Arthur Thompson Jr — known as “Arty” to distinguish him from his father, Arthur Thompson Sr, known as “The Godfather” — wasn’t a real gangster. He used his father’s reputation to threaten, terrorize and generally bully people who, in his opinion, had offended the family honour, or himself personally. He was a short, wide, flash individual who dressed as if he were a Hollywood gangster — an affectation that earned him derision from the real gangsters of his time. In the newspapers, he was simply known as Fat Boy.
He and his father lived in two adjacent houses on the Blackhill Estate — one of the roughest in Glasgow — both heavily protected and known locally as “The Ponderosa”.