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A mugshot of Forty Thieves' Hughes, who was uncontrollable and dissipated by drink. 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. And involvement in such activities often led to his sentences being extended. ', The notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser's sister Eva had risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. ", 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. [9], Fraser was an Arsenal fan, and his grandson Tommy Fraser is a professional footballer. contact the editor here. 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. [22], Fraser gave gangland tours around London, where he highlighted infamous criminal locations such as The Blind Beggar pub. David had perfected the prison whisper talking very quietly, in case he was overheard by the guards. Shortly afterwards, Fraser kidnapped Eric Mason, a Kray gang member, outside the Astor Club in Berkeley Square, with even direr consequences. 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. Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London on December 13, 1923. 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. Her brother was the notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser, who joined turf wars between London gangs in the sixties. Fraser himself was accused of pulling out the teeth of victims with a pair of pliers. 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. Then theres Frankie himself, who makes a brief appearance. 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. 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). 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. [9] He was a deserter during the Second World War, escaping from his barracks on several occasions. Fraser has complained in the past that "I had no help from my family; my mother and father were dead straight so I had to make my own way. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. It was a thief's paradise, Gor blimey! "As I was growing up, I never had to buy a shirt Eva made sure she nicked them for me. 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. Pictured, Marble Arch and Oxford Circus in the 1920s, Petite shoplifter Bertha Tappenden (right) 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 (left). [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. But few would perhaps know about the equally incredible lives led by his three sisters. Aged seven, Ms Pitts was stealing milk and bread to provide food for her five siblings. 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. 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. "Maybe he was bored with going to prison," Ronnie Richardson, Charlie's widow, tells the programme. "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. 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. 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. After trying his hand at crime as a. 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. At signing sessions of his books he was always willing to be photographed pretending to extract a tooth with pliers brought by the fan. 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. 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. Monty Python sketch featuring the Piranha brothers, Doug and Dinsdale. 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. There was also kind of respect for them locally because people could get a nice dress or a pair of stockings cheaply. Fraser, who was jailed for 10 years in the so-called "torture trial" in 1967, is now frail and in poor health. During World War 2 he was a deserter - escaping from his barracks on several occasions. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription you will not receive any updates until your subscription is confirmed. Frank stole because he loved to have money yet when he had it, he gave it all away. Fraser was just 13 when he was sent to an approved school for stealing 40 cigarettes. On 26 November, Fraser died after his family made the decision to turn off his life-support machine. Pitts wore a school girl's outfit, complete with straw boater, to act as a decoy. [9] He was a resident at a sheltered accommodation home in Peckham. The Krays, according to Frank, were little more than thieves ponces.. 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. 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. A keen Arsenal supporter, Fraser had four sons, the first three of whom, Frank Jr, David and Patrick, followed to an extent in his footsteps. He also ran a coach tour pointing out to a spectrum of customers the old criminal London. 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. They also spoke, as Frank did, using the prison slang of a bygone era, which they had to translate for me. [3][4], Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London. Fraser served a total of 42 years in over 20 different prisons in the UK for numerous violent offences. Yet they fiercely guarded their right to 'earn' their own money. Mother of [private daughter (1940s - unknown)] Died 2000s. The gang probably had its roots in the Victorian slums around Seven Dials, near Covent Garden, infamous in Dickens's day. When police switched on to the gang's methods they branched out, with trips to Southend, Brighton, Liverpool and Manchester. During the 1950s, Fraser's main occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangster Billy Hill. 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. I just waited, caught up with him, knocked him about and strung him up with his dog, Fraser remembered. By the 1950s, the gang were facing ever-present store detectives and had to rely more on disguises. In 1969 Fraser led the Parkhurst prison riot on the Isle of Wight and found himself back in court charged with incitement to murder. 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. News reports were checked to see how much was owing. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription you will not receive any newsletters until your subscription is confirmed. Please enter your username or email address to reset your password. 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. Its clear she still had to feed her family by acting on the wrong side of the law Beezy said. Once he said he would do something, he did it, and he despised others who backed down. Frank had been active as a criminal from the 1930s and was given his first prison sentence at the outbreak of the Second World War. '", 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. What saved him I think was the branch; it was supple and it bent. Although Lawton survived, the dog died. The notorious English gangster turned to a life of a crime and before he knew it, he was behind bars. Fraser died at the age of 91 on November 26, 2014. He had been shot in the face. An early nickname Razor Fraser reflected his penchant for shivving his enemies faces with a cut-throat blade. For other inquiries, Contact Us. Another grandson, Anthony Fraser, was being sought by police in February 2011 for his alleged involvement in an alleged 5 million cannabis smuggling ring. 