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Their loot would be stuffed into these 'hoister's drawers', allowing the women to leave the stores undetected. [23] In 1991, Fraser was shot in the head from close range in an apparent murder attempt outside the Turnmills Club in Clerkenwell, London. Involvement in such activities often led to his sentences being extended. pre order Queen of Thieves now for just 2.99. These recollections, while often disordered and jumbled, nevertheless shed light on Frasers shameless and unrepentant defiance of the liberal consensus. Frankie Fraser's Last Stand: Directed by Matt Blyth. Dubbed 'The Most Dangerous Man in Britain' by two Home Secretaries, Francis Davidson Fraser was born on the 13th of December 1923, and grew up in Waterloo, London.He and his sister, Eva started their life of crime at a young age, stealing from handbags and pickpocketing. A mugshot of Forty Thieves' Hughes, who was uncontrollable and dissipated by drink. His last jail term ended in 1989, but in 2011 he was handed an Asbo after getting into an argument with a fellow pensioner at the sheltered accommodation where he lived in Bermondsey. "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. Following the Frankie Fraser story is akin to re-tracing the history of gangland London throughout the 20th Century. [3][4], Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London. But little by little, over weeks and months of interviews, cups of tea and chats, their life stories emerged and with that came a fascinating insight into the Fraser family history and what really made Frank tick. 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. Those who had incurred Richardsons displeasure were wired up to a sinister black box with a wind-up handle that administered severe electric shocks to the genitals. His wife, Doreen, whom he married in 1965, and who with Eva loyally toured the prisons to visit him, died in 1999. 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. . Here are some pictures of Eva Fraser of the Forty Thieves and her sister Kathleen. The gang's ringleaders appeared in a secret register of criminals, that is now kept by the National Archives, which then existed to help police track down the most persistent offenders. 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. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. 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. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription you will not receive any updates until your subscription is confirmed. 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. Aged 17 she was convicted for stealing from a hat shop in Oxford Street. It was not that he thought he was Napoleon. It was during this sentence that he was first certified insane and was sent to Cane Hill Hospital before being released in 1949. 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. In the 1950s he worked for underworld boss Billy Hill and carried out razor attacks on victims for 50 each. Fraser was seen kicking Richard Hart, a Kray associate, as he lay on the pavement outside. Fraser spent practically half his life behind bars. The Krays 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 Maggie 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. 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. Possessed of a ready wit and good repartee, he followed this up with stage performances both in the East and West End, where he appeared with his then companion of 10 years, Marilyn Wisbey, the daughter of a Great Train Robber, Tommy Wisbey. A ponce was someone who thieves looked down on, because they lived by taking a cut from someone elses earnings. An early nickname Razor Fraser reflected his penchant for shivving his enemies faces with a cut-throat blade. 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! Diamond's second-in-command Maggie Hughes 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! He had been shot in the face. They bought fur coats, jewellery and went dancing in West End nightclubs. He was moved from prison to prison more than 100 times because he was virtually impossible to control. On 26 November, Fraser died after his family made the decision to turn off his life-support machine. It was during the Second World War that he was branded 'Mad' Frankie, after he feigned a mental illness to avoid being called up to the front line. 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. 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. Questioned by police, Fraser reportedly gave his name as Tutankhamen (gangland slang for shtum) and asked What incident?. Afraid of being heavily medicated for bad behaviour, Fraser stayed out of trouble and was released in 1955. 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. HP10 9TY. It wasnt that we chose to be thieves, said Patrick. 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. During his time behind bars he was involved in violence and was a major instigator in the Parkhurst Prison riots in 1969. For latest book news including updates on the forthcoming film Mad Frank and Sons please like my page Beezy Marsh. [8] Although his parents were not criminals, Fraser turned to crime aged 10 with his sister Eva, to whom he was close. 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. Fraser, tried separately, was jailed for 10. He also ran a coach tour pointing out to a spectrum of customers the old criminal London. Throughout his life he denied the justice of this conviction, but he was happy to trade off it. The years just after World War II were a boom time for the gang, as clothing was rationed until 1949. It has emerged that the former gangland enforcer, who has spent 42 years in prison for 26. From then on until the end of the 1980s, Fraser was more often in jail than not. Fraser himself was accused of pulling out the teeth of victims with a pair of pliers. Diamond took her under her wing and showed her how to shoplift in 1947, when Pitts was just 12. His mother was of Norwegian-Irish stock and his father was half Native American. His parents were honest and hard-working, but Frankie and his big sister Eva, to whom he was closest, soon turned to crime. View our online Press Pack. Not long after being released, Hughes was involved in the Lambeth riot of Christmas 1925, when the home of Bill Britten was stormed. It will only make me a worse villain!'