Margaret Haney styled herself as a defender of the community and became a familiar face on TV during the 1990s but behind the headlines she ruled over troubled housing estate.
Margaret “Big Mags” Haney cast a long shadow over Stirling’s troubled Raploch estate.
The chain-smoking grandmother-of-dozens first hit the headlines in the 1990s when she fronted a self-styled anti-paedophile campaign.
Appearing on daytime television and portraying herself as a protector of the community, Haney cultivated the image of a fearless local crusader.
But behind the public persona was a very different reality.
Residents of Raploch knew the Haney clan as a family linked to violence, intimidation and criminality which had blighted the estate for years.
And at the centre of it all was Big Mags herself — the matriarch of a heroin-dealing operation that spread misery through the streets of Stirling while raking in vast sums of cash.
Her eventual downfall came only after fed-up locals took a stand.
First, residents forced the Haneys out of Raploch following months of unrest and growing anger over the family’s behaviour.
Then members of the community began passing information to the Daily Record, helping undercover reporters expose the extent of Haney’s drug empire.
When police finally moved in, crowds gathered to watch the notorious crime boss being led away in handcuffs.
Dressed in a pink sweatshirt, leggings and slippers, Haney defiantly raised a clenched fist and shouted: “Get it up you!” as officers bundled her into a police van.
Born in 1942 into a poor crofting family near Stirling, Haney experienced hardship from an early age.
Her father worked as a miner and, after her parents separated, seven-year-old Margaret and two of her siblings were placed in an Edinburgh convent, where she spent six years.
She later settled in Raploch, an estate ravaged during the 1980s and 1990s by unemployment, poverty and drug abuse.
It was there the Haney family became infamous.
Margaret Haney’s criminal convictions dated back to 1975 and included assault, breach of the peace, contempt of court and fraud.
In 1995, Sheriff Norrie Stein famously branded the Haneys “the family from hell”, saying they had terrorised the local community.
Two years later, Haney openly admitted her children had amassed hundreds of court appearances between them.
“My kids have been brought up in the jungle,” she once said.
Despite the family’s reputation, Haney attempted to reinvent herself as a campaigner against child abusers.
She led angry demonstrations after a convicted paedophile was housed on the estate and appeared on the Kilroy television show to discuss protecting youngsters from sex offenders.
But while Haney enjoyed the spotlight, many locals were growing increasingly fearful of the clan’s influence.
Residents accused the family of violence, theft and intimidation, and tensions eventually exploded.
A crowd of around 400 people laid siege to the Haneys’ home, demanding they leave the estate.
When the family were eventually driven out of Raploch, neighbours celebrated in the streets and waved banners marking their departure.
Haney, however, insisted she was the victim of a vendetta.
Stirling Council later rehoused her in a flat on Lower Bridge Street, where several other properties in the block were occupied by members of her extended family.
Locals dubbed the building “Hotel Haney”, while police officers privately referred to it as “Fortress Haney”.
Behind closed doors, Haney was building what prosecutors would later describe as a major heroin supply operation.
In 2000, the Daily Record launched its Shop-A-Dealer hotline, asking readers to report suspected drug dealers in their communities.
Call after call identified Haney as Stirling’s most notorious heroin supplier.
Undercover reporters began investigating and uncovered evidence that the grandmother was selling hundreds of £10 wraps of heroin every week while claiming more than £1,200 a month in benefits.
Her council flat operated as the hub of the business, with drugs allegedly sold openly in front of young grandchildren.
Visitors described Haney sitting in a large chair inside the flat — a seat referred to as her “throne” — while relatives and runners carried out deliveries on her behalf.
Cash generated by the operation was hidden in bags and stashed beneath beds in homes linked to the family.
The Record’s investigation resulted in undercover purchases of heroin directly from Haney before a dossier of evidence was handed to police.
At the High Court in Glasgow in 2003, prosecutors outlined the scale of the operation.
Haney admitted running a heroin network worth around £250,000 a year over an 18-month period.
Prosecutor Drew Mackenzie described her as the undisputed controller of the business.
“Haney sat in her house like a queen and she was money-motivated,” he told the court.
At the time, Haney was 60 years old and walked with the aid of a stick.
Also in the dock were three relatives — daughter Diane, son Hugh and niece Rose-ann — all of whom pleaded guilty alongside her midway through the trial.
Haney was jailed for 12 years and served half of the sentence at Cornton Vale before being released in 2009.
She never returned to Stirling, instead being rehoused in Alva, Clackmannanshire.
In later life, Haney suffered a series of serious health problems and spent her final years in poor health.
She died from cancer in 2013 at the age of 70.
Even towards the end of her life, controversy continued to follow the Haney name.
While confined to a wheelchair, she was once asked about a relative who had been jailed for contempt of court during a murder trial.
Big Mags replied: “She’s brought total shame on the whole of the family.”
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