Plot

THE PRINCE OF NORTH WEST

Jimmy is a small-time crook whose mother is seriously ill and needs an urgent private operation to save her life. Only-child Jimmy loves his mother and he will do anything for her, but he doesn't have the cash.

Jimmy knows how to get the money. He has learned millions of tricks on the street: pretending to be a pimp, selling stolen goods... always playing on the edge, and the law never catches him.

As Jimmy is setting out to collect the last of the money for the operation from one final deal, his long-time girlfriend Stacy discovers he gave her a fake diamond engagement ring. Stacy issues an ultimatum - Jimmy has just a few hours to buy an expensive 'real' diamond ring for her, or they are finished.

Billy, Jimmy's cousin, is beaten and threatened by a group of undertakers to whom he owes a debt for the cost of his mother's funeral. Billy's pockets are emptied of the small amount of money he is carrying, but he is left with his weapon of choice - a screwdriver. Believing he has no alternative, Billy is also out on the town desperate to find some cash to repay his debt, and quickly.

Wise to the possibility that the final deal might be a set-up, Jimmy has a plan that includes being armed with a pistol. As anticipated, a couple of former convicts try to rob Jimmy in the middle of deal, but he fights back and puts them both down.

As Jimmy limps back to his getaway car, nursing a gunshot wound to the leg, he finds his sidekick Owen is dead - stabbed with a screwdriver in his neck - and the cash he was holding onto for Jimmy is gone.

But Jimmy knows who stole his money. He calls Billy and issues him an ultimatum- if he doesn't return his money in an hour, he will tip the police who killed Owen.

But while Jimmy is still on the phone, talking to his cousin, someone approaches him from behind and shots him dead.