His greatest moment of national notoriety came during what was known as the 'torture trial' of the Richardson gang in 1967, which became . Her story has been told in The Queen of Thieves, written by author Beezy Marsh, which sheds a light on the lives of the girl gang that gained the respect of male criminals because of their lucrative and violent methods. 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. "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. Eva (Fraser) Brindle. 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. The raids seem often to have been left to chance, and he was particularly unfortunate with cars. Notorious for high-speed getaways, she was eventually caught stealing lingerie and sentenced to hard labour in prison. He chose the latter because they had taken sides on behalf of his sisters husband, Tommy Brindle, who had received a heavy beating by the Rosa brothers from the Elephant and Castle. The gang probably had its roots in the Victorian slums around Seven Dials, near Covent Garden, infamous in Dickens's day. 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. And I felt the same way,' she said. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to He stopped following a warning from the Kray Twins. Ms Marsh said it 'was time to reappraise London's gangland' when she wrote The Queen of Thieves. She lived an unashamedly lavish lifestyle and splashed her money around. Both Frank and his sister, Eva, whom he adored, inherited their fathers features and his jet-black hair. 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. 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. 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. However, it was the during the 'torture trial' of the Richardson gang in 1967, that Frankie Fraser become notorious nationally. She was one of the top thieves during the war. He spent more than 40 years in prison. He was so attired when, in 1951, he attacked the governor of Wandsworth prison, William Lawton, as he walked his pet terrier on Wandsworth Common. He was released from prison in 1985.[17]. At the age of five, he moved with his family to a flat on Walworth Road, Elephant and Castle. If you weren't actually stealing, you were outranked by The Forty Thieves. Pitts wore a school girl's outfit, complete with straw boater, to act as a decoy. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. 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 notorious English gangster turned to a life of a crime and before he knew it, he was behind bars. With Warren at his heels, Fraser ambushed Spot in a Paddington street, knocking him to the ground with a shillelagh. Notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser died in hospital today aged 90, relatives have revealed. As a solicitor, I defended him in the trial following the Parkhurst riot and as a result wrote a number of books with him. 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. "You name it, we nicked it," he says. 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. [6] Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. During the 1940s it was not unusual for 'hoisters', a historical term for shoplifters, to be paid a hundred pounds a week - out earning men's average wages ten-to-one. At the same time Fraser was concerned to protect his West End business interests, chiefly the installation and operation (on an exclusive basis) in the clubs of Soho of one-armed bandits, or fruit machines, then growing in popularity. It is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times. 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. Together they set up the Atlantic Machines fruit-machine enterprise, which acted as a front for the criminal activities of the gang. Once he said he would do something, he did it, and he despised others who backed down. Ancestors . Jewellery was a favourite target, as it was easy to hide up a sleeve - rings could be switched for worthless fakes. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. Eva Brindle formerly Fraser. 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. As her reign came to an end, Forty Thieves queen Diamondpassed on her 'wisdom' to a future queen, Shirley Pitts. 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. To evade discovery they posted the stolen items back to London or depositing a suitcase of loot at the railway station's left luggage office, to be collected later. When Frankie was in prison, Eva helped to run his protection rackets in Soho and even sent her daughters to collect payments, as the police would not stop a child. Various members were eventually caught, though and served their time in Holloway prison, where rations were meagre and they slept on boards. Frankie Fraser was known anotorious torturer and hitman, who worked as an enforcer for some of London's most feared gang leaders. Following the Frankie Fraser story is akin to re-tracing the history of gangland London throughout the 20th Century. Fraser was just 13 when he was sent to an approved school for stealing 40 cigarettes. Fraser himself was accused of pulling out the teeth of victims with a pair of pliers. He was frequently punished for breaking prison rules or fighting prison officers: "I've done more bread and water than any man alive. 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. Her brother was the notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser, who joined turf wars between London gangs in the sixties. David had perfected the prison whisper talking very quietly, in case he was overheard by the guards. What officers didn't know then was that his crime spree would continue over a career spanning seven decades, and his offences only worsened. The two Richardson brothers were convicted, and the elder, Charles, sentenced to 25 years. Many of the Forty Thieves were noted for their beauty as well as their shoplifting skills, such as Madeline Partridge and her sister Laura, whose mother was often used by Diamond to sell stolen goods. His enduring nickname Mad Frank derived from his violent temperament which caused him to attempt to hang the governor of Wandsworth prison (and the governors dog) from a tree, and to be certified insane on three separate occasions. Fraser was part of Britain's Underworld between the 1940s-1960's. He was a known associate of gangster Billy Hill throughout the 1950s. Fraser was the. Part of his mouth was shot away in the incident. