I used to watch a lot of crime films. But now I find them impossible. It’s all about sex, no one seems to do any work. Most of the detectives in films seem to come up with extraordinary things that hard work never seemed able to produce. Buster is my favourite film but only because I have a personal connection to it.

I always thought that criminals shouldn’t profit from their misdeeds, but they do today. Selling their stories, advising on films. The most horrific people in my time were the Kray twins. Murder was commonplace for them. They were right villains but today people are fascinated by them and make films inspired by them.

If film-makers really showed the true side of it all, people would be disappointed. Really, we just had to work hard, all of the time.

Leonard “Nipper” Read, 85, the Scotland Yard detective who caught the Kray twins

It’s hard to reconcile the world today’s films show with the way we used to work. Everything has changed; they have so many more facilities, it makes us look like old plodders. My favourite film is Bullitt. Steve McQueen’s character is being set up and he’s fighting against corrupt authority figures, something that I had to do myself. People did not want to have the Krays investigated and I got very little assistance from senior people in the Yard.

I saw the 1990 Krays film. I thought it strayed too far from the truth. I don’t think it helped that Charlie Kray was their technical adviser. They weren’t nice people and I do find all the memorabilia and films quite frustrating really. People often suggest that the Krays were actually nice guys and that when they controlled the East End, they kept the streets of London clean. Well, that’s nonsense. They were wicked, murderous bastards.

“Mad” Frankie Fraser, 82, notorious gangster and most dangerous man in Britain, according to two home secretaries

After 42 years in prison I haven’t watched as many films as people might think. My favourite would be Coppola’s The Godfather. Marlon Brando is superb. Of course I knew the Mafia, but that’s not why I enjoyed it. No crime films are really that accurate, due to concerns like libel. Most films today have a crime element — only way they’ll sell ’em! I don ’t think films encourage people to get into crime but if it did, my only advice would be don’t get caught.

John Fassenfelt, 58, Youth Court magistrate on the Faversham and Sittingbourne Bench and chairman of the Youth Courts Committee

A favourite is LA Confidential. It shows the many aspects of life you see in a magistrates’ court, such as greed, corruption, stupidity and passion. It has a great ending with the shooting of Captain Dudley Smith (baddie) when he least expects it by Exley (good guy).

As a magistrate you hope that right always wins but alas in real life that does not always happen, so films like this are a means of escape for me from the realities of court. Also, in a film, justice happens quickly, which is very satisfying; I can be in court for days.

I also enjoyed The Krays. As a magistrate we often get a glimpse of the family and their impact on the criminal, so I found it interesting to see it from the perspective of a famous criminal’s family.

Explore Film

• Film Reviews

• Trailers

• DVD

• Oscars

• Cannes

Editor's choice

• U2 at Nou Camp Stadium, Barcelona
• The 50 Best Movie Villains
• The 15 golden rules of theatre etiquette