Frankie Fraser's Last Stand: Directed by Matt Blyth. 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. She was sentenced to five months. The Forty Thieves, a London-based exclusively female gang whose exploits were worse than those depicted in BBC drama the Peaky Blinders, posed as wealthy housewives innocently browsing the rails of the UK's most luxurious clothing stores. But by the time of his death at the age of 90 from complications following leg surgery, Fraser had become something of a minor celebrity. Part of his mouth was shot away in the incident. "Maybe he was bored with going to prison," Ronnie Richardson, Charlie's widow, tells the programme. I saved myself from Royal life, Harry says & insists 'sharing's an act of service', Love Island's Olivia Hawkins breaks silence as she returns to the UK, Loose Women star lined up to be Strictly's first contestant in wheelchair, Coronation Street fans horrified as Amy Barlow is raped in disturbing scenes, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. Fraser, he recalled, was more than capable of doing what he threatened. From the time of Frankie Fraser's sister Eva and the gang of hoisters The Forty Thieves, comes a book which will have you gripped this summer. She helped him sell on his loot. During his time behind bars he was involved in violence and was a major instigator in the Parkhurst Prison riots in 1969. Harts killing was avenged within 24 hours when Ronnie Kray shot George Cornell, the Richardsons chief lieutenant, at the Blind Beggar pub deep in Kray territory on the Mile End Road, using a 9mm Mauser semi-automatic pistol at point-blank range. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. '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. You understand the choices that lay ahead of you if you were a working-class girl. By the time of the Swinging Sixties, she was drinking champagne with the Krays. When police visited she showed them ledgers to demonstrate her honest buying. On 21 November 2014, Fraser fell critically ill whilst undergoing leg surgery atKing's College Hospital,Denmark Hill. End-right girl on the back row is Eva.. VIEWS Every old-school south Londoner knows the folklore of cockney criminal Frankie Fraser, whose violent tendencies were infamous on the streets of Walworth. 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. Fraser was part of Britain's Underworld between the 1940s-1960's. He was a known associate of gangster Billy Hill throughout the 1950s. [23] In 1991, Fraser was shot in the head from close range in an apparent murder attempt outside the Turnmills Club in Clerkenwell, London. [6] Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. But when her brother Frankie was in prison, she helped to run his protection rackets in Soho and even sent her daughters to collect payments, as the police would not stop a child. His funeral took place on December 18, 2014. She operated out of Walworth, South East London and her home was called an 'Aladdin's cave of loot'. The Forty Thieves posed as wealthy housewives innocently browsing the rails of the UK's most luxurious clothing stores before shoving stolen items down their undergarments. [8] Although his parents were not criminals, Fraser turned to crime aged 10 with his sister Eva, to whom he was close. 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. He received a further five years when, in 1970, he was acquitted of incitement to murder but convicted of grievous bodily harm after he had led the Parkhurst prison riot the previous year. The reader is also introduced to the girls brother Jim, who became a sergeant in the army and fought in North Africa. But who were the gang's most brazen members? He later joined the notorious Richardson gang, formed by brothers Eddie and Charlie, and began carrying out more criminal activities. She would send her girls out in teams of three or four at least three days a week, to stores all over London and as far afield as Birmingham and Brighton. With Warren at his heels, Fraser ambushed Spot in a Paddington street, knocking him to the ground with a shillelagh. Fraser was seen kicking Richard Hart, a Kray associate, as he lay on the pavement outside. Fraser, who was jailed for 10 years in the so-called "torture trial" in 1967, is now frail and in poor health. Another of Fraser's grandsons, James Fraser, also spent a short time with Bristol Rovers. For latest book news including updates on the forthcoming film Mad Frank and Sons please like my page Beezy Marsh. Frank stole because he loved to have money yet when he had it, he gave it all away. At the age of five, Fraser, running in the road to beg for cigarette cards, was knocked down, and from his injuries he developed meningitis. The trial which became one of the longest in British criminal history. Comments have been closed on this article. Photograph: Crime and Investigation network. Editors' Code of Practice. Frank's