This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. Last seen in public in October at the funeral of his former boss, Charlie Richardson, Fraser is one of the few remaining members of a generation of "celebrity criminals". The reader is also introduced to the girls brother Jim, who became a sergeant in the army and fought in North Africa. [23] In 1991, Fraser was shot in the head from close range in an apparent murder attempt outside the Turnmills Club in Clerkenwell, London. 'And they were the best fun for a night out.'. The granddaughter of a member of the gang, who said she was taught how to steal in the 1970s, told Ms Marsh: 'My nan was always beautifully turned out. Author Beezy Marsh said: 'These women fought harder than the men and were feared by men and women in their communities. Part of his mouth was shot away in the incident. They didnt go to jail, they did bird or got a lagging. Fraser was the. Fraser served a total of 42 years in over 20 different prisons in the UK for numerous violent offences. He spent more than 40 years in prison. Furs were rolled on the hanger and tucked into the women's undergarments when the store assistant was distracted, while jewellery and watches were swapped for fake versions and hidden under hats or in their hair. 'It was incredibly subversive to go against the class system and steal furs and luxury items and swan about like they were rich - but that is exactly what they did. [26] On 21 November 2014, he fell critically ill during leg surgery at King's College Hospital, Denmark Hill[27] and was placed into an induced coma. He spent 42 years almost half his life in prison for 26 offences. But his criminal activities didn't stop when he was locked up. On the morning of Derek Bentleys execution at Wandsworth in 1953, he spat at the executioner Albert Pierrepoint and tried to attack him. [3][4], Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London. View our online Press Pack. In 1991, while emerging from Turnmills nightclub in Clerkenwell, London, he was shot at by an unidentified gunman. AS is the case with so many crime families, the key to understanding the men came through getting to know the women who cared for them. By the 1950s, the gang were facing ever-present store detectives and had to rely more on disguises. It was during the war that he first became involved in serious crime, with the blackout and rationing, combined with the lack of professional policemen due to conscription, providing ample opportunities for criminal activities such as stealing from houses while the occupants were in air-raid shelters. Eva knew the Krays well and they treated her with reverence, although she saw them as little more than naughty boys. He also ran a coach tour pointing out to a spectrum of customers the old criminal London. Many started as child lookouts. Fraser also appeared as East End crime boss Pops Den in the feature film Hard Men, a forerunner of British gangster movies such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and had a documentary made of his life, Mad Frank. When the heat from the cops in London got too much, they headed off to the Costa del Crime to seek their fortunes there. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. Reporters claimed she was 6ft tall - despite police records from 1919 putting her at 5ft9in. He was working all the hours he got sent, but he couldnt make ends meet. Fraser was just 13 when he was sent to an approved school for stealing 40 cigarettes. HP10 9TY. What Fraser invariably threatened was violence. Pitts wore a school girl's outfit, complete with straw boater, to act as a decoy. Shortly afterwards, Fraser kidnapped Eric Mason, a Kray gang member, outside the Astor Club in Berkeley Square, with even direr consequences. He was then then given a 15-month prison sentence atHMP Wandsworthfor shop-breaking - this was just the first of 20 prisons Fraser would be sent to. Having chronicled the life of old mad Frank, author Beezy Marsh has turned her pen to Peggy, Kathleen and Eva; in her new book Keeping My Sisters Secrets. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. View the profiles of people named Frankie Fraser. 'It was not just a man's world, despite the countless column inches still spent poring over the phenomenon that was the Kray Twins,' she added. The Kray twins (pictured) held The Forty Thieves member Eva Fraser in high regard. According to Eddie Richardson, Fraser had Alzheimer's disease for the last three years of his life. Mad Frank (1994), which went on to sell around 100,000 copies, was the first in a successful series. Fraser was placed into an induced coma, but just five days later, on November 26, 2014, Fraser passed away after his family made the decision to turn off his life-support machine. In August 1963, invited to take part in the Great Train Robbery, Fraser pulled out because he was on the run from the police. Descendants . Born to criminal parents in Southwark, South London, in 1886, her first crimes were aiding and abetting men. Fraser became a minor celebrity of sorts, appearing on television shows such as Operation Good Guys,[18] Shooting Stars,[19] and the satirical show Brass Eye,[20] where he said Noel Edmonds should be shot for killing Clive Anderson (an incident invented by the show's producers), and writing an autobiography. Both Fraser and Warren were given seven years for their acts of violence. Please report any comments that break our rules. "If you play by the sword, you've