, black leggings and peach trainers. The older girl was wearing a sleeveless dress with a matching belt tied round her waist. She also had a peach-coloured cardigan on.

Her younger sister was wearing a long-sleeved top with thin spaghetti straps over her shoulders, the sleeves pulled down to show she was wearing a black top underneath, and a peach denim fringed skirt over her leggings. Both of them also had long brown hair.

At first, they were scared, but their mother played her part magnificently as she said they were all going to play a game of robbers and cops, and they were going to be the eons robbed. She let them see her wrists, and told them it did not hurt, before they agreed to let me bind their wrists together behind their back as well and they sat on the couch. I then knelt down as their mother sat in an armchair, and used more lengths of cord to secure their ankles together, as well as their legs below their knees.

Did they try to call for help, or were they scared?

They soon calmed down and believed it was a game, as I made them promise they would not call for help while I took their mother round the house. Once I had her jewellery and valuables, I took her back and sat her in the armchair again, securing her ankles and legs like her daughters before I said I was going to have to make sure they really could not raise the alarm. I didn’t go as far as securing their arms to their sides- they really wanted to make this a game.

I used white micropore tape over their mouths and told them not to try to escape for half an hour, before I left them – happy, secured, silenced, but that was all – and that is all I ever do, even if I secure the people of the house more tightly.

If I may turn to you, T, another accusation that has been made is you only target families where the mother and daughters are present. Is that true?

I wish! Take a visit I paid recently – for those who do not know, I tend to wear a brown jumper and leggings with knee length boots, but the gloves and mask are like S. Anyway, I was in the Bolton area visiting this home, but when I went in it was very quiet – and when I looked in the front room, there was a thirteen-year-old boy lying on his stomach on the floor, reading a book.

He was wearing a blue sweatshirt and jeans, with black socks – and had short black hair – as well as I imagine a startled look when I hand gagged him, and told him I had come to play a surprise game with him and his parents. He mumbled something, so I asked if he had ever watched an adventure series where a family was held hostage. He nodded, so I said this game was where he and his parents were going to be the hostage- and I was capturing him first.

I asked if he was going to call for help, and he shook his head before I took my hand away, and then crossed his wrists behind his back before I bound them together. He said it felt nice, as I got him to stand up and then used a longer rope to tie his arms to his sides, and then sat him on the couch before I tied his ankles together and his legs below his knees.

As I did this, I asked where his parents were, and he said they would be home soon, so I said we needed to make sure they were surprised by him. So once I had him secured, I rolled up a blue bandana and cleave gagged him with it, before I stood behind him and waited.

It was ten minutes later when the door opened and his mother came in, removing a white coat and peach scarf to reveal a grey jumper and jeans tucked into knee length brown suede boots. She stopped and stared at her son – before her husband came in behind her and asked what was going on.

I said I was here to play the game of Family Hostage they had booked through the agency – and when they looked at me with my hand on their son’s shoulder, and then looked at each other, I literally counted down in my mind the time it would take for them to say they hoped he was having fun. He nodded his head and smiled over the gag, as I said the next sage was going to be hat his dad tied up his mum, and then I tied his dd up, as I held some ropes in my free hand.

The little boy was fascinated as he watched his father secure his mother’s wrists behind her back, and then tied the rope round her arms and chest before she was sat on the floor, and he secured her ankles and legs. I then gave him a second bandana and told him to cleave gag her, before I started to tie the man of the house up as well.

Before long, he was sitting next to his wife, tightly cleave gagged too, as I sat down and looked at all of them. They wriggled round, the ropes holding their arms to their sides, before I said I was going to keep a lookout for the police and left them – taking their valuables before I finally left the house. But again – bound, gagged and that was all.

Have you ever had to deal with sons and fathers, S?

Sons and fathers, no – sons and their mother…

This was in Notting Hill, just before the carnival, so late July or early August. This particular family had a mother who worked in local television, while their father was a music producer – so a lot of opportunity to research them and their two sons, who were five and nine.

Because of where their terraced house was, I had to take a slightly more – dramatic approach to get access, so I walked up to the front door and rang the doorbell, before quickly looking round and pulling the stocking down over my head. It was the mother who answered the door – her long black hair was in ringlets that fell over her dark-skinned shoulders, and she was wearing a pair of light blue culottes with a yellow leotard that hugged her - quite frankly, large chest.

I ignored that however as I used the starting pistol I carried to make her walk back in and closed the door behind myself, before pressing her back against the wall and hand gagging her as I explained what it was I wanted her to do. I personally do not like to take such a violent approach, but this occasion it was necessary, as she slowly nodded and then turned round.

