You understand the choices that lay ahead of you if you were a working-class girl. He may be in his 90th year but "Mad" Frankie Fraser is still causing mayhem. Join Facebook to connect with Frankie Fraser and others you may know. Hughes was famed for her red hair, a love of drink and a violent temper. 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. 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. Prisoners and ex-prisoners all over Britain speak about him with undisguised admiration. His new career took off and he was in regular demand as a radio and television pundit. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription you will not receive any newsletters until your subscription is confirmed. 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. David had perfected the prison whisper talking very quietly, in case he was overheard by the guards. Nothing ever got to Frankie, wrote Charlie Richardson. 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. It was a thief's paradise, Gor blimey! 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). 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. 'MAD' Frankie Fraser, was one of the most feared and respected West End crime lords of the 1960s. Tue 11 Jun 2013 11.55 EDT He may be in his 90th year but "Mad" Frankie Fraser is still causing mayhem. 'They didn't see anything wrong in it because these things were too expensive for most people to afford and shops had insurance. ', The notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser's sister Eva had risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. 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. 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. Former Northern Echo journalist Beezy Marsh has written a book about London gangster Mad Frankie Fraser. Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road inWaterloo,London on December 13, 1923. 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. During the 1950s, Fraser's main criminal occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangsterBilly Hill. She operated out of Walworth, South East London and her home was called an 'Aladdin's cave of loot'. 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. 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. His funeral took place on December 18, 2014. Had her first criminal conviction aged 14 and went on to become Diamond's accomplice. Frankie Fraser's Last Stand: Directed by Matt Blyth. MAD FRANK & SONS, by David Fraser, Patrick Fraser and Beezy Marsh is published by Sidgwick and Jackson on June 2. 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. During the 1950s, Fraser's main occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangster Billy Hill. In the 1950s he worked for underworld boss Billy Hill and carried out razor attacks on victims for 50 each. [24], Fraser's wife, by whom he had four sons, died in 1999. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to 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. Together they set up the Atlantic Machines fruit-machine enterprise, which acted as a front for the criminal activities of the gang. Various members were eventually caught, though and served their time in Holloway prison, where rations were meagre and they slept on boards. 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 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. Before World War Two, if you got married you were expected to leave work and stay at home, Beezy said. Fraser, who was jailed for 10 years in the so-called "torture trial" in 1967, is now frail and in poor health. 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. Photograph: Alex Segre/Rex. 679215 Registered office: 1 London Bridge Street, London, SE1 9GF. pre order Queen of Thieves now for just 2.99. According to Fraser, it was they who helped him avoid arrest for theGreat Train Robberyby bribing a policeman. The publisher also decided to include a glossary for the reader. Together they set up the Atlantic Machines fruit-machine enterprise, which acted as a front for the criminal activities of the gang. She was taught by Alice Diamond in the 1930s and a very senior member throughout the. 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". 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. Alice herself was famous for clouting three furs in one go: one down each leg and one under her gusset. When caught by police she replied: 'I don't know anything about it.'. The police were cozzers and a burglary was a screwer, hitting someone was a clump, while jewellery was tom as in Tom Foolery, in rhyming slang. After three years in jail she tookpart in the Lambeth riot at Christmas 1925. The gang probably had its roots in the Victorian slums around Seven Dials, near Covent Garden, infamous in Dickens's day. 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. 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. 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. He spent more than 40 years in prison. "If you play by the sword, you've got to expect the sword as well," says his son. In the summer of 2013 it emerged that, at the age of 89, Fraser had been served with an Antisocial Behaviour Order (Asbo) after another incident, this time at his care home in Peckham, south London. After trying his hand at crime as a. Involvement in such activities often led to his sentences being extended. 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. Eva (Fraser) Brindle. 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. 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. 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). 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. 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. 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. I just waited, caught up with him, knocked him about and strung him up with his dog, Fraser remembered. Mothers would hide hoisted clothes in their prams and move them to pubs, where they were sold on. 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. He had been shot in the face. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. [11] In 1942, while serving a prison sentence in HM Prison Chelmsford, he came to the attention of the British Army. 