', The notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser's sister Eva had risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription you will not receive any newsletters until your subscription is confirmed. But his criminal activities didn't stop when he was locked up. Fraser was jailed along with other members of the Richardson gang for violently punishing people whom the Richardsons believed owed them money. Harry Styles put on an animated display as he took to the stage for a second night at the Accor Stadium in Sydney's Olympic Park on Saturday.. The Sun website is regulated by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO), Our journalists strive for accuracy but on occasion we make mistakes. 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. 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. In 1991, while emerging from Turnmills nightclub in Clerkenwell, London, he was shot at by an unidentified gunman. Frankie Fraser was a notorious torturer and hitman for the Richardson gang of south London criminals in the 1960s. Born to criminal parents in Southwark, South London, in 1886, her first crimes were aiding and abetting men. [3][4], Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London. Prior to that he was a bodyguard to notorious gangland leader Billy Hill, where he took part in bank robberies and and carried out razor blade attacks - which earned him 50 a time. 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. 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". She helped support her young siblings by taking milk and bread from neighbour's doorsteps. Fraser spent a lot of time in solitary confinement, tormented by prison officers who would spit in his food. 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. contact IPSO here, 2001-2023. Whatever you nicked you could sell, they'd be queuing up to buy it off you.". According to Eddie Richardson, Fraser had Alzheimer's disease for the last three years of his life. Monty Python sketch featuring the Piranha brothers, Doug and Dinsdale. 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. He spent more than 40 years in prison. The violent thugs, the Kray twins, held The Forty Thieves member Eva Fraser in high regard during the 1940s and 1950s. An early nickname Razor Fraser reflected his penchant for shivving his enemies faces with a cut-throat blade. 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. 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. They enjoyed buying nice things with the money and putting on the posh. 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. 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. [9], Fraser was an Arsenal fan, and his grandson Tommy Fraser is a professional footballer. As a reward, he was shown his examination answers, and thats how I come top, he later boasted. Prisoners and ex-prisoners all over Britain speak about him with undisguised admiration. 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. Another grandson, Anthony Fraser, was being sought by police in February 2011 for his alleged involvement in an alleged 5 million cannabis smuggling ring. Queen of Thieves, by author and journalist Beezy Marsh (published by Orion, November 4 2021, 8.99). 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. Tallymen, who sold goods door-to-door, would shift them across London. 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.. Join Facebook to connect with Frankie Fraser and others you may know. 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. It was almost as if the biggest thrill of all was the act of stealing itself. Keeping My Sisters Secrets was published on July 27 by Pan Macmillan. 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. The middle sister was Kathleen, who constantly aspired to make it as an actress, and make use of her striking good looks. Together they set up the Atlantic Machines fruit-machine enterprise, which acted as a front for the criminal activities of the gang. 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. 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. 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. Yet they fiercely guarded their right to 'earn' their own money. Fraser received seven years. At her kitchen table, Alice would teach her girls how to roll furs on the hanger and shove them down their drawers, which the gang called 'clouting'. This is Eva Fraser, sister of gangster " Mad" Frankie who was one of the leading lights in The Forty Thieves. His mother was of Norwegian-Irish stock and his father was half Native American. Following the Frankie Fraser story is akin to re-tracing the history of gangland London throughout the 20th Century. There were further language difficulties. As a solicitor, I defended him in the trial following the Parkhurst riot and as a result wrote a number of books with him. During the 1950s, Fraser's main criminal occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangsterBilly Hill. 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. During his time in prison, Fraser was involved in a number of riots and frequently fought with prison officers, fellow inmates and governors. Diamond took her under her wing and showed her how to shoplift in 1947, when Pitts was just 12. 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. The years just after World War II were a boom time for the gang, as clothing was rationed until 1949. By 20 she was leader of The Forty Thieves and wore a row of diamond rings that acted as a knuckle duster. Reporters claimed she was 6ft tall - despite police records from 1919 putting her at 5ft9in. Involvement in such activities often led to his sentences being extended. 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. Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. Eva knew the Krays well and they treated her with reverence, although she saw them as little more than naughty boys. 