Jumbo, Malcolm and Willy are three petty criminals from Sneinton, a run-down suburb of Nottingham. Malc’s wife Kate wants a better life and dislikes Jumbo, who is regularly abusive to his wife Ruby, resenting the amount of time her husband spends with him. But her attempts to persuade Malc about the need to escape from the life of petty crime are foiled by the actions of the domineering Jumbo.