Although his parents were not criminals, Fraser turned to crime aged 10 with his sister Eva, to whom he was close. By the time of the Swinging Sixties, she was drinking champagne with the Krays. 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. You understand the choices that lay ahead of you if you were a working-class girl. Even the gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser, whose sister Eva was a leading light in the gang in the thirties and forties, spoke with great reverence about Alice Diamond. On the morning of Derek Bentleys execution at Wandsworth in 1953, he spat at the executioner Albert Pierrepoint and tried to attack him. 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. 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. ", Of the war years, when he was heavily involved in theft from bombed-out stores, he says: "You wanted to win the war but you wanted it to go on for ever. 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. At the age of five, he moved with his family to a flat on Walworth Road, Elephant and Castle. The raids seem often to have been left to chance, and he was particularly unfortunate with cars. 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. 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. Once he said he would do something, he did it, and he despised others who backed down. By Emer Scully and Beezy Marsh for MailOnline, Published: 10:41 GMT, 4 November 2021 | Updated: 13:07 GMT, 4 November 2021. Because of Frasers behaviour in jail over the years, he forfeited almost every day of his remission. 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.. "If you play by the sword, you've got to expect the sword as well," says his son. 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. Jewellery was a favourite target, as it was easy to hide up a sleeve - rings could be switched for worthless fakes. The memoir KEEPING MY SISTER'S SECRETS, (Pan Macmillan 2017) tells the moving story of three sisters born into poverty in 1930s London and their fight for a survival through a decade of social upheaval. 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. 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, he recalled, was more than capable of doing what he threatened. 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. Mink stoles and furs were the top prize, but some of the gang stole silverware and one even put on a maternity girdle to pinch an entire china tea set. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. 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. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to '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. In 1966 he was charged with the murder of Richard Hart, who was shot at a club in Catford, but the charges were dropped when a witness changed their testimony. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was halfNative-American. With Frankie Fraser, Chris Keenan, Steve Box, Michael Boyd. 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. 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'. 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. 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. [4] He was involved in riots and frequently fought with prison officers and fellow inmates. Queen of Thieves, by author and journalist Beezy Marsh (published by Orion, November 4 2021, 8.99). Various members were eventually caught, though and served their time in Holloway prison, where rations were meagre and they slept on boards. Born on Cornwall Road, Waterloo, Lambeth, South London, Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. She is thought to have killed herself in the 1970s. There were car chases and bank raids which would not have looked out of place in The Sweeney. Keeping My Sisters Secrets was published on July 27 by Pan Macmillan. 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". In 1938, she was sentenced for stabbing a policeman in the eye with a hatpin. The publisher also decided to include a glossary for the reader. Peggy stayed out of crime and worked for the Post Office. His major stretch in prison came at the end of the Swinging Sixties, shortly before his rivals, the Krays, were jailed, but he was so badly behaved behind bars that he lost every day of remission and even had five years added to his sentence for one of the worst riots in prison history at Parkhurst in the Isle of Wight. In the 1950s he worked for underworld boss Billy Hill and carried out razor attacks on victims for 50 each. But his criminal activities didn't stop when he was locked up. 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. While serving this sentence, Fraser received 10 years for his part in the so-called Richardson torture trial. [3][4], Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London. He was full of contradictions: He hated authority but at the same time he understood the need for society to have rules and was against anarchy. His gangster boss Charles Richardson remembered him as one of the most polite, mild-mannered men Ive met but he has a bad temper on him sometimes. Francis Davidson Fraser, known as Mad Frankie Fraser, was the scourge of prison governors and warders up and down Britain during the periods when he served a total of more than 40 years imprisonment. It wasnt that we chose to be thieves, said Patrick. 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. 