I had a large roll of silver tape in my rucksack, so I took that out, tore the end loose, and then crossed and taped her wrists tightly together before I wound the tape round her arms and body, forming two bands so that all she could do was twist round. That was when her sons came down the stairs and asked their mother what was going on.

Her older son had close cut dark hair, and was wearing glasses, while her younger son had his hair in corn rows – but they were both wearing short sleeved shirts and shorts, black with a yellow and blue plant pattern on them. While their mother was barefoot, they were both wearing white trainers with blue laces.

Well, their mother was a pro – she told them they were going to be playing a game where they were robbed and stopped from raising the alarm, because the ‘bad robber’ was going to tape them all up.

I wasn’t sure how they would react – but high fiving each other was not on the list of possibilities, which is what they did. So I made them walk into the front room and turn the television on, before their mother sat in the centre of a long couch, and then watch as I taped her sons’ wrists and arms in the same way as hers.

They sat either side of her as I took the tape, and wound it round their mother’s legs from below her knees to her ankles. I did the same to the two boys, before I told them not to try to call for help.

Well, her younger son said he would unless I stopped him, so I had to put strips of silver tape over the mouths of all three of them before I searched the house – but I did not want them to be scared, so I came back with some cartons of juice, and let each of them have a drink before I re-gagged them and told them to wait thirty minutes before they tried to escape…


Which I am sure they did – T, I was wondering if there has been an occasion for you when the story was just not going to work?

Making it a game? Again, it does happen sometimes – I was actually paying a visit in Scotland, on the outskirts of Edinburgh to the home a distillery manager. When I entered the house from the rear, his wife was in the kitchen with a young King Charles spaniel curled up in his basket. She was in her late forties with long brown hair, and was wearing a light grey vest top, blue pants and black trainers.

I put a finger to my stocking covered lips when she saw me, and pulled a chair away from the table before I indicated she should sit down. I sat in another chair and quietly explained what I wanted her to do – and she just said her sons would never believe it was a game, and she wanted to be honest with them.

I asked if that would make them afraid and upset, but she shook her head and said they would accept it, so I secured her wrists together behind her back and then her arms to her sides before and I walked her to the front room in front of me.

Well, I saw why she preferred to be hones with her sons – one was fifteen, and the other seventeen, both with short black hair and wearing grey t-shirts, black training pants and black trainers. They both stood up as I walked in, but their mother told them they were being robbed, and she wanted hem to do what I said so nobody would get hurt.

SO there I was, a masked and armed woman with their mother tied up in front of them wondering what they were going to do – so I let out a sigh of relief when they looked at each other, and then both raised their hands. I told their mother to take a seat, and then walked behind the younger of the two, slipping my rucksack off and pulling some rope out before I took his hands behind his back and bound his wrists together.

A longer length of rope went around his arms nd upper body as well, before I did the same thing to his older brother, and then told them both to sit on the floor and stretch their legs out. I then knelt down with more lengths of rope, and secured their ankles together as well as their legs below their knees, before I helped their mother to lie face down on the couch she was sitting on, and did the same thing to her legs nd ankles. I then compressed a sponge ball in my gloved hand and pushed it into her mouth, before I pressed white micropore tape down over her lips as well.

I did the same to her boys, before I helped them both to lie on their stomachs nd hogtied them – and then I did the same to their mother. They knew this was a real robbery, so I had to make very sure they really could not raise the alarm a I left them on the floor.

When I came back, they were still there, and their mother had rolled onto her side as she looked at me. I checked the ropes and the gags, and then left them there for their husband and father to find as their spaniel came in and started sniffing round them…


What I think these stories show is you genuinely try not to frighten the families you visit too much – and hopefully reassure people the worst thing you do is tie them up and gag them. I wonder, S, if you could tell me of the most unusual visit you have recently made?

Well, this was in the press recently, and it was discussed on the discussion board some of the kids we have visited share stories on, so…

John Brecon is a successful businessman with a wife, Janette, and two sons, eleven-year-old Sam and seven-year-old Jack. We had both been wondering when to visit them, but the opportunity arose a couple of months ago, and so it was I walked up the driveway of their detached house one afternoon when John was not present.

The garage entrance was open, so I walked in and put on the gloves and mask before letting myself into the kitchen area. It was large, neat – and the family were sitting round the table having lunch as they looked at me.

Janette Brecon was wearing a grey cardigan, the sleeves pulled up to her elbows, over a black knee length dress with white polka dots, and flat black leather shoes, as she said “what the – who are you?”

“I’m here for the game of Family Hostages you booked through our agency,” I said as I looked at the other two, “but I was told it was for a mother and two sons, Sam and Jack. Are they at home?”