got to expect the sword as well," says his son. His fourth son, Francis, in Frasers joking words, let me down by having no criminal career at all. It sounds like the worst days of Prohibition in Chicago rather than London in 1956, complained Mr Justice Donovan, but words were wasted on Fraser. As an adult she was beaten by one of her boyfriends and the father of five of her seven children, Chris Hawkins, who was a fruit and vegetable seller in Hoxton. [9] Before then, Fraser had been involved in smash-and-grab raids and wages snatches. Eric wasnt a bad fellow, Fraser later explained, but that particular night he was bang out of order.. End-right girl on the back row is Eva.. Every old-school south Londoner knows the folklore of cockney criminal Frankie Fraser, whose violent tendencies were infamous on the streets of Walworth. Ms Marsh said it 'was time to reappraise London's gangland' when she wrote The Queen of Thieves. Yet they fiercely guarded their right to 'earn' their own money. Aged seven, Ms Pitts was stealing milk and bread to provide food for her five siblings. A famous Monty Python sketch featuring the Piranha brothers, Doug and Dinsdale, has often been associated with Fraser and the Kray twins and some aspects of the new documentary may add to this impression. inaccuracy or intrusion, then please She is thought to have killed herself in the 1970s. Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London on December 13, 1923. 'Any girl worth her salt in South London in those days was a hoister because they could outearn us men two to one,' he said. Franks mother, Margaret, was a huge influence on him but his best pal and early partner in crime was his sister, Eva. A bucket boy would offer to clean the bookies' blackboards with a sponge, for which they were obliged to pay the Sabinis. [10], In 1941, Fraser was sent to borstal for breaking into a Waterloo hosiery store, then given a 15-month prison sentence at HM Prison Wandsworth for shop-breaking. [16], Fraser's 42 years served in over 20 different prisons in the UK were often coloured by violence. Frasers partner in this endeavour was Bobby Warren, an uncle of the boxing promoter Frank Warren. Frankie Fraser, born December 13 1923, died November 26 2014, Frankie Fraser at Repton Boxing Club in 2005, Rishi Sunak to host Coronation Big Lunch at Downing Street, Erik ten Hag: Man Utd were a mess with no rules Casemiro has helped sort them out, How Ollie Lawrence became England's missing piece, Harlequins set attendance record but rampant Exeter spoil Twickenham party, Marcus Smith sends England message to Steve Borthwick with man-of-the-match performance, Super-sub Reiss Nelson completes thrilling Arsenal fightback. "At the races, I'd be bucket boy," says Fraser in the documentary, Frankie Fraser's Last Stand, which will be broadcast on the Crime and Investigation network on 16 June at 9pm. At his funeral, one of his old prison friends summed him up: Whether he has gone upstairs or downstairs, I cant say, but wherever he is, you can be sure of this: he will be protesting about the conditions.. Following a trial at theOld Baileyin 1967, he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. Aged seven, Ms Pitts was stealing milk and bread to provide food for her five siblings. The violent thugs, the Kray twins, held Eva Fraser in high regard because of her role in the gang and during the 1940s and 1950s and the Soho gang boss Billy Hill - brother of the fiery Ms Hughes - was careful not to encroach too much on their territory because he respected their right to earn their own money, free from male interference. In 1969 Fraser led the Parkhurst prison riot on the Isle of Wight and found himself back in court charged with incitement to murder. He saw himself as an innovator, claiming to have invented the Friday gang, robbing wages clerks carrying money from banks; he would use a starting handle to beat his victims and to deter any watching have-a-go heroes in the street. In the 1950s he worked for underworld boss Billy Hill and carried out razor attacks on victims for 50 each. After the war, Fraser was involved in a smash-and-grab raid on a jeweller, for which he received a two-year prison sentence, mostly served atHMP Pentonville. Each incident added more time to his sentence. When police visited she showed them ledgers to demonstrate her honest buying. [9], Fraser was an Arsenal fan, and his grandson Tommy Fraser is a professional footballer. The Old Bailey jury heard, in grisly detail that still resonates 50 years on, how Frankie Fraser tried to pull Coulstons teeth out one by one with a pair of pliers. Although he was never convicted of murder, police reportedly held him responsible for 40 killings, but the bluster and bravado of a media-savvy gangland relic almost certainly inflated this tally, the actual scale of which remains unfathomable. But after shoving their stolen goods into waiting cars the women would head back to the grotty slums of Waterloo and Elephant and Castle - where their 'queen' exchanged the expensive items for a generous weekly wage. He regularly led conducted tours of East End crime scenes, invariably ending up in the Blind Beggar pub where Ronnie Kray shot George Cornell dead. As he languished in jail, his sons David and Patrick and their older brother, Frank Jnr currently living quietly on the Costa del Sol carved their own careers as bank robbers and jewellery thieves in 1970s London. Pictured, Marble Arch and Oxford Circus in