Getting them to relive their exploits had its own difficulties at the start the only time they had ever been interviewed was by the police and they were used to keeping their own counsel. Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. Francis Davidson Fraser, criminal, born 13 December 1923; died 26 November 2014, Gangland criminal and in later life a minor media celebrity, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Frankie Fraser in 2002. At least two home secretaries considered Fraser the most dangerous man in Britain, an image which, in old age, he only half-heartedly sought to dispel. Profile manager: Evelyn Wolff [send private message] His funeral took place on December 18, 2014. Tallymen, who sold goods door-to-door, would shift them across London. Queen of Thieves, by author and journalist Beezy Marsh (published by Orion, November 4 2021, 8.99). She had died in 2000 but her daughter Beverley, who shared Evas reticent nature, agreed to talk to me and that revealed that Eva had been leading criminal in her own right. [6] Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. 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. On the morning of Derek Bentleys execution at Wandsworth in 1953, he spat at the executioner Albert Pierrepoint and tried to attack him. 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. His mother was of Norwegian-Irish stock and his father was half Native American. In 1938, she was sentenced for stabbing a policeman in the eye with a hatpin. In 1996 he was cast as the gangleader Pops Den in the film Hard Men, which premiered at the London film festival. It was a thief's paradise, Gor blimey! He also claimed to have been the first bandit to wear a stocking mask. With Frankie Fraser, Chris Keenan, Steve Box, Michael Boyd. The criminal, who has spent almost half his life in prison, passed away earlier at King's. 'Any girl worth her salt in South London in those days was a. In 1969 Fraser led the Parkhurst prison riot on the Isle of Wight and found himself back in court charged with incitement to murder. She was sentenced to five months. Following the Frankie Fraser story is akin to re-tracing the history of gangland London throughout the 20th Century. 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. But his greatest moment of national notoriety came a quarter of a century earlier, during what the media billed as the Torture Trial (in fact a series of trials) in 1967 that became one of the longest in British criminal history. 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). 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. 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. HP10 9TY. Together they set up the Atlantic Machines fruit-machine enterprise, which acted as a front for the criminal activities of the gang. They would go through Selfridges department store in the West End and steal furs and expensive clothes. He may be in his 90th year but "Mad" Frankie Fraser is still causing mayhem. 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. He spent 42 years almost half his life in prison for 26 offences. Morton was relieved that, rather than remonstrating, Fraser wanted him to write his life story. By 20 she was leader of The Forty Thieves and wore a row of diamond rings that acted 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. The big question everyone has about Frank is Was he really mad? He was certified insane three times once by the Army, twice in prison and he was diagnosed as a psychopath but his family argue, and I tend to agree, that he played the system to suit himself. 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. Eva got six months for stealing stockings from Bentalls in Kingston upon Thames. 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. 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. Eva Brindle formerly Fraser. He then became involved in serious crime - and the war provided a perfect backdrop with the blackout, rationing and a shortage of police officers. 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. 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. 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! But few would perhaps know about the equally incredible lives led by his three sisters. Had her first criminal conviction aged 14 and went on to become Diamond's accomplice. When Mason demurred, Fraser buried a hatchet in his skull, pinning his hand to his head. When the police arrived, they found Hart lying under a lilac tree in a nearby garden. [13], It was in the early 1960s that Fraser first met Charlie and Eddie Richardson of the Richardson Gang, rivals to the Kray twins. When police visited she showed them ledgers to demonstrate her honest buying. He also attacked various governors. His parents never knew about his illegal activities, and if they ever suspected him apparently turned a blind eye, a habit . 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. 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 a young woman, Eva became an accomplished hoister (shoplifter). 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. Murdaugh is heckled as he leaves court, Missing hiker buried under snow forces arm out to wave to helicopter, Pavement where disabled woman gestured at cyclist before fatal crash, Fleet-footed cop chases an offender riding a scooter, Two Russian tanks annihilated with bombs by Ukrainian armed forces, Alex Murdaugh unanimously found GUILTY of murder of wife and son, Isabel Oakeshott clashes with Nick Robinson over Hancock texts, Insane moment river of rocks falls onto Malibu Canyon in CA, Do not sell or share my personal information. 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. ', The notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser's sister Eva had risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. There were car chases and bank raids which would not have looked out of place in The Sweeney. After Frasers release from the Spot sentence, he was courted by the Kray Twins and the Richardson gang. 