‘Joan’, which premiered on The CW in October 2024, tells the story of British jewelry thief Joan Hannington

Sophie Turner in “Joan”. Photo: ITV

Joan Hannington calls herself “Britain’s most notorious jewel thief.”

In the late 1970s, Hannington’s life was in great turmoil. She’d left her allegedly violent husband, convicted armed robber Ray Pavey, and her daughter, Debbie, was placed into foster care. Desperate to turn her life around, she landed a job at a jewelry store in London and began to steal from the store’s safe. She didn’t stuff the diamonds in her pockets or purse, though; she stole by swallowing them.

“Best bank in the world is your tummy. Best safety-deposit box invented,” Hannington wrote in her 2002 memoir I Am What I Am.

She quickly rose from amateur thief to one of London’s top criminal masterminds after meeting her husband Benny Boisie, born Ronald Thomas Hannington, an antiques dealer who taught her more about the art of thieving.

The CW and ITV’s mini-series Joan, which premiered on Oct. 2 and stars Sophie Turner, is based on Hannington’s 2002 memoir.

“I took a lot of anecdotes from the book, but I really hope — and I think I did from Joan’s reaction when she saw it — [we] capture the emotional truth of her as a character,” creator Anna Symon, who worked with Hannington to write the screenplay, told Cosmopolitan.

Here’s everything to know about the real events that inspired Joan.

Is Joan based on a true story? 

Sophie Turner in “Joan”.ITV

Yes! Joan is based on Joan Hannington’s 2002 memoir I Am What I Am: The True Story of Britain’s Most Notorious Jewel Thief.

Hannington was born in 1957 to working-class Irish parents. She was one of six children and lived in London’s East End. She ran away from home at age 13 after years of alleged physical abuse at the hands of her father.

At age 17, she married convicted armed robber Ray Pavey. Together, the couple had a daughter named Debbie. Hannington eventually split from Pavey, who had allegedly grown abusive, and Debbie was placed in foster care.

Desperate to turn her life around and regain custody of Debbie, she got a job at a high-end jewelry store in London. Access to the store’s safe presented a get-rich-quick opportunity.

“One day, I was sent to the safe at the back of the shop, where the CCTV cameras didn’t operate, to collect some loose diamonds. I opened the safe and trays of brilliant white stones glittered back at me,” she wrote in her 2024 book Joan. “My heart galloping, I grabbed a handful of diamonds off each tray and swallowed them. I didn’t know it at the time, but I’d swallowed about £800,000 of stones.”

Roughly 12 hours later, the diamonds passed through her system and Hannington sanitized them in a bowl of gin. The store never realized they were missing inventory and Hannington sold a few to gem dealers before hiding the remainder in a tin, which she buried near her London apartment.

Hannington quit working at the jewelry shop a few months later and eventually met antiques dealer and skilled thief Boisie. He was 17 years her senior and taught her everything from check and credit fraud to counterfeiting.

Boisie and Hannington became the definition of partners in crime, running a multi-million-dollar criminal enterprise together — stealing, writing counterfeit checks and dealing fake antiques. Hannington honed her jewelry theft skills, often dressing up in disguises to visit jewelry stores. While there, she’d try on various diamond rings and commit the details of one ring to memory. After having a counterfeit ring made, she’d return to the store and make the swap — faking a sneeze and swallowing the ring before handing the fake ring back to the sales assistant.

“I would leave the shop feeling ecstatic. I never felt guilty. I knew the jewels and antiques were insured and I only stole from people who could afford it,” Hannington wrote in her 2002 book. “Swallowing diamonds was my life, my buzz, my drug. It was the only thing that I really liked doing … to me, I had a gift. The world was my stage and I played my roles to perfection.”

The couple spent their millions on cars, clothes and expensive trips around the world. Hannington wrote that she once had “11 fur coats and 2,000 pairs of shoes.”