mother, Margaret, was a huge influence on him but his "best pal" and early partner in crime was his sister, Eva. Ms Marsh said it 'was time to reappraise London's gangland' when she wrote The Queen of Thieves. For other inquiries, Contact Us. Fraser himself was accused of pulling out the teeth of victims with a pair of pliers. On the night of March 7 1966 Fraser and Eddie Richardson were badly hurt in a brawl at Mr Smiths club in Catford, the incident that broke the Richardson familys grip on south London. However, it was in the early 1960s that Fraser began to take on even bigger crimes, when he first met Charlie and Eddie Richardson of the Richardson Gang - rivals to the Kray twins. The raids seem often to have been left to chance, and he was particularly unfortunate with cars. At signing sessions of his books he was always willing to be photographed pretending to extract a tooth with pliers brought by the fan. She helped him sell on his loot. Notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser died in hospital today aged 90, relatives have revealed. At the age of five, he moved with his family to a flat on Walworth Road, Elephant and Castle. Another grandson, Anthony Fraser, was being sought by police in February 2011 for his alleged involvement in an alleged 5 million cannabis smuggling ring. The thieves' earnings allowed them to live like upper-class debutantes. Former Northern Echo journalist Beezy Marsh has written a book about London gangster Mad Frankie Fraser. Shegot her first criminal record aged just 14 and, in 1923, she was jailed after running out of a jeweller's with a tray of 34 diamond rings straight into the arms of a policeman. [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. [4] He was involved in riots and frequently fought with prison officers and fellow inmates. Tallymen, who sold goods door-to-door, would shift them across London. The singer, 29, bared his chest and showed off his . Various members were eventually caught, though and served their time in Holloway prison, where rations were meagre and they slept on boards. 'MAD' Frankie Fraser, was one of the most feared and respected West End crime lords of the 1960s. Both Fraser and Warren were given seven years for their acts of violence. Profile manager: Evelyn Wolff [send private message] The middle sister was Kathleen, who constantly aspired to make it as an actress, and make use of her striking good looks. Monty Python sketch featuring the Piranha brothers, Doug and Dinsdale. 'Speaking to relatives of some of the original gang members during my research for Queen of Thieves, I was struck by how secretive the gang had been about its methods, and how much of a career choice it was for working class girls. Eva knew the Krays well and they treated her with reverence, although she saw them as little more than naughty boys. Fraser received seven years. When Mason demurred, Fraser buried a hatchet in his skull, pinning his hand to his head. Such were the criminal opportunities during the war, Fraser joked in a television interview years later, that he had never forgiven the Germans for surrendering. The Richardson Gang was an English crime gang based in South London, England in the 1960s.Also known as the "Torture Gang", they had a reputation as some of London's most sadistic gangsters. Eva got into shoplifting, but had a heart of gold. Then theres Frankie himself, who makes a brief appearance. Petite shoplifter Bertha Tappenden 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. Eva (Fraser) Brindle. 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. 'In fact, she was one of the people who spotted his talent for stealing after he pinched a cigarette machine from a hotel as a small boy. Its clear she still had to feed her family by acting on the wrong side of the law Beezy said. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused. While serving this sentence, Fraser received 10 years for his part in the so-called Richardson torture trial. Members of The Forty Thieves, whose mugshots were captured by the Police Gazette ahead of regular stays at Holloway Prison, often wore beautifully designed hats, coats and dresses in order to fit in - known as 'putting on the posh'. And involvement in such activities often led to his sentences being extended. If you weren't actually stealing, you were outranked by The Forty Thieves. 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. The women were completely faithful to their leader, known as the queen, who doled out harsh punishments and carried strict rules including not helping police officers by informing. [3][4], Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London. She once stabbed a policeman in the eye with a hatpin, blinding him. Their loot would be stuffed into these 'hoister's drawers', allowing the women to leave the stores undetected. It has emerged that the former gangland enforcer, who has spent 42 years in prison for 26 offences, has been issued with an asbo after an incident in his residential accommodation. [9] He was a deserter during the Second World War, escaping from his barracks on several occasions. During the 1950s, Fraser's main occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangster Billy Hill. 