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 (pictured left), whose mother was often used by Diamond to sell stolen goods. A bucket boy would offer to clean the bookies' blackboards with a sponge, for which they were obliged to pay the Sabinis. Aged 17 she was convicted for stealing from a hat shop in Oxford Street. . Former Northern Echo journalist Beezy Marsh has written a book about London gangster Mad Frankie Fraser. 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 was acquitted but received five years for affray. "As I was growing up, I never had to buy a shirt Eva made sure she nicked them for me. Her brother was the notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser, who joined turf wars between London gangs in the sixties. The Krays, according to Frank, were little more than thieves ponces.. 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. Frank's mother, Margaret, was a huge influence on him but his "best pal" and early partner in crime was his sister, Eva. Fraser himself was accused of pulling out the teeth of victims with a pair of pliers. With Warren at his heels, Fraser ambushed Spot in a Paddington street, knocking him to the ground with a shillelagh. But by the 1930s, the breeding ground for its recruits was South London. Then theres Frankie himself, who makes a brief appearance. It was a thief's paradise, Gor blimey! He then became involved in serious crime - and the war provided a perfect backdrop with the blackout, rationing and a shortage of police officers. But few would perhaps know about the equally incredible lives led by his three sisters. 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. 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. [5][6][7][8] His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. Those ads you do see are predominantly from local businesses promoting local services. Fraser was placed into an induced coma, but just five days later, on November 26, 2014, Fraser passed away after his family made the decision to turn off his life-support machine. contact the editor here. "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 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. However, it was the during the 'torture trial' of the Richardson gang in 1967, that Frankie Fraser become notorious nationally. 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. Fraser spent practically half his life behind bars. 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. 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. Born 1920s. Although his parents were not criminals, Fraser turned to crime aged 10 with his sister Eva, to whom he was close. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience the local community. But she was once caught stealing stockings and was sent to 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. But who were the gang's most brazen members? The family was hard-working and kept themselves clean [out of crime].. HP10 9TY. 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. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. Updated November 28, 2014 2.43pmfirst published at 2.41pm Save Share He stopped following a warning from the Kray Twins. "You name it, we nicked it," he says. After the war he was involved in a smash-and-grab raid on a jeweller's and was given a two year prison sentence. 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 also ran a coach tour pointing out to a spectrum of customers the old criminal London. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was halfNative-American. 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. Both Fraser and Warren were given seven years for their acts of violence. The following year, the British mobsterJack Spotand wife Rita were attacked on Billy Hill's say-so, by Fraser, Bobby Warren and at least half a dozen other men. Following a trial at theOld Baileyin 1967, he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. And involvement in such activities often led to his sentences being extended. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to [24], Fraser's wife, by whom he had four sons, died in 1999. 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. 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. 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. "From there he goes on to burgle, and she goes onto shop lifting with a famous female gang called The 40 Thieves. Mink stoles and furs were the top prize, but some of the gang stole silverware and one even put on a maternity girdle to pinch an entire china tea set. Young Frankie attended local schools, captained the football team, and acted as bookies runner to one of the teachers. Mad Frank. Because of the type of person I am, he wrote, in the life I led, you learn to shrug off adversity better than people whove worked hard all their lives.. She lived an unashamedly lavish lifestyle and splashed her money around. Mad Frank (1994), which went on to sell around 100,000 copies, was the first in a successful series. 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. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. Despite this, or possibly because of it, newspapers of the day were tipping him as Spots natural successor. Sister of Frankie Davidson Fraser. [14] According to Fraser, it was they who helped him avoid arrest for the Great Train Robbery by bribing a policeman. 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. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription you will not receive any updates until your subscription is confirmed. Fraser was just 13 when he was sent to an approved school for stealing 40 cigarettes. 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. