What happened to the thief’s real daughter?

An emotional storyline in the ITV drama Joan is the relationship between Joan and her daughter.

Joan Hannington, also known as “The Godmother”, was a notorious figure in London’s criminal underworld in the 1980s. She stole diamonds for fun and to raise money to rescue her daughter from foster care.

The series recreates the events that led to Hannington losing her child to foster care, her first theft in which she impulsively swallowed jewels, and her subsequent life of crime.

The final two episodes will air on Sunday and Monday on ITV1. The entire series is currently available to watch in full on ITVX. Viewers will have seen Joan trying to get her daughter Kelly back, but what actually happened to Joan Hannington’s daughter in real life?

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What happened to Joan and her daughter Kelly?

In the final episode of the ITV drama, the raid on Bernard’s jewelry shop went horribly wrong when Boisie died in Joan’s arms. A disguised Joan travels to Kelly’s school to take her away for a new life together.

Kelly is overjoyed to see her mother, but Joan tells her to keep the secret and meet her at the gate. They drive off together and Joan learns from Albie’s desperate partner Val how he fled the country.

Joan and Kelly head to the agreed-upon hideout trailer, but Joan is still shaken over Boisie’s death and struggles to keep her composure. Kelly is unable to cheer her mother up and later discovers a gun in her mother’s suitcase.

Joan stops Kelly from firing the gun but realizes she is unable to care for her and leaves Kelly with her foster family.

Instead, Joan confesses and offers herself to the police. She is later imprisoned for her role in the jewel heist. After four years she is released and later meets Albie one last time.

What happened to Joan Hannington’s daughter in real life and what is her real name?

The ITV drama has changed many elements and names of real life. For example, Joan’s daughter Debbie was renamed Kelly, with her ex-husband and criminal Ray Pavey being her father.

Joan Hannington wrote about Debbie in her memoir, I Am What I Am, leaving her daughter in care to give her a better life.

She struggled to reconnect with Debbie after she was taken into care. It is unclear what the status of their relationship is as Debbie did not attend the premiere of the ITV series with Joan.

Joan Hannington appeared at the premiere of the ITV series with her son Benny Banks, who she had with husband Boisie. Benny made a cameo appearance in the first episode as a bartender at the pub where Joan and Boisie first met.

Benny also has a daughter, with Joan Hannington describing herself as a proud grandmother. Joan Hannington currently lives on the south coast with her two dogs.