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. 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. The reader is also introduced to the girls brother Jim, who became a sergeant in the army and fought in North Africa. But his criminal activities didn't stop when he was locked up. The pair were the only ones of the children to embrace a life of crime. The middle sister was Kathleen, who constantly aspired to make it as an actress, and make use of her striking good looks. She helped him sell on his loot. End-right girl on the back row is Eva.. VIEWS Every old-school south Londoner knows the folklore of cockney criminal Frankie Fraser, whose violent tendencies were infamous on the streets of Walworth. Mad Frank: Memoirs of a Life of Crime appeared in 1994, with two further volumes following in 1998 and 2001. Fraser was defended by a young solicitor called James Morton, who later became an author and wrote a history of Londons gangland in 1992. A feature film production is currently[when?] He was full of contradictions: He hated authority but at the same time he understood the need for society to have rules and was against anarchy. 'It gave them a life they could never have afforded. Keeping My Sisters Secrets was published on July 27 by Pan Macmillan. Beezy a former Sunday Times journalist whose biography Mad Frank & Sons was published last year was given unprecedented access to interview the family and learn about the three bold women, who grew up in Howley Terrace, in Waterloo during the 1930s. 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. Fraser was acquitted but received five years for affray. The violent thugs, the Kray twins, 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 Ms 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. By the time of the Swinging Sixties, she was drinking champagne with the Krays. Fraser was just 13 when he was sent to an approved school for stealing 40 cigarettes. After the war he was involved in a smash-and-grab raid on a jeweller's and was given a two year prison sentence. Diamond's second-in-command Maggie Hughes 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! [9] He was a resident at a sheltered accommodation home in Peckham. I don't think they felt bad about it. They also spoke, as Frank did, using the prison slang of a bygone era, which they had to translate for me. Born on Cornwall Road, Waterloo, Lambeth, South London, Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. 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. Though like Eva, she struggled to come to terms with the choice facing women to work or marry. 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. After another, the car ran out of petrol in the Rotherhithe tunnel. Mason was found, barely alive, wearing only his underpants and wrapped in a blanket, on the steps of the London Hospital in Whitechapel. The comments below have not been moderated. It will only make me a worse villain! Aged seven, Ms Pitts was stealing milk and bread to provide food for her five siblings. Descendants . Fraser received seven years. 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. Jewellery was a favourite target, as it was easy to hide up a sleeve - rings could be switched for worthless fakes. He was still serving his sentence for the Catford affray when he was handed a further 10 years for his part in the Richardson torture case. [4] He was involved in riots and frequently fought with prison officers and fellow inmates. Mad Frank. 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. As her reign came to an end, Forty Thieves queen Diamondpassed on her 'wisdom' to a future queen, Shirley Pitts. The first came when he was in the army during the second world war, the second time when he was sent to Cane Hill psychiatric hospital in Coulsdon, Surrey, and the third when he was transferred from Durham prison to Broadmoor. In 1996, he played (his friend) William Donaldson's guide to Marbella in the infamous BBC Radio 4 series A Retiring Fellow. [8] Although his parents were not criminals, Fraser turned to crime aged 10 with his sister Eva, to whom he was close. Fraser, tried separately, was jailed for 10. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription you will not receive any updates until your subscription is confirmed. Although he was never convicted of murder, police reportedly held him responsible for 40 killings, but the bluster and bravado of a media-savvy gangland relic almost certainly inflated this tally, the actual scale of which remains unfathomable. It has emerged that the former gangland enforcer, who has spent 42 years in prison for 26 offences, has been issued with an asbo after an incident in his residential accommodation. 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. At the age of five, he moved with his family to a flat on Walworth Road, Elephant and Castle. Eva knew the Krays well and they treated her with reverence, although she saw them as little more than naughty boys. 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. Harts killing was avenged within 24 hours when Ronnie Kray shot George Cornell, the Richardsons chief lieutenant, at the Blind Beggar pub deep in Kray territory on the Mile End Road, using a 9mm Mauser semi-automatic pistol at point-blank range. What saved him I think was the branch; it was supple and it bent. Although Lawton survived, the dog died. 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. However, it was the during the 'torture trial' of the Richardson gang in 1967, that Frankie Fraser become notorious nationally. There was also quite a comeuppance for both Patrick and David who both served their time. Daughter. In 1966, Fraser was charged with the murder of Richard Hart - who was shot at Mr Smith's club inCatfordwhile other Richardson associates, includingJimmy Moody, were charged withaffray. Are you sure you want to delete this comment? 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. 'You name it, we nicked it,' he tells the . After being sent to HM Prison Durham for taking part in bank robberies, he was again certified insane and this time was sent to Broadmoor Hospital. 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. The raids seem often to have been left to chance, and he was particularly unfortunate with cars. She was an alcoholic and onceran out of a jeweller with a tray of 34 diamond rings and bumped straight into a policeman. 