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. Fraser himself was charged with pulling out people's teeth with pliers and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Fraser was the youngest of five children who were growing up in poverty - he first turned to crime at the tender age of 10, alongside his sister Eva. Aged 17 she was convicted for stealing from a hat shop in Oxford Street. Join Facebook to connect with Frankie Fraser and others you may know. Fraser was jailed along with other members of the Richardson gang for violently punishing people whom the Richardsons believed owed them money. Photo taken in the late 1940s on a pub Beano (day out) in Walworth, before the group travelled to Margate On the back row: the girls mum, Margaret, next to daughter Kathleen. He shot, slashed, stabbed and axed. His wife, Doreen, whom he married in 1965, and who with Eva loyally toured the prisons to visit him, died in 1999. Frankie Fraser belonged to a bygone era of crime and was cut from a different cloth than so many other gangsters of his generation. There was also quite a comeuppance for both Patrick and David who both served their time. With Frankie Fraser, Chris Keenan, Steve Box, Michael Boyd. As a young woman, Eva became an accomplished hoister (shoplifter). "Hill paid by the stitch if you put 50 stitches in a man's face, you could expect 50," says James Morton, Fraser's biographer. Frankie Frasers wife Doreen, with whom he had four sons, died in 1999. While the award-winning TV show Peaky Blinders was inspired by the all-male Brummagem Boys gang from the same period, the Forty Thieves make some of even their escapades seem tame by comparison. His parents never knew about his illegal activities, and if they ever suspected him apparently turned a blind eye, a habit . Indeed, his criminality was closely bound up with what one criminologist described as an overt almost Samurai vindication of violent action in pursuit of inverted honour. 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Following a trial at the Old Bailey in 1967, he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. But Hill was already an admirer: a picture taken at a party to launch Hills ghosted autobiography in 1955 shows Fraser draped artistically over a piano. A Hoisters' Code of loyalty dictated rules such as having an early night before 'going shopping', handing over all they pinched to the Queen in return for generous weekly wages, and never stealing each other's boyfriends (bad for morale). Frankie Fraser was a notorious torturer and hitman, who worked as an enforcer for some of London's most feared gang leaders, including Billy Hill in the 1950s and the Richardson gang in the 1960s. 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. Their view on Hatton Garden was that the world had moved on and robbing banks now was akin to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid trying to get away on horseback, while the police gave chase in cars. She was an alcoholic and onceran out of a jeweller with a tray of 34 diamond rings and bumped straight into a policeman. In 1969 Fraser led the Parkhurst prison riot on the Isle of Wight and found himself back in court charged with incitement to murder. Yet they fiercely guarded their right to 'earn' their own money. MAD FRANK & SONS, by David Fraser, Patrick Fraser and Beezy Marsh is published by Sidgwick and Jackson on June 2. [24], Fraser's wife, by whom he had four sons, died in 1999. In 1945, when he was 21, he assaulted the governor at Shrewsbury prison with an ebony ruler snatched from the governors desk, for which he received 18 strokes of the cat. In 1991, while emerging from Turnmills nightclub in Clerkenwell, London, he was shot at by an unidentified gunman. 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. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can He was moved from prison to prison more than 100 times because he was virtually impossible to control. 'The other side of the story involves these feisty women and it is perhaps more fascinating given the limited powers such working class girls had to earn a decent wage.'