Geoff Garvey: Evening Standard crime reporter who was never off duty, dies at 70

 
Hard-working: Geoff Garvey was renowned as a dedicated reporter

Journalist Geoff Garvey, a former crime correspondent at the Evening Standard, has died at the age of 70.

Garvey worked for the newspaper during the early Nineties when violent crime in London was soaring and the capital was under attack from the IRA.

Renowned as a hard-working reporter who was never off duty, he also ran the Ferrari Press Agency for 30 years.

Brought up in Chatham, Kent, he joined the local newspaper at the age of 17 but dabbled in music management in his spare time.

He started a talent night at the Rochester Casino Rooms where up-and-coming bands could try to catch the attention of promoters. One night a friend arrived with a band he hoped Garvey would manage.

They started to perform, but Garvey was horrified and pulled the plug halfway through a song. When the friend asked why he had stopped them playing, Garvey replied: “Sorry, you were awful. And if I were you I’d get rid of that singer.” The singer — apparently — was David Bowie.

Garvey retired from the Standard after being diagnosed with a heart condition, brought on, it was said, by early starts on the paper and late nights hunting for stories. He began freelancing, reporting on royal stories for Australian magazines.

In 1997 he married Diane Blackwell, a contact on a magazine in Sydney he used to speak to every night.

Garvey died peacefully at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Woolwich on March 6. He leaves behind Diane and two children, Antony and Sue.

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