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. Born to criminal parents in Southwark, South London, in 1886, her first crimes were aiding and abetting men. 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. Monty Python sketch featuring the Piranha brothers, Doug and Dinsdale. Profile manager: Evelyn Wolff [send private message] They worked department stores including Selfridges in teams of three or four during hoisting trips up to three times a week. The thieves' earnings allowed them to live like upper-class debutantes. [8] Although his parents were not criminals, Fraser turned to crime aged 10 with his sister Eva, to whom he was close. "As I was growing up, I never had to buy a shirt Eva made sure she nicked them for me. 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. However, according to a new documentary, he is clearly not going gentle into any good night. 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. Following a trial at the Old Bailey in 1967, he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. He refused to discuss the shooting with the police. Eva Brindle formerly Fraser. 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. 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. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. Fraser spent a lot of time in solitary confinement, tormented by prison officers who would spit in his food. Once again, he was sent toprison, this timefor taking part in bank robberies. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. What officers didn't know then was that his crime spree would continue over a career spanning seven decades, and his offences only worsened. Beezy said: "Frank's sister Eva was the one who led him into crime as a small boy. It spent six weeks in the Sunday Times top ten and held the coveted #1 Globe and Mail chart slot in Canada for three months. 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. Each incident added more time to his sentence. Franks mother, Margaret, was a huge influence on him but his best pal and early partner in crime was his sister, Eva. He saw himself as an innovator, claiming to have invented the Friday gang, robbing wages clerks carrying money from banks; he would use a starting handle to beat his victims and to deter any watching have-a-go heroes in the street. 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. "You name it, we nicked it," he says. She also passed on her 'wisdom' to a future queen, Shirley Pitts. 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. Ancestors . 'Mad' Frankie Fraser: Sweet dapper. "Maybe he was bored with going to prison," Ronnie Richardson, Charlie's widow, tells the programme. The notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser's sister Eva had risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. The book upset some of those mentioned in it, and Morton was dismayed to arrive home one evening to find a message from Fraser on his answering machine, demanding to speak to him urgently. 'Any girl worth her salt in South London in those days was a hoister because they could outearn us men two to one,' he said. Sometimes the hoisters' lives became entangled with those of underworld bosses through affairs, family ties or marriage. While serving this sentence, Fraser received 10 years for his part in the so-called Richardson torture trial. She liked to earn her own money and paid her own way quite something for a young woman in the 1930s and 1940s. Frankie Frasers wife Doreen, with whom he had four sons, died in 1999. In 1945, when he was 21, he assaulted the governor at Shrewsbury prison with an ebony ruler snatched from the governors desk, for which he received 18 strokes of the cat. As a reward, he was shown his examination answers, and thats how I come top, he later boasted. A bucket boy would offer to clean the bookies' blackboards with a sponge, for which they were obliged to pay the Sabinis. The Krays, according to Frank, were little more than thieves ponces.. By the 1950s, the gang were facing ever-present store detectives and had to rely more on disguises. It was just what we knew and to be honest, we loved it.. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. 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. The grim terraces of Waterloo and the tenements of Elephant and Castle provided plenty of girls desperate enough to join The Forty Thieves. After trying his hand at crime as a child, Fraser then continued into his later life. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was halfNative-American. 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. This resulted in Fraser returning to prison once again - this time to serve a seven-year sentence. Afraid of being heavily medicated for bad behaviour, Fraser stayed out of trouble and was released in 1955. 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. His major stretch in prison came at the end of the Swinging Sixties, shortly before his rivals, the Krays, were jailed, but he was so badly behaved behind bars that he lost every day of remission and even had five years added to his sentence for one of the worst riots in prison history at Parkhurst in the Isle of Wight. In 1941, Fraser was given his first taste of punishment when he was sent to borstal for breaking into a Waterloo hosiery store. Francis Davidson "Frankie" Fraser, better known as "Mad" Frankie Fraser,was an English gang member and criminal who spent 42 years in prison for numerous violent offences. 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. He emerged from jail in 1989 and has not been back since. 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. He spent 42 years almost half his life in prison for 26 offences. They enjoyed buying nice things with the money and putting on the posh. Fraser, he recalled, was more than capable of doing what he threatened. His decision to join the Richardsons rather than their rivals, the Krays, has been described as "like China getting the atom bomb". 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. 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. A Gannett Company. 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.