The Crime Book

164

THEY WERE THE

BEST YEARS OF

OUR LIVES

THE KRAYS AND THE RICHARDSONS, 1960s

I

n 1960s’ London, the notorious

Brixton-based Richardson

Gang and the Kray Firm led by

East End twins Ronnie and Reggie,

vied to dominate London’s lucrative

entertainment centre, the West

End. Both mobs came from

impoverished backgrounds with

absentee fathers, and rose quickly

before destroying themselves

through mindless violence.

Reggie and Ronnie Kray were

amateur boxers who idolized

London mobster Billy Hill and were

transfixed by gangster magazines

and films. Their criminal empire

was founded in the East End of

London in 1954 when they took

ownership of a billiard hall in

Bethnal Green. When Maltese

thugs attempted to collect

“protection” money, Ronnie

mangled them with a cutlass.

IN CONTEXT

LOCATION

London, UK

THEME

Protection rackets

BEFORE

1930s-50s Notorious criminal

Billy Hill commits smash-and-

grab raids of London jewellery

stores, including the high-

profile Eastcastle Street

Robbery of 1952.

AFTER

1980s–2000s The Noonan

crime firm, led by brothers

Dominic and Desmond

Noonan, controls organized

crime in Manchester, UK,

and allegedly commits up

to 25 murders.

1980s The Clerkenwell

Crime Syndicate, which

specializes in drug trafficking,

extortion, and murder in

London neighbourhoods,

is established.

Partners in crime Reggie (left) and

Ronnie (right) relax after questioning

by the police about the murder of

George Cornell. They appeared in an

police lineup but witnesses could not,

or would not, identify them.

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165

See also: The Sicilian Mafia 138–45 ■ The Yakuza 154–59 ■ Jack the Ripper 266–73

ORGANIZED CRIME

The twins started a protection

racket of their own. They allegedly

had a personal bet to see who could

make more money in a day, and

earned a reputation for violence.

Reggie and Ronnie quickly

established “The Firm” with

Freddie Foreman, a powerful East

End gangster, as their sometime

enforcer. In 1957, they became

owners of the Double R nightclub,

then extended west, acquiring

Esmeralda’s Barn, a gambling club

in Knightsbridge.

Bitter rivalry

Although the Krays’ reputation has

overshadowed the Richardsons’,

Charlie and Eddie were far more

cruel and calculating. Charlie,

labelled “vicious, sadistic, and a

disgrace to civilization” by a judge,

was the brains of the operation. His

younger brother Eddie was the

brawn. The gang tortured victims

by nailing them to the floor, pulling

out teeth with pliers, and chopping

off toes with bolt-cutters.

The Richardsons’ most feared

enforcer was Frankie Fraser, who

had earned the moniker “mad” after

slashing the face of crime boss Jack

Comer. “Mad” Frankie offered

protection to pubs and clubs if they

allowed the Richardsons’ fruit

machines into their establishments.

Those who refused became the

victims of vandalism or worse.

The Richardsons also committed

outright extortion as well as dealing

in pornography and narcotics. They

laundered their proceeds through

their Brixton scrapyard and fruit

machine business.

The first clash between the

Krays and Richardsons occurred

one night in a West End nightclub

when Eddie Richardson and

Frankie Fraser severely beat Kenny

Hampton, a young man employed

by Freddie Foreman. Swearing

vengeance, Foreman walked into

the club and reportedly jammed a

.38 pistol into Eddie’s nostril.

Tensions between the gangs

boiled over in March 1966 with

“The Battle of Mr Smith’s” when

members of the Richardson Gang

and Kray associates shot, knifed,

and beat each other in a club in

southeast London. Both Fraser and

Eddie Richardson were shot along

with five others, while Kray cousin

Dickie Hart was murdered with his

own .45 gun. Fraser and Eddie

Richardson were sentenced to five

years in prison for affray. Charlie

Richardson was arrested while

watching the 1966 World Cup Final

on 30 July, and later sentenced to

25 years in prison.

Several days after “The Battle of

Mr Smith’s,” Ronnie Kray entered

Whitechapel’s busy Blind Beggar

pub and was insulted by drunk

Richardson gang member George

Cornell. He fatally shot Cornell in

the head. At an early Christmas

party on 7 December, Reggie Kray

repeatedly knifed drug dealer Jack

McVitie in a dispute over money.

On 8 May 1968, the Krays

were arrested by Detective Chief

Inspector “Nipper” Read’s Flying

Squad, along with 15 other

members of The Firm. The twins

were sentenced to life without the

possibility of parole for 30 years.

Ronnie died from a heart attack in

1995; in 2000, Reggie’s terminal

cancer led to his compassionate

release from prison. ■

Charlie [Richardson] is evil...

in the nicest possible way. Evil

people sometimes are.

John McVicar

The Kray twins

The Kray twins grew up in the

working-class community of

Hoxton in East London. It was

considered a “zone of transition”

where criminal activity

flourished. Both grandfathers

• Jimmy “Cannonball” Lee and
  “Mad” Jimmy Kray – were
  renowned boxers in their day,
  as was the twins’ aunt Rose.
  The twins formed a unique
  bond, learning how to fight
  together, protecting each other
  from harm, and going into
  criminal business together.

Their sexuality has been the

subject of intense speculation.

Ronnie identified as bisexual in

his 1993 book My Story, but the

Kray family have denied claims

by biographer John Pearson that

Reggie also liked men. Pearson

even claimed in a book written

after the twins’ deaths that they

had engaged in incest.

The twins were only separated

shortly after their convictions,

when Ronnie was transferred

to Broadmoor – a high-security

psychiatric hospital – after

being diagnosed as a paranoid

schizophrenic.

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