. [22], Fraser gave gangland tours around London, where he highlighted infamous criminal locations such as The Blind Beggar pub. The middle sister was Kathleen, who constantly aspired to make it as an actress, and make use of her striking good looks. '", Frankie Fraser's Last Stand will be broadcast on the Crime and Investigation network on 16 June at 9pm, New TV documentary shows ex-gangland enforcer is far from mellowing with age and has few regrets about his life of crime, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Frankie Fraser has no regrets over his life of crime, which involved him being jailed for a total of 42 years for 26 offences. 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. Frank Davidson "Frankie" Fraser, better known as "Mad" Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London, he grew up in poverty and was the youngest of five children, Fraser and his sister Eva, whom he was close too, turned to crime at the age of 10, on several occasions during World War 2, Fraser would escape his barracks and deserting many a times. Its clear she still had to feed her family by acting on the wrong side of the law Beezy said. According to one of his sons, David, Fraser was unharmed but he did not inform on his assailant. Then theres Frankie himself, who makes a brief appearance. 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. "If you play by the sword, you've got to expect the sword as well," says his son. [4] He was involved in riots and frequently fought with prison officers and fellow inmates. While serving this sentence, Fraser received 10 years for his part in the so-called Richardson torture trial. The publisher also decided to include a glossary for the reader. contact the editor here. On his release, Fraser joined Richardsons brother Eddie in a company called Atlantic Machines, installing fruit machines at some of Sohos most profitable sites, with Sir Noel Dryden recruited as the respectable frontman. It spent six weeks in the Sunday Times top ten and held the coveted #1 Globe and Mail chart slot in Canada for three months. [9], Fraser was an Arsenal fan, and his grandson Tommy Fraser is a professional footballer. 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. Ms Marsh said: 'These women fought harder than the men and were feared by men and women in their communities. Many of the Forty Thieves were noted for their beauty as well as their shoplifting skills, such as Madeline Partridge and her sister Laura (pictured left), whose mother was often used by Diamond to sell stolen goods. Fraser, who was jailed for 10 years in the so-called "torture trial" in 1967, is now frail and in poor health. There was American Indian blood in him; his grandfather had emigrated to Canada in the late 19th century and married a full-blooded American Indian woman. 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. With Frankie Fraser, Chris Keenan, Steve Box, Michael Boyd. This is Eva Fraser, sister of gangster " Mad" Frankie who was one of the leading lights in The Forty Thieves. And involvement in such activities often led to his sentences being extended. [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. 'And they were the best fun for a night out.'. In the summer of 2013 it emerged that, at the age of 89, Fraser had been served with an Antisocial Behaviour Order (Asbo) after another incident, this time at his care home in Peckham, south London. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, 'Mad' Frankie Fraser was a notorious English gangster, Funeral of South London enforcer, FRANKIE FRASER at Honour Oak Crematorium, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). The first came when he was in the army during the second world war, the second time when he was sent to Cane Hill psychiatric hospital in Coulsdon, Surrey, and the third when he was transferred from Durham prison to Broadmoor. At the age of five, he moved with his family to a flat on Walworth Road, Elephant and Castle. It was just what we knew and to be honest, we loved it.. Harry Styles put on an animated display as he took to the stage for a second night at the Accor Stadium in Sydney's Olympic Park on Saturday.. In 1966, Fraser was charged with the murder of Richard Hart - who was shot at Mr Smith's club inCatfordwhile other Richardson associates, includingJimmy Moody, were charged withaffray. Both Frank and his sister, Eva, whom he adored, inherited their fathers features and his jet-black hair. 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. He was a rock.. [24], Fraser's wife, by whom he had four sons, died in 1999. Eva knew the Krays well and they treated her with reverence, although she saw them as little more than naughty boys. Fraser was just 13 when he was sent to an approved school for stealing 40 cigarettes. He was still serving his sentence for the Catford affray when he was handed a further 10 years for his part in the Richardson torture case. Tallymen, who sold goods door-to-door, would shift them across London. 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. Following a trial at theOld Baileyin 1967, he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. As a solicitor, I defended him in the trial following the Parkhurst riot and as a result wrote a number of books with him. Had it all gone to plan, she could have inhabited a very different side of the West End to her little sister Eva. He emerged from jail in 1989 and has not been back since. Eva got six months for stealing stockings from Bentalls in Kingston upon Thames. After Frasers release from the Spot sentence, he was courted by the Kray Twins and the Richardson gang. [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. None of the gang were afraid to use razors on those who crossed them, Some of London's The Forty Thieves' antics made the Peaky Blinders look like choirboys. It was a thief's paradise, Gor blimey! The notorious English gangster turned to a life of a crime and before he knew it, he was behind bars. 