Liverpool’s gangsters’ molls: The women linked to some of the city’s most notorious criminals as gangland family drama This City is Ours returns to screens
The BBC crime drama *This City Is Ours* has returned for a second season, prompting renewed attention to the women connected to Liverpool’s criminal families. The article describes how partners and relatives are portrayed as drawn into the power and risks of gang life, while noting that the series has faced criticism for potentially glamourising crime.
The new season follows Michael Kavanagh and Diana Williams as they are pulled back into the underworld amid questions about a Colombian cocaine supplier’s death and a power struggle in the Phelan family. It also profiles characters Elaine Phelan, Cheryl Crawford and Rachel Duffy, then turns to real-life cases, including Kayleeanne Sweeney, partner of Thomas Cashman, who was jailed for murdering nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel in 2023. The article says women’s attraction to criminal partners can involve status, familiarity with criminality and perceptions of danger as power.
In short
- *This City Is Ours* returns with a story of family ties and gangland power.
- Its women characters are drawn into the criminal underworld.
- The article also examines real-life partners of Liverpool gangsters.
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The case for
A drama about women connected to criminal families can show how status, danger and family ties shape their choices, while giving attention to people often left at the edges of crime stories. Supporters may argue that depicting this world does not endorse it, and can prompt discussion about the pressures and consequences surrounding gang life.
The case against
Critics may argue that presenting criminal partners through glamour, romance or family drama risks making gang life seem exciting and obscuring the harm it causes. That concern is especially serious when fictional portrayals sit alongside real cases involving grave violence, whose victims and wider effects may receive less attention.
Explained simply
This City Is Ours is a BBC crime drama set around Liverpool’s criminal underworld. Its fictional families and characters are caught up in disputes over power and the risks that come with criminal activity.
The story also looks at women who are partners or relatives of criminals, both in the drama and in real cases. One example is Kayleeanne Sweeney, the partner of Thomas Cashman, who was jailed in 2023 for murdering nine-year-old Olivia Pratt-Korbel.
The series has prompted criticism that it may make crime seem glamorous. The subject matters because it raises questions about how criminal families affect those close to them, and how danger, status and familiarity with crime can shape relationships.