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. Fraser was jailed along with other members of the Richardson gang for violently punishing people whom the Richardsons believed owed them money. Following a trial at the Old Bailey in 1967, he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. 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. Both Fraser and his sister, Eva, were also active juvenile thieves. 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. He refused to discuss the shooting with the police. 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. By the time of the Swinging Sixties, she was drinking champagne with the Krays. Eva was a leading light in the gang in the thirties and forties, having risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. A Gannett Company. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. ", 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. 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. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. Fraser owed his success in the fruit machine business to Billy Hill, whose patronage Fraser courted when he attacked and almost killed Hills gangland rival Jack "Spot" Comer. 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! 'MAD' Frankie Fraser, was one of the most feared and respected West End crime lords of the 1960s. Always well turned out and ineffably polite and punctual, he had a large and appreciative audience, and one woman was so impressed she named her son after him. Each incident added more time to his sentence. Frankie Fraser, who has died aged 90, was a notorious torturer and hitman for the Richardson gang of south London criminals in the 1960s; he spent 42 years behind bars before achieving a. 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. Joining the Forty Thieves was something of a right of passage for Eva Fraser. The Guardian, October 12 1980 Frank Fraser is a thorn in the Prison Department's side - a thorn so big that he is possibly the only British criminal who has become a legend simply by serving time. [16], Fraser's 42 years served in over 20 different prisons in the UK were often coloured by violence. The most famous queen,Alice Diamond, was the daughter of a docker and renowned for her row of diamond rings that doubled as a knuckle duster. 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. Bought stolen goods and sold them on in a role known as 'the fence'. I just waited, caught up with him, knocked him about and strung him up with his dog, Fraser remembered. 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. 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. When he was 10, the pair stole a cigarette machine from a local pub, hauled it to some waste ground and jemmied it open. [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. She helped him sell on his loot. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was halfNative-American. Fraser was acquitted but received five years for affray. At signing sessions of his books he was always willing to be photographed pretending to extract a tooth with pliers brought by the fan. Another of Fraser's grandsons, James Fraser, also spent a short time with Bristol Rovers. [11] In 1942, while serving a prison sentence in HM Prison Chelmsford, he came to the attention of the British Army. The grim terraces of Waterloo and the tenements of Elephant and Castle provided plenty of girls desperate enough to join The Forty Thieves. "If you play by the sword, you've got to expect the sword as well," says his son. People shook his hand in the street, others kissed him or asked for his autograph and taxi drivers honked their horns. On this release, he determined to write his memoirs. '", 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. Fraser spent a lot of time in solitary confinement, tormented by prison officers who would spit in his food. He may be in his 90th year but "Mad" Frankie Fraser is still causing mayhem. 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.. 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. As a reward, he was shown his examination answers, and thats how I come top, he later boasted. It was a thief's paradise, Gor blimey! 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. He really did live by a code of honour which he took with him to the grave. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. Then they were turned over to Fraser. Despite this, or possibly because of it, newspapers of the day were tipping him as Spots natural successor. The notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser's sister Eva had risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. Monty Python sketch featuring the Piranha brothers, Doug and Dinsdale. But by the 1930s, the breeding ground for its recruits was South London. The women, who carried razors wrapped in lace handkerchiefs, were known for violent outbursts - including one furore that resulted in a woman blinding a police officer by stabbing him in the eye with her hatpin. They didnt go to jail, they did bird or got a lagging. Shortly afterwards, Fraser kidnapped Eric Mason, a Kray gang member, outside the Astor Club in Berkeley Square, with even direr consequences. 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. Frank stole because he loved to have money yet when he had it, he gave it all away. He was a deserter during the Second World War, escaping from his barracks . When the heat from the cops in London got too much, they headed off to the Costa del Crime to seek their fortunes there.