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. '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. When police visited she showed them ledgers to demonstrate her honest buying. He was a rock.. 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. 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. Fraser received seven years. Keeping My Sisters Secrets was published on July 27 by Pan Macmillan. Notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser died in hospital today aged 90, relatives have revealed. After another, the car ran out of petrol in the Rotherhithe tunnel. He also claimed to have been the first bandit to wear a stocking mask. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. Tony Lambrianou, a one-time henchman of the rival Kray brothers, was also a fan. 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". 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. 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. 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. And I felt the same way,' she said. 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. 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 certain cult status in later life as an author, after-dinner speaker, television pundit and tour guide. 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. A feature film production is currently[when?] The most famous 'queen', Alice Diamond (left), was the daughter of a docker and renowned for her row of diamond rings that doubled as a knuckle duster. The thieves' earnings allowed them to live like upper-class debutantes. 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. Frankie Fraser belonged to a bygone era of crime and was cut from a different cloth than so many other gangsters of his generation. 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. She liked to earn her own money and paid her own way quite something for a young woman in the 1930s and 1940s. He was moved from prison to prison more than 100 times because he was virtually impossible to control. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to The years just after World War II were a boom time for the gang, as clothing was rationed until 1949. Prisoners and ex-prisoners all over Britain speak about him with undisguised admiration. During the 1950s, Fraser's main criminal occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangsterBilly Hill. Whatever you nicked you could sell, they'd be queuing up to buy it off you.". The reader is also introduced to the girls brother Jim, who became a sergeant in the army and fought in North Africa. 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. 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. After trying his hand at crime as a. 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. Eva got into shoplifting, but had a heart of gold. 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. Jewellery was a favourite target, as it was easy to hide up a sleeve - rings could be switched for worthless fakes. Data returned from the Piano 'meterActive/meterExpired' callback event. Nevertheless he was good at sports, captaining the football team at St Patricks school, Southwark, and boxing as an amateur. One such member was Lilian Goldstein, who was known as the Bob-Haired Bandit. 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. 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. Eva Fraser - the sister of notorious gangster Mad Frankie Fraser - was reputedly one of the last members of the Queens of the Forty Thieves shoplifting gang, which sold stolen goods from. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. Franks mother, Margaret, was a huge influence on him but his best pal and early partner in crime was his sister, Eva. The publisher also decided to include a glossary for the reader. 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. However, according to a new documentary, he is clearly not going gentle into any good night. 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. With Warren at his heels, Fraser ambushed Spot in a Paddington street, knocking him to the ground with a shillelagh. Afraid of being heavily medicated for bad behaviour, Fraser stayed out of trouble and was released in 1955. 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. 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. 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. But who were the gang's most brazen members? The violent thugs, the Kray twins, held The Forty Thieves member Eva Fraser in high regard during the 1940s and 1950s. 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. A constant troublemaker in prison, attacking governors and warders over perceived injustices which inevitably resulted in floggings, bread and water and the loss of remission, Fraser had by this time been certified insane on three occasions. 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. 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. Joining the Forty Thieves was something of a right of passage for Eva Fraser. Theres one account of one of Peggys colleagues pretending to still be single so she could carry on working as a Post Office manager. Whereas for Eva it was about her earning her own money on her own terms. 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'. Born inLambeth, south London, Frankie committed his first crime at the age of 13, when he stole a packet of cigarettes and was sent to an approved school. Fraser himself was charged with pulling out people's teeth with pliers and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Are you sure you want to delete this comment? Ancestors . 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. Fraser spent a lot of time in solitary confinement, tormented by prison officers who would spit in his food. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. [8] Although his parents were not criminals, Fraser turned to crime aged 10 with his sister Eva, to whom he was close. 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'. Both Frank and his sister, Eva, whom he adored, inherited their fathers features and his jet-black hair. He really did live by a code of honour which he took with him to the grave. 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. Fraser was one of the ringleaders of the major Parkhurst Prison riot in 1969, spending the following six weeks in the prison hospital because of his injuries. 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. Following the Frankie Fraser story is akin to re-tracing the history of gangland London throughout the 20th Century. 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. 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. 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.