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. 'I felt it was time for their story to be told and it inspired my novel, which is the first in a planned trilogy for Orion about the gang, stretching from the 1920s to the 1950s.'. . The cells did not have a reforming effect on her character or on that of her gang leader Diamond, who was arrested on numerous occasions over the following decade. His parents were honest and hard-working, but Frankie and his big sister Eva, to whom he was closest, soon turned to crime. Born 1920s. In August 1963, invited to take part in the Great Train Robbery, Fraser pulled out because he was on the run from the police. Beezy reveals how the girls father would beat their mother a big influence on their outlook. Comments have been closed on this article. At the age of five, he moved with his family to a flat on Walworth Road, Elephant and Castle. Following a trial at the Old Bailey in 1967, he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. ', The notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser's sister Eva had risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. He also ran a coach tour pointing out to a spectrum of customers the old criminal London. '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. According to one of his sons, David, Fraser was unharmed but he did not inform on his assailant. The Richardson Gang was an English crime gang based in South London, England in the 1960s.Also known as the "Torture Gang", they had a reputation as some of London's most sadistic gangsters. During his time behind bars he was involved in violence and was a major instigator in the Parkhurst Prison riots in 1969. He stopped following a warning from the Kray Twins. Tue 11 Jun 2013 11.55 EDT He may be in his 90th year but "Mad" Frankie Fraser is still causing mayhem. 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. Frankie Fraser was a notorious torturer and hitman for the Richardson gang of south London criminals in the 1960s. The family was hard-working and kept themselves clean [out of crime].. Here are some pictures of Eva Fraser of the Forty Thieves and her sister Kathleen. 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. She helped support her young siblings by taking milk and bread from neighbour's doorsteps. Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused. 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. He shot, slashed, stabbed and axed. By the time of the Swinging Sixties, she was drinking champagne with the Krays. 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. His life of crime started aged nine when he worked for the notorious Sabini gang, which ran protection rackets at the racecourses at a time when off-course betting was illegal. Had her first criminal conviction aged 14 and went on to become Diamond's accomplice. He was a deserter during the Second World War, escaping from his barracks . For latest book news including updates on the forthcoming film Mad Frank and Sons please like my page Beezy Marsh. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. 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. Fraser was the. Although he was acquitted, a further five years were added to his sentence. His last jail term ended in 1989, but in 2011 he was handed an Asbo after getting into an argument with a fellow pensioner at the sheltered accommodation where he lived in Bermondsey. Aged seven, Ms Pitts was stealing milk and bread to provide food for her five siblings. Fraser was jailed along with other members of the Richardson gang for violently punishing people whom the Richardsons believed owed them money. 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. 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. A ponce was someone who thieves looked down on, because they lived by taking a cut from someone elses earnings. As a reward, he was shown his examination answers, and thats how I come top, he later boasted. 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. 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. On 26 November, Fraser died after his family made the decision to turn off his life-support machine. 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. [16], Fraser's 42 years served in over 20 different prisons in the UK were often coloured by violence. A feature film production is currently[when?] By 20 she was leader of The Forty Thieves and wore a row of diamond rings that acted as a knuckle duster. Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services. The raids seem often to have been left to chance, and he was particularly unfortunate with cars. 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. 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. Please report any comments that break our rules. Nothing ever got to Frankie, wrote Charlie Richardson. "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. In 1996, he played (his friend) William Donaldson's guide to Marbella in the infamous BBC Radio 4 series A Retiring Fellow. It has emerged that the former gangland enforcer, who has spent 42 years in prison for 26. Then they were turned over to Fraser. The Forty Thieves, a London-based exclusively female gang whose exploits were worse than those depicted in BBC drama the Peaky Blinders, posed as wealthy housewives innocently browsing the rails of the UK's most luxurious clothing stores. 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. 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. After three years in jail she tookpart in the Lambeth riot at Christmas 1925. With the help of Hill and mafia interests, Fraser and Eddie Richardson established Atlantic Machines, a successful business placing one-armed bandits in clubs throughout Britain. What Fraser invariably threatened was violence. Underneath glamorous ensembles the women wore specially-adapted petticoats with hidden pockets or baggy bloomers with elastic at the knee. '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. Notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser died in hospital today aged 90, relatives have revealed. However, it was the during the 'torture trial' of the Richardson gang in 1967, that Frankie Fraser become notorious nationally. For other inquiries, Contact Us. 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. 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. 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. Eva (Fraser) Brindle. Pitts wore a school girl's outfit, complete with straw boater, to act as a decoy. I don't think they felt bad about it. 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. Data returned from the Piano 'meterActive/meterExpired' callback event. I dont think people realise how close we came to all-out battles in London between Communism and Fascism, before WW2 brought the country together, Beezy said. He really did live by a code of honour which he took with him to the grave. Although his parents were not criminals, Fraser turned to crime aged 10 with his sister Eva, to whom he was close. During the 1950s, Fraser's main occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangster Billy Hill. 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. He emerged from jail in 1989 and has not been back since. In 1991, while emerging from Turnmills nightclub in Clerkenwell, London, he was shot at by an unidentified gunman. Mad Frank: Memoirs of a Life of Crime appeared in 1994, with two further volumes following in 1998 and 2001. It was just what we knew and to be honest, we loved it.. The gang passed on their secrets from mother to daughter, aunt to niece, so whole generations of families saw crime as a way of life. Her wartime experience was spent on the switchboards during the Blitz. 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. 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. 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. 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 was very skilled at manipulating people and he played a long game, letting people believe he was mad, with the intention of winning in the end. 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. 