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. Although he was acquitted, a further five years were added to his sentence. And involvement in such activities often led to his sentences being extended. What saved him I think was the branch; it was supple and it bent. Although Lawton survived, the dog died. These recollections, while often disordered and jumbled, nevertheless shed light on Frasers shameless and unrepentant defiance of the liberal consensus. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. Charles Richardson was a criminal businessman who reputedly specialised in various tortures administered at secret courts at which he presided, sometimes robed like a judge, a knife or a gun to hand. Mason was found, barely alive, wearing only his underpants and wrapped in a blanket, on the steps of the London Hospital in Whitechapel. She also passed on her 'wisdom' to a future queen, Shirley Pitts. 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. 'Mad' Frankie Fraser: Sweet dapper. Underneath glamorous ensembles the women wore specially-adapted petticoats with hidden pockets or baggy bloomers with elastic at the knee. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. Frasers partner in this endeavour was Bobby Warren, an uncle of the boxing promoter Frank Warren. Born near Waterloo station, central London, he was the fifth child of a poor family. Notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser died in hospital today aged 90, relatives have revealed. Eva got into shoplifting, but had a heart of gold. Its clear she still had to feed her family by acting on the wrong side of the law Beezy said. Prisoners and ex-prisoners all over Britain speak about him with undisguised admiration. 'You name it, we nicked it,' he tells the . Fraser served a total of 42 years in over 20 different prisons in the UK for numerous violent offences. Questioned by police, Fraser reportedly gave his name as Tutankhamen (gangland slang for shtum) and asked What incident?. Photograph: Crime and Investigation network. The Kray twins (pictured) held The Forty Thieves member Eva Fraser in high regard. A mugshot of Forty Thieves' Hughes, who was uncontrollable and dissipated by drink. 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. 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. Former Northern Echo journalist Beezy Marsh has written a book about London gangster Mad Frankie Fraser. 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. When the heat from the cops in London got too much, they headed off to the Costa del Crime to seek their fortunes there. 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. During his time in prison, Fraser was involved in a number of riots and frequently fought with prison officers, fellow inmates and governors. 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. Fraser spent practically half his life behind bars. It was just what we knew and to be honest, we loved it.. In 1996, he played (his friend) William Donaldson's guide to Marbella in the infamous BBC Radio 4 series A Retiring Fellow. He had been shot in the face. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. Together they set up the Atlantic Machines fruit-machine enterprise, which acted as a front for the criminal activities of the gang. 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. Eva knew the Krays well and they treated her with reverence, although she saw them as little more than naughty boys. 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. Bought stolen goods and sold them on in a role known as 'the fence'. 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. 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. 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. He then worked for legendary Soho crime boss Billy Hill in the 1950s, earning the nickname razor Fraser for his attacks on those who crossed him, before becoming embroiled in protection rackets in the 1960s, rising to the position of the Boss of Soho. He stopped following a warning from the Kray Twins. The grim terraces of Waterloo and the tenements of Elephant and Castle provided plenty of girls desperate enough to join The Forty Thieves. Both Fraser and Warren were given seven years for their acts of violence. 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. Swathed in luxurious fur coats, wearing diamond rings as a knuckledusters and hats to hide their stolen wares, Britain's most notorious all-female gang ruledthe tenements of Waterloo and Elephant and Castle and earned the respect of Soho's most feared underworld bosses. She had known their father, who was a fence (seller of stolen goods) or a 'thieves' ponce' - he would put up the money to finance criminal operations - which was a career on which she looked down. 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. [14] According to Fraser, it was they who helped him avoid arrest for the Great Train Robbery by bribing a policeman. 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. She lived an unashamedly lavish lifestyle and splashed her money around. But the victory was pyrrhic in many senses, because by the time he finally left prison the in mid 1980s, the world had changed and gangland had moved on. Comments have been closed on this article. At his funeral, one of his old prison friends summed him up: Whether he has gone upstairs or downstairs, I cant say, but wherever he is, you can be sure of this: he will be protesting about the conditions.. 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. Fraser, whose health has been deteriorating in recent years, turned to crime aged just nine when he and his sister, Eva, became petty thieves. 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. After the war, he worked for underworld boss Billy Hill, for whom he carried out razor attacks. He spent more than 40 years in prison. Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London on December 13, 1923. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was halfNative-American. Here are some pictures of Eva Fraser of the Forty Thieves and her sister Kathleen. [5][6][7][8] His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. Fraser was acquitted but received five years for affray. He was said to have pulled out the teeth of one of the victims with a pair of pliers. 