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. She also passed on her 'wisdom' to a future queen, Shirley Pitts. '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. Daughter. Notorious for high-speed getaways, she was eventually caught stealing lingerie and sentenced to hard labour in prison. He was frequently punished for breaking prison rules or fighting prison officers: "I've done more bread and water than any man alive. The book upset some of those mentioned in it, and Morton was dismayed to arrive home one evening to find a message from Fraser on his answering machine, demanding to speak to him urgently. Pictured: The female cast of the hit BBC show Peaky Blinders. His funeral took place on December 18, 2014. . This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's Descendants . [15] In 1966, Fraser was charged with the murder of Richard Hart, who was shot at Mr Smith's club in Catford while other Richardson associates, including Jimmy Moody, were charged with affray. After another, the car ran out of petrol in the Rotherhithe tunnel. 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. He was working all the hours he got sent, but he couldnt make ends meet. Alice herself was famous for clouting three furs in one go: one down each leg and one under her gusset. He spent 42 years almost half his life in prison for 26 offences. 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. 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. Even the gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser, whose sister Eva was a leading light in the gang in the thirties and forties, spoke with great reverence about Alice Diamond. Had it all gone to plan, she could have inhabited a very different side of the West End to her little sister Eva. [11] In 1942, while serving a prison sentence in HM Prison Chelmsford, he came to the attention of the British Army. It was a thief's paradise, Gor blimey! '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. Even decent folk were often only too happy to 'take a bit of crooked' to have something new. The business came to an end in 1966 when a fight in a Catford night club, Mr Smiths, left a Kray associate, Dickie Hart, dead, and Richardson and Fraser, who was charged with Harts murder, in prison. He built a reputation as an enforcer and strongman for various gang leaders, including Billy Hill, self-styled King of Britains Underworld in the 1940s and 1950s and, in the 1960s, the Richardson brothers. [9] A witness later changed histestimony,and the charges were eventually dropped, though Fraser still received a five-year sentence for affray. After one snatch, he and his companion were arrested when their car would not start. A mugshot of Forty Thieves' Hughes, who was uncontrollable and dissipated by drink. 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. ', The notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser's sister Eva had risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. The two Richardson brothers were convicted, and the elder, Charles, sentenced to 25 years. He was a member of the Richardson gang or the 'torture gang', led by brothers Charlie and Eddie Richardson, and were widely feared in Londons underworld. The Frasers were both contemporaries of the Hatton Garden heist gang members many of whom also came from south London and who operated on the same bank robbing scene and shared jail cells with the Fraser boys at some point. Throughout his life he denied the justice of this conviction, but he was happy to trade off it. They stole to put food on the table. Frankie Fraser was tried at the Old Bailey for Harts murder, while six others, including Eddie Richardson, faced lesser charges. 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!' Born to criminal parents in Southwark, South London, in 1886, her first crimes were aiding and abetting men. 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. 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. Because of the type of person I am, he wrote, in the life I led, you learn to shrug off adversity better than people whove worked hard all their lives.. We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. Her wartime experience was spent on the switchboards during the Blitz. As a solicitor, I defended him in the trial following the Parkhurst riot and as a result wrote a number of books with him. Beezy reveals how the girls father would beat their mother a big influence on their outlook. 42 years a lag She had died in. In 1969, Fraser was one of the ringleaders of the major Parkhurst Prison riot, which resulted in him spending the six weeks in the prison hospital due to his injuries. Whatever you nicked you could sell, they'd be queuing up to buy it off you.". During World War 2 he was a deserter - escaping from his barracks on several occasions. On 21 November 2014, Fraser fell critically ill whilst undergoing leg surgery atKing's College Hospital,Denmark Hill. 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. [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. 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. 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. Facebook gives people the power. When caught by police she replied: 'I don't know anything about it.'. Frankie Fraser was a south London gangster who knew no language but violence and spent half his life behind bars. On this release, he determined to write his memoirs. 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. 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. If you love GANGLAND and women in crime who rubbed shoulders with Frank and the Krays, you're going to QUEEN OF CLUBS my new book set in seedy 1950s Soho and inspired by the Forty Thieves hoisters gang including Frank's sister Eva Fraser and the notorious hoister Shirley Pitts from Walworth who grew up with his sons David and Patrick. She was one of the top thieves during the war. Following a trial at theOld Baileyin 1967, he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment.
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