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. Frankie Frasers wife Doreen, with whom he had four sons, died in 1999. The years just after World War II were a boom time for the gang, as clothing was rationed until 1949. [14] According to Fraser, it was they who helped him avoid arrest for the Great Train Robbery by bribing a policeman. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. Facebook gives people the power. [9], Fraser was an Arsenal fan, and his grandson Tommy Fraser is a professional footballer. 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. He was frequently punished for breaking prison rules or fighting prison officers: "I've done more bread and water than any man alive. Photograph: Alex Segre/Rex. 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. The notorious English gangster turned to a life of a crime and before he knew it, he was behind bars. 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. Shortly afterwards, Fraser kidnapped Eric Mason, a Kray gang member, outside the Astor Club in Berkeley Square, with even direr consequences. Eric wasnt a bad fellow, Fraser later explained, but that particular night he was bang out of order.. Yet they fiercely guarded their right to 'earn' their own money. As a young woman, Eva became an accomplished hoister (shoplifter). 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. Joining the Forty Thieves was something of a right of passage for Eva Fraser. 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. 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. Fraser was part of Britain's Underworld between the 1940s-1960's. Young Frankie attended local schools, captained the football team, and acted as bookies runner to one of the teachers. Then theres Frankie himself, who makes a brief appearance. He was released from prison in 1985.[17]. Eva knew the Krays well and they treated her with reverence, although she saw them as little more than naughty boys. 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. 'My gran liked to go for tea at the Ritz, especially if she could pinch someone's fur coat from the cloakroom on the way out. Registered in England & Wales | 01676637 |. [10], In 1941, Fraser was sent to borstal for breaking into a Waterloo hosiery store, then given a 15-month prison sentence at HM Prison Wandsworth for shop-breaking. 'And they were the best fun for a night out.'. "If you play by the sword, you've got to expect the sword as well," says his son. 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. [5][6][7][8] His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. You understand the choices that lay ahead of you if you were a working-class girl. 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. 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. Each incident added more time to his sentence. In 1941, Fraser was given his first taste of punishment when he was sent to borstal for breaking into a Waterloo hosiery store. 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. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription you will not receive any newsletters until your subscription is confirmed. 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. 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. If you are dissatisfied with the response provided you can When the police arrived, they found Hart lying under a lilac tree in a nearby garden. Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London. Various members were eventually caught, though and served their time in Holloway prison, where rations were meagre and they slept on boards. There was also kind of respect for them locally because people could get a nice dress or a pair of stockings cheaply. Fraser served a total of 42 years in over 20 different prisons in the UK for numerous violent offences. Its clear she still had to feed her family by acting on the wrong side of the law Beezy said. "From there he goes on to burgle, and she goes onto shop lifting with a famous female gang called The 40 Thieves. Members of The Forty Thieves worked department stores including Selfridges in teams of three or four during hoisting trips up to three times a week. Sister of Frankie Davidson Fraser. 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. Diamond took her under her wing and showed her how to shoplift in 1947, when Pitts was just 12. Aged 17 she was convicted for stealing from a hat shop in Oxford Street. This is Eva Fraser, sister of gangster " Mad" Frankie who was one of the leading lights in The Forty Thieves. Fraser spent practically half his life behind bars. Author Beezy Marsh said: 'These women fought harder than the men and were feared by men and women in their communities. Reporters claimed she was 6ft tall - despite police records from 1919 putting her at 5ft9in. Newsquest Media Group Ltd, Loudwater Mill, Station Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. But she was once caught stealing stockings and was sent to prison.. 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. 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. This website and associated newspapers adhere to the Independent Press Standards Organisation's "Maybe he was bored with going to prison," Ronnie Richardson, Charlie's widow, tells the programme. Fraser, who was jailed for 10 years in the so-called "torture trial" in 1967, is now frail and in poor health. But Beezy said: [Kathleen] experienced the slums of Waterloo as a place buzzing with excitement and the tight-knit community, with its Catholic Church parades, which gave her the chance to shine, though she instead works at the old Hartleys jam factory in Bermondsey. 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. He spent more than 40 years in prison. 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. [11] In 1942, while serving a prison sentence in HM Prison Chelmsford, he came to the attention of the British Army. There were car chases and bank raids which would not have looked out of place in The Sweeney. But when her brother Frankie was in prison, she helped to run his protection rackets in Soho and even sent her daughters to collect payments, as the police would not stop a child. ", A deserter during the war he pretended to be mad to avoid the call-up Fraser was certified insane three times and spent time in Broadmoor secure hospital. A witness later changed histestimony,and the charges were eventually dropped, though Fraser still received a five-year sentence for affray. Police reveal more details, as man remains at large after brutal attack outside school, Interview with MP Neil Coyle after Commons suspension: Why the drinking has stopped having started in childhood, but the swearing wont, plus deliberately avoiding Labour leader Keir Starmer, Read our print products (Digital Editions). With Warren at his heels, Fraser ambushed Spot in a Paddington street, knocking him to the ground with a shillelagh. 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. Daughter. The comments below have not been moderated. The trial which became one of the longest in British criminal history. Two people were left dead. According to Eddie Richardson, Fraser had Alzheimer's disease for the last three years of his life. 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. Both Fraser and his sister, Eva, were also active juvenile thieves. [6] Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. Born near Waterloo station, central London, he was the fifth child of a poor family. A bucket boy would offer to clean the bookies' blackboards with a sponge, for which they were obliged to pay the Sabinis. ', As the photographs show, the women often wore beautifully designed hats , coats and dresses in order to fit in, known as 'putting on the posh'. 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. His wife, Doreen, whom he married in 1965, and who with Eva loyally toured the prisons to visit him, died in 1999. [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. Fraser himself was charged with pulling out people's teeth with pliers and sentenced to 10 years in prison. 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.
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