In 1980, at age 24, Hannington was arrested for using a stolen checkbook. She was sentenced to 30 months in prison, but before reporting to Holloway Prison, she married Boisie. The only other time Hannington was ever arrested was after she stole a car to visit Debbie in foster care.

According to Luxury London, she got yet another job at a jewelry store upon her release from Holloway and continued swallowing diamonds. Hannington, who had earned the nickname “The Godmother,” left her criminal past behind after Boisie died. He was killed in an explosion while allegedly attempting to burn down a house for the insurance money.

She decided to “go straight” for her son, Benny, whom she’d welcomed with Boisie in 1987.

“I had more than enough money to last for life. I sold [Boisie’s] antique shops, cleared out my home and started afresh in Islington, North London,” she said in a 2003 interview with the Scottish Daily Record, according to The Mirror.

What is Joan about? 

Sophie Turner in “Joan”.ITV

The ITV and CW series Joan follows Hannington’s story. The titular character, played by Sophie Turner, leaves her abusive husband, Gary (Nick Blood), and puts her daughter, Kelly (Mia Millichamp-Long), in foster care as she’s unable to support her.

Willing to go to any lengths to reunite with her daughter, Hannington lands a job at a jewelry store and takes advantage of unrestricted (and unsupervised) access to the company’s vault. She begins stealing diamonds by ingesting them.

When she meets a man named Boisie (Frank Dillane), a thief moonlighting as an antiques dealer, Hannington embraces a life of crime, swallowing countless jewels and making millions.

During an interview with Telly Visions, creator Anna Symon spoke about collaborating with the real-life Joan Hannington on the TV series.

“When we first met, she said, ‘I don’t want you to tell my story on screen unless you dramatize or in some way bring out my childhood because I think that explains some of the decisions that I made.’ She said that quite clearly,” Symon told the outlet. “I would have done that anyway because I wanted people to know where this extraordinary character originated.”

Hannington later endorsed the fictionalized account of her life in Joan. “I think everybody here knows me well enough to know if I didn’t like it, I’d say so. It’s fantastic. All the actors – big parts, the little parts – the writers, all of them have just done an amazing job,” she said at the premiere, per Digital Spy.

How many diamonds did Joan Hannington steal? 

Sophie Turner in “Joan”.ITV

Hannington herself is uncertain how many diamonds she swallowed or pieces of jewelry she managed to swap with fakes.

According to her 2002 memoir, she ingested roughly 20 diamond rings and swapped over half a million pounds worth of diamond bracelets for counterfeits at the second jewelry store that employed her. This was in addition to the more than £800,000 worth of stones she stole from the first store.

“Benny and I accumulated thousands of pounds a week in stolen gems, which we stashed at a bank in private deed boxes,” Hannington told the Scottish Daily Record of her criminal partnership with Boisie. “I had no idea of the total value of our cash and assets, but it must have run into millions.”

Where is Joan Hannington now? 

Joan Hannington in 2024.Jonathan Hordle/ITV/Shutterstock

Despite her best efforts, Hannington never regained custody of Debbie. She also never served prison time related to jewel thieving. Today, Hannington lives on the south coast of England with her two dogs and remains close to her son Benny, who now has a daughter of his own.

“Big up my beautiful mum. A real warrior, a true soldier & serious woman. Watching your life on film is surreal. An emotional day. You done us all proud queen,” Hannington’s son, a musician who goes by the moniker Benny Banks, wrote on Instagram in September 2024 alongside a photo from the Joan premiere.

According to Luxury London, Hannington still suffers from ulcers after years of swallowing diamonds.

“I’m not complacent about it. I’ve led a certain life, although I’ve been retired 40 years. This was all in the 80s and to be sitting here at 68 with my son and my granddaughter – I’m not a showbiz-y person, I’m a very private person, and I just find it amazing,” the notorious thief said at the premiere, per Digital Spy.

On Sept. 26, 2024, Hannington published her second memoir, Joan: The True Story of Britain’s Most Notorious Diamond Thief.