“I prefer Samantha,” the older child said as they looked at me. they had long blonde hair like Janette, and were wearing a white cap sleeved top with a design of clothes on the front, a purple lace puffball skirt over a black and white striped one, purple spangly tights and mid-calf black quilted leather boots.

“And I’m Jacqueline.” The younger child said. They had short light brown hair, a small blue bow tied round a little pigtail on the top, and was wearing a light blue cardigan over a blue polo shirt, a knee length grey skirt, knee length black socks nd black Mary Jane shoes.

“Ah,” I said quietly, “well, Samantha and Jacqueline, your mother and father have hired me to pretend to be a robber who has come to steal their valuables. That mean all three of you need to be sopped from moving round and raising the alarm, but I promise you it will not hurt. Will it, Mum?”

“No – it will be like in the e films,” Janette finally said as she continued to look at me.

“That’s right, a mother and daughters held hostage by the bad man,” I said as I sat down. “So why don’t you finish your lunch, and then we can get started, all right?”

You let them finish their lunch?

I did – and then we went to the main room of the house, and I asked Janette to close the curtains over the windows while Samantha and Jacqueline sat back-to-back on the floor, and linked their arms before putting their hands together in front of themselves.

Janette sat and watched as I took lengths of rope from my rucksack, and secured the wrists of her children together in front of themselves, before I bent their legs and used more rope to tie their ankles together, as well as their legs below their knees. They then stretched their legs out as I secured their wrists to the band of rope around their legs below their knees.

I then went over to Janette, and told her to put her hands palm down on her head as I secured her own ankles tightly together, and her legs below her knees as well. Once they were secured, it was simple matter to tie her wrists together in front of her as well, and then tie them down to her leg binding. That way, they were all the same – at that point.

Samantha and Jacqueline then watched as I used longer rope to secure their mother’s arms to her sides, both of them moving – or trying – to move their legs as Samantha’s boots squeaked from rubbing together. I then used another longer rope to tie their upper arms to their sies – but a single band, not a double one like their mother, given they were already held together by their arms and elbows.

I left them there like that, talking quietly as I searched the house, and then I came back with three of Janette’s headscarves – which made very effective gags for her and her daughters, as I told them rescue would come soon. I believe most people will have seen the reports in the papers…

Finally for tonight, T, what has been your most memorable recent visit?

Grandpa Joe – the venue was in the Northwest, a farmhouse where it was the local county show, and I drove right into the yard of the farmhouse before I let myself in through the front door.

I could hear talking in the kitchen, so I walked along to see a grey-haired man sitting there, wearing a blue denim shirt and light-coloured pants as well as brown shoes. Sitting with him were two young children – an eight-year-old girl with brown hair in pigtails, wearing a cream-coloured dress with short sleeves and white lace-like short boots, and a seven-year-old boy with short ginger hair wearing a white ab drown striped t-shirt and tan pants with grey trainers.

They all looked at me before the girl said “Grandpa Joe, who is this?”

Well, he looked at me for a minute, before he said “Well, you know the stories I write about the jewel thief and the kids who keep thwarting her?”

They both nodded as he looked at me, and said “well, it looks like we are her next victims – so we are going to be like the families in the stories.” They both looked at me and clapped my hand at the idea, before e I said “that’s right – so I need to get Grandpa Joe here to help me make sure neither of you can raise the alarm.” Slipping off my rucksack, I took some length of cord out and handed them to Joe, saying “tie their wrists together behind their backs.”

“Don’t worry, I’m not going to hurt you, Billy,” he said as he walked behind the boy and took his hands behind his back.

“I know you won’t, Grandpa Joe,” the young boy said as I watched him tie the rope round his wrists, tightly and neatly.

“Your turn now, Edie,” he said as he took care of the young girl as well, before he looked at me.

“I need you al in the same room -take me to the main room,” I said, the children standing up and walking in front of their grandfather, and me following behind before we went to a large room with a television on the wall.

“Turn it on – the noise will drown out any attempts to summon help,” I said as their grandfather turned on the television, and the two children stay on a couch. I then tied Joe’s wrists together, behind his back, as he said “we won’t raise the alarm or try and escape, so please don’t tie us too tightly.”

“I have your word?”

“You have my word,” he said as he sat in an armchair, watching as I sued more rope to secure the ankles and legs of his grandchildren, but they were good children and did as they were told, as in the stories.

I did the same to their grandfather as well, before I took a roll of Elastoplast out of my rucksack and tore a strip off to smooth over the mouths of his grandchildren. Joe, on the other hand, was bearded – so got the rolled and knotted bandana as a gag instead.

Well, thank you for coming in and sharing some of your stories. They were the Games players, and this was Behind The Mask…