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. [13], It was in the early 1960s that Fraser first met Charlie and Eddie Richardson of the Richardson Gang, rivals to the Kray twins. 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. 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. 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. of James Fraser and Margaret Alice (Anderson) Fraser. Eric wasnt a bad fellow, Fraser later explained, but that particular night he was bang out of order.. [6] Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. Her wartime experience was spent on the switchboards during the Blitz. Fraser himself was accused of pulling out the teeth of victims with a pair of pliers. At 17 he was sent to Borstal for breaking and entering a hosiery shop in Waterloo and was then given a 15-month prison sentence for shopbreaking. 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'. Fraser treated his various brushes with death as an occupational hazard: his thigh bone was shattered by a bullet fired during the melee in Catford, and part of his mouth was shot away in an incident in May 1991 when someone botched an attempt to assassinate him outside a nightclub in Farringdon. Ancestors . The notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser's sister Eva had risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. However, according to a new documentary, he is clearly not going gentle into any good night. Photograph: Crime and Investigation network. [9] He was a deserter during the Second World War, escaping from his barracks on several occasions. 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. In 1991, while emerging from Turnmills nightclub in Clerkenwell, London, he was shot at by an unidentified gunman. He has been part of the most infamous criminal gangs of the past 100 years, while maintaining his South London roots and deep devotion to his family. He was given an asbo, one of his sons told film-makers, after getting into an argument with a fellow-resident and is unrepentant about his life of crime. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. Eva knew the Krays well and they treated her with reverence, although she saw them as little more than naughty boys. Fraser considered that Lawton had meted out cruel and vindictive punishment to him at Pentonville in 1948, and to avenge himself Fraser assumed the role of hangman. In 1996, he played (his friend) William Donaldson's guide to Marbella in the infamous BBC Radio 4 series A Retiring Fellow. Then they were turned over to Fraser. The judge, Mr Justice Griffith-Jones, complained of attempts to nobble one of the jurors, but in the case of Fraser, who was tried separately, he directed the jury to return a verdict of not guilty. [11] In 1942, while serving a prison sentence in HM Prison Chelmsford, he came to the attention of the British Army. Her brother was the notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser, who joined turf wars between London gangs in the sixties. It was during the war that he first became involved in serious crime. ', The notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser's sister Eva had risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. Keeping My Sisters Secrets was published on July 27 by Pan Macmillan. After another, the car ran out of petrol in the Rotherhithe tunnel. Fraser received seven years. Please report any comments that break our rules. There was no evidence that Fraser had fired the fatal shots, and although he claimed to have been fitted up for the killing, he was convicted of affray and sentenced to five years imprisonment. Alice herself was famous for clouting three furs in one go: one down each leg and one under her gusset. 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. 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. But by the 1930s, the breeding ground for its recruits was South London. Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services. 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. After trying his hand at crime as a. Fraser served a total of 42 years in over 20 different prisons in the UK for numerous violent offences. Physically slight at only 5ft 4in, and invariably wearing a smile and in retirement a sharp Savile Row suit, Frankie Fraser was nevertheless a ferocious and brutal hatchet man. They would go through Selfridges department store in the West End and steal furs and expensive clothes. 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. I just waited, caught up with him, knocked him about and strung him up with his dog, Fraser remembered. In the early half of the 20th century one queen, Diamond, regularly appeared in the press where she was once described as a 'tall and commanding figure with a cool demeanour'. The raids seem often to have been left to chance, and he was particularly unfortunate with cars. With Warren at his heels, Fraser ambushed Spot in a Paddington street, knocking him to the ground with a shillelagh. She was one of the top thieves during the war. They worked department stores including Selfridges in teams of three or four during hoisting trips up to three times a week. After one snatch, he and his companion were arrested when their car would not start. Although he was conscripted, Fraser later boasted that he had never once worn the uniform, preferring to ignore call-up papers, desert and resume his criminal activities. 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. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can [16], Fraser's 42 years served in over 20 different prisons in the UK were often coloured by violence. Fraser, whose health has been deteriorating in recent years, turned to crime aged just nine when he and his sister, Eva, became petty thieves. Both Fraser and his sister, Eva, were also active juvenile thieves. I don't think they felt bad about it. The Krays, according to Frank, were little more than thieves ponces.. Frankie Fraser was tried at the Old Bailey for Harts murder, while six others, including Eddie Richardson, faced lesser charges.