the 1920s, Petite shoplifter Bertha Tappenden (right) stood just over 5ft 2in tall, but was convicted of inflicting grievous bodily harm on a man in Lambeth, after kicking down his front door and attacking him with razors and knives, to settle a score, aided by Diamond and another gang girl, Gertrude Scully (left). The following year, the British mobster Jack Spot and wife Rita were attacked, on Hill's say-so, by Fraser, Bobby Warren and at least half a dozen other men. Beezy reveals how the girls father would beat their mother a big influence on their outlook. In 1996, he played (his friend) William Donaldson's guide to Marbella in the infamous BBC Radio 4 series A Retiring Fellow. Afraid of being heavily medicated for bad behaviour, Fraser stayed out of trouble and was released in 1955. The Soho gang boss Billy Hill - brother of the fiery Maggie Hughes - was also careful not to encroach too much on their territory because he respected their right to earn their own money, free from male interference. While serving this sentence, Fraser received 10 years for his part in the so-called Richardson torture trial. Some became pals with young actresses as they partied in Soho nightclubs and stole dresses to order for them to wear on the red carpet. Facebook gives people the power. One such member was Lilian Goldstein, who was known as the Bob-Haired Bandit. Even decent folk were often only too happy to 'take a bit of crooked' to have something new. Moment brazen thieves jump behind counter at Chicago Drug baron, 58, who 'hid 198MILLION fortune from police' is Isabel Oakeshott receives 'menacing' message from Matt Hancock, Dozens stuck in car park as staff refuses to open gate for woman, Incredible footage of Ukrainian soldiers fighting Russians in Bakhmut, Pro-Ukrainian drone lands on Russian spy planes exposing location, 'Buster is next!' Eva Brindle formerly Fraser. Diamond's second-in-command Maggie Hughes (right) was known as 'Babyface' for her sweet looks and made a habit of cheekily shouting back at the judge when she was sentenced to jail: 'It won't cure me! ', As the photographs show, the women often wore beautifully designed hats , coats and dresses in order to fit in, known as 'putting on the posh'. Join Facebook to connect with Frankie Fraser and others you may know. His first conviction was for stealing cigarettes, and with the second he was sent to an approved school. He appeared on pop records and in television documentaries, toured his one-man show of criminal reminiscences (flexing a pair of gilded pliers), and found himself invited into bookshops to sign copies of his memoirs. He was also tried in court in the so-called 'Torture trial', in which members of the Richardson Gang were charged with burning, electrocuting and whipping those found guilty of disloyalty by a kangaroo court. There were car chases and bank raids which would not have looked out of place in The Sweeney. Fraser spent a lot of time in solitary confinement, tormented by prison officers who would spit in his food. We'll never send you spam or share your email address. He undoubtedly had a wicked temper and a lack of empathy as seen in his capability for violence but he described that to me in terms of a soldier doing his job. A keen Arsenal supporter, Fraser had four sons, the first three of whom, Frank Jr, David and Patrick, followed to an extent in his footsteps. It was during the war that he first became involved in serious crime. Fraser was part of Britain's Underworld between the 1940s-1960's. He was a known associate of gangster Billy Hill throughout the 1950s. The years just after World War II were a boom time for the gang, as clothing was rationed until 1949. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Frankie Fraser was known anotorious torturer and hitman, who worked as an enforcer for some of London's most feared gang leaders. [14] According to Fraser, it was they who helped him avoid arrest for the Great Train Robbery by bribing a policeman. Charles Richardson was a criminal businessman who reputedly specialised in various tortures administered at secret courts at which he presided, sometimes robed like a judge, a knife or a gun to hand. Prior to that he was a bodyguard to notorious gangland leader Billy Hill, where he took part in bank robberies and and carried out razor blade attacks - which earned him 50 a time. He also claimed to have been the first bandit to wear a stocking mask. Over the last decade or so he was on the cabaret circuit and ran gangland tours of the East End, taking in such sights as the Blind Beggar pub, where Ronnie Kray shot dead George Cornell, one of the Richardson gang, in 1966. During his time behind bars he was involved in violence and was a major instigator in the Parkhurst Prison riots in 1969. Another grandson, Anthony Fraser, was being sought by police in February 2011 for his alleged involvement in an alleged 5 million cannabis smuggling ring. Jack 'Spot' Comer showing the scar on his face left by Frankie Fraser and Alf Warren (GETTY), By 1956, Fraser had racked up 15 convictions and had twice been certified insane. The police were cozzers and a burglary was a screwer, hitting someone was a clump, while jewellery was tom as in Tom Foolery, in rhyming slang. There was also quite a comeuppance for both Patrick and David who both served their time. She helped support her young siblings by taking milk and bread from neighbour's doorsteps.
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