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. Eva (Fraser) Brindle. An unregenerate villain of the deepest dye, Fraser satisfied the public appetite for vicarious thrill-seeking with a series of self-exculpatory memoirs in the 1990s that launched him on a twilight career as a celebrity criminal. The years just after World War II were a boom time for the gang, as clothing was rationed until 1949. Then theres Frankie himself, who makes a brief appearance. During the 1950s, Fraser's main occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangster Billy Hill. The two Richardson brothers were convicted, and the elder, Charles, sentenced to 25 years. Nevertheless he was good at sports, captaining the football team at St Patricks school, Southwark, and boxing as an amateur. Reporters claimed she was 6ft tall - despite police records from 1919 putting her at 5ft9in. 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. 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. For latest book news including updates on the forthcoming film Mad Frank and Sons please like my page Beezy Marsh. Part of his mouth was shot away in the incident. He had an ungovernable temper and an inability to think through the undoubted consequences of his proposed actions. [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. They didnt go to jail, they did bird or got a lagging. He was a deserter during the Second World War, escaping from his barracks . Whilst in Strangeways, Manchester in 1980, Fraser was 'excused boots' as he claimed he had problems with his feet because another prisoner had dropped a bucket of boiling water on them after Fraser had hit him; he was allowed to wear slippers. Frank's mother, Margaret, was a huge influence on him but his "best pal" and early partner in crime was his sister, Eva. Sometimes the hoisters' lives became entangled with those of underworld bosses through affairs, family ties or marriage. They also spoke, as Frank did, using the prison slang of a bygone era, which they had to translate for me. 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, 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. "Maybe he was bored with going to prison," Ronnie Richardson, Charlie's widow, tells the programme. 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. Each incident added more time to his sentence. As a reward, he was shown his examination answers, and thats how I come top, he later boasted. At the age of five, he moved with his family to a flat on Walworth Road, Elephant and Castle. Frankie Fraser was tried at the Old Bailey for Harts murder, while six others, including Eddie Richardson, faced lesser charges. The notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser's sister Eva had risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. Even decent folk were often only too happy to 'take a bit of crooked' to have something new. News reports were checked to see how much was owing. 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. 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 claimed to have no regrets about his criminal life, apart from being caught. Daughter. Once again, he was sent toprison, this timefor taking part in bank robberies. Diamond took her under her wing and showed her how to shoplift in 1947, when Pitts was just 12. [9] He was a resident at a sheltered accommodation home in Peckham. Mothers would hide hoisted clothes in their prams and move them to pubs, where they were sold on. 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. The raids seem often to have been left to chance, and he was particularly unfortunate with cars. Another grandson, Anthony Fraser, was being sought by police in February 2011 for his alleged involvement in an alleged 5 million cannabis smuggling ring. Beezy, from Ealing, explained that it was in prison that Eva met Diana Mosley, wife of Oswald leader of fascist Blackshirts who were a fearsome presence in London in the 1920s and 30s. Fraser himself was accused of pulling out the teeth of victims with a pair of pliers. 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. 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. But who were the gang's most brazen members? Eva knew the Krays well and they treated her with reverence, although she saw them as little more than naughty boys. Mad Frank. Her brother was the notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser, who joined turf wars between London gangs in the sixties. Mad Frank (1994), which went on to sell around 100,000 copies, was the first in a successful series. He had 10 years added to a sentence he was serving in 1967 along with The Richardson Brothers in the Torture Trials which were the longest trials in British criminal history. So it was in January 1965, when a club owner called Benny Coulston was hauled before Richardson for swindling him out of 600 over a consignment of cigarettes. Updated November 28, 2014 2.43pmfirst published at 2.41pm Save Share Registered in England & Wales | 01676637 |. 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. 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 an adult she was beaten by one of her boyfriends and the father of five of her seven children, Chris Hawkins, who was a fruit and vegetable seller in Hoxton. Jewellery was a favourite target, as it was easy to hide up a sleeve - rings could be switched for worthless fakes. She is thought to have killed herself in the 1970s. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. The comments below have not been moderated. 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. ", 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. As her reign came to an end, Forty Thieves queen Diamondpassed on her 'wisdom' to a future queen, Shirley Pitts. As people facedblackouts, rationing and a lack of professional policing due toconscription, Fraser had ample opportunities for criminal activities, such as stealing from houses while the occupants were hiding for safety in air-raid shelters. 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.
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