Article: Rise and fall of the Peacock Gang; Revealed: The East End brothers who staged robberies across Britain to fund their dream of bringing Las Vegas-style casinos to London - and why it is a warning for Mr Blair.

Byline: KEITH DOVKANTS

IF IT had worked, it would have brought a whiff of Las Vegas to some of the meanest streets in London. Nine storeys tall, with the upper levels housing tables for blackjack, roulette and dice, it was to have been crammed with big-money gaming machines. Six floors were to be built with rooms for out-of-town punters, a restaurant and even a gym. It would have been the very model of the new super-casino envisaged in the Government's ambitions to expand gaming in Britain.

It would also have been precisely the menace that critics of the laissezfaire gambling policy most dread.

For the would-be Caesar's Palace planned for a ...

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