. [28], "Gangland enforcer sets the record straight about 'the bad old days': Rhys Williams meets "Mad" Frankie Fraser, once known as Britain's most violent man", "Find & contact The White Hart in Waterloo", "Local and community news, opinion, video & pictures - Southport Visiter", "Tories condemn prisoners' freedom to read criminal memoirs", "Gangland enforcer 'Mad' Frankie Fraser dies at 90", "Mad Frankie Fraser given Asbo at age of 89 after bust-up at care home", "Gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser dies at 90", "Mad Frankie Fraser dead: Notorious gangster dies in hospital aged 90 following leg surgery", Personal website with biography and details of gangland tours, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frankie_Fraser&oldid=1107726220, This page was last edited on 31 August 2022, at 15:09. As a solicitor, I defended him in the trial following the Parkhurst riot and as a result wrote a number of books with him. Somehow Eva found herself in the opposite company of her eldest sister Peggy, whose boyfriend was heavily involved in the Communist Party, whom the Blackshirts fought in the famous Battle of Bermondsey, and the even more famous Battle of Cable Street. 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. 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. For a time he was engaged to Marilyn Wisbey, daughter of the Great Train Robber Tommy Wisbey, with whom he briefly ran a massage parlour in Islington, in which Fraser made the tea. Borstal was followed by prison, where in 1943 he met the influential London villain Billy Hill, for whom he worked on and off for more than a decade, culminating in his slashing of Hills rival Jack Spot in 1956 after the self-styled kings of the underworld had fallen out. The years just after World War II were a boom time for the gang, as clothing was rationed until 1949. Ronald 'Ronnie' Kray and Reginald 'Reggie' Kray, were identical twin brothers who led an organised crime ring in East London from the late 1950s to 1967. Francis Davidson Fraser was born on December 13 1923 in Cornwall Road, a slum area of south London on the site of what is now the Royal Festival Hall. Fraser earned his mad nickname during the second world war, when he managed to get himself out of military service by pretending to be mentally ill. To prove his unsuitability to the force, he assaulted a doctor before jumping out of the window at the Bradford assessment centre where he had been sent. Both Frank and his sister, Eva, whom he adored, inherited their fathers features and his jet-black hair. Once again, he was sent toprison, this timefor taking part in bank robberies. I don't think they felt bad about it. He spent 42 years behind bars before achieving a certain cult status in later life as an author, after-dinner speaker, television pundit and tour guide. When shoplifting she used a number of techniques including: wearing different wigs, putting stolen items under her skirt and the use of barrier bags lined with tin foil to prevent the detection of security tags. He had an ungovernable temper and an inability to think through the undoubted consequences of his proposed actions. He spent more than 40 years in prison. Nevertheless his campaigns and, on the outside, those of Eva, did bring the attention of the general public to the unpalatable conditions in which prisoners served then their sentences. Frank Davidson Fraser[1] (13 December 1923 26 November 2014),[2] better known as "Mad" Frankie Fraser, was an English gangster who spent 42 years in prison for numerous violent offences. One such member was Lilian Goldstein, who was known as the Bob-Haired Bandit. He also attacked various governors. The cells did not have a reforming effect on her character or on that of her gang leader Diamond, who was arrested on numerous occasions over the following decade. Questioned by police, Fraser reportedly gave his name as Tutankhamen (gangland slang for shtum) and asked What incident?. Prisoners and ex-prisoners all over Britain speak about him with undisguised admiration. And I felt the same way,' she said. He was a deserter during the Second World War, escaping from his barracks . Young Frankie attended local schools, captained the football team, and acted as bookies runner to one of the teachers. According to Fraser, it was they who helped him avoid arrest for theGreat Train Robberyby bribing a policeman. 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. Eva was a chip off the old block and as well as being Franks first partner in crime, stealing sweets from the corner shop, she had a lucrative career in a daring gang of girl shoplifters, The Forty Thieves, which traced its roots back to Victorian London and cleared many a West End store for furs and luxury goods. The gang passed on their secrets from mother to daughter, aunt to niece, so whole generations of families saw crime as a way of life. ', 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'. 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. He had been shot in the face. Eric wasnt a bad fellow, Fraser later explained, but that particular night he was bang out of order.. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. 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. Frank had been active as a criminal from the 1930s and was given his first prison sentence at the outbreak of the Second World War.