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. Nevertheless he was good at sports, captaining the football team at St Patricks school, Southwark, and boxing as an amateur. Questioned by police, Fraser reportedly gave his name as Tutankhamen (gangland slang for shtum) and asked What incident?. There was also quite a comeuppance for both Patrick and David who both served their time. His new career took off and he was in regular demand as a radio and television pundit. There was also kind of respect for them locally because people could get a nice dress or a pair of stockings cheaply. She helped him sell on his loot. We'll never send you spam or share your email address. Even decent folk were often only too happy to 'take a bit of crooked' to have something new. 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. He was released from prison in 1985.[17]. 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. He spent 42 years almost half his life in prison for 26 offences. of James Fraser and Margaret Alice (Anderson) Fraser. Frankie Fraser was tried at the Old Bailey for Harts murder, while six others, including Eddie Richardson, faced lesser charges. 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. 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. Fraser, who was jailed for 10 years in the so-called "torture trial" in 1967, is now frail and in poor health. When police visited she showed them ledgers to demonstrate her honest buying. 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. 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. 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. To see all content on The Sun, please use the Site Map. 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. 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. 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. Although he was acquitted, a further five years were added to his sentence. '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. 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. 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. According to one of his sons, David, Fraser was unharmed but he did not inform on his assailant. 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. Both Frank and his sister, Eva, whom he adored, inherited their fathers features and his jet-black hair. 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. He really did live by a code of honour which he took with him to the grave. As he languished in jail, his sons David and Patrick and their older brother, Frank Jnr currently living quietly on the Costa del Sol carved their own careers as bank robbers and jewellery thieves in 1970s London. 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. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. 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. Fraser was the. 'Speaking to relatives of some of the original gang members during my research for Queen of Thieves, I was struck by how secretive the gang had been about its methods, and how much of a career choice it was for working class girls. Eva got six months for stealing stockings from Bentalls in Kingston upon Thames. A witness changed his testimony and the charges were eventually dropped, though Fraser still received a five-year sentence for affray. On the morning of Derek Bentleys execution at Wandsworth in 1953, he spat at the executioner Albert Pierrepoint and tried to attack him. At 17 he was sent to Borstal for breaking and entering a hosiery shop in Waterloo and was then given a 15-month prison sentence for shopbreaking. Various members were eventually caught, though and served their time in Holloway prison, where rations were meagre and they slept on boards. Together they set up the Atlantic Machines fruit-machine enterprise, which acted as a front for the criminal activities of the gang. 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. They bought fur coats, jewellery and went dancing in West End nightclubs. Those who had incurred Richardsons displeasure were wired up to a sinister black box with a wind-up handle that administered severe electric shocks to the genitals. He later joined the notorious Richardson gang, formed by brothers Eddie and Charlie, and began carrying out more criminal activities. 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. Her wartime experience was spent on the switchboards during the Blitz. Jack 'Spot' Comer showing the scar on his face left by Frankie Fraser and Alf Warren (GETTY), By 1956, Fraser had racked up 15 convictions and had twice been certified insane. On this release, he determined to write his memoirs. '", Frankie Fraser's Last Stand will be broadcast on the Crime and Investigation network on 16 June at 9pm, New TV documentary shows ex-gangland enforcer is far from mellowing with age and has few regrets about his life of crime, Original reporting and incisive analysis, direct from the Guardian every morning, Frankie Fraser has no regrets over his life of crime, which involved him being jailed for a total of 42 years for 26 offences. Shortly afterwards, Fraser kidnapped Eric Mason, a Kray gang member, outside the Astor Club in Berkeley Square, with even direr consequences. 'MAD' Frankie Fraser, was one of the most feared and respected West End crime lords of the 1960s. [4] He was involved in riots and frequently fought with prison officers and fellow inmates. By the 1950s, the gang were facing ever-present store detectives and had to rely more on disguises. 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. 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. The publisher also decided to include a glossary for the reader. At signing sessions of his books he was always willing to be photographed pretending to extract a tooth with pliers brought by the fan. The singer, 29, bared his chest and showed off his . View our online Press Pack. 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. His wife, Doreen, whom he married in 1965, and who with Eva loyally toured the prisons to visit him, died in 1999. Are you sure you want to delete this comment? 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. 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.

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