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. She operated out of Walworth, South East London and her home was called an 'Aladdin's cave of loot'. Fraser spent a lot of time in solitary confinement, tormented by prison officers who would spit in his food. [12], After the war, Fraser was involved in a smash-and-grab raid on a jeweller, for which he received a two-year prison sentence, mostly served at HM Prison Pentonville. Following a trial at the Old Bailey in 1967, he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. After the war, Fraser was involved in a smash-and-grab raid on a jeweller, for which he received a two-year prison sentence, mostly served atHMP Pentonville. They set up a fruit machine enterprise, which they would sell to pub landlords, to cover up their crimes. 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). Fraser served a total of 42 years in over 20 different prisons in the UK for numerous violent offences. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription you will not receive any updates until your subscription is confirmed. [6] Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. On 26 November, Fraser died after his family made the decision to turn off his life-support machine. Fraser was part of Britain's Underworld between the 1940s-1960's. He was a known associate of gangster Billy Hill throughout the 1950s. But few would perhaps know about the equally incredible lives led by his three sisters. Many started as child lookouts. 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. 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. 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. 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. '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. The following year he was involved in a torture trial the Old Bailey, where members of the gang were charged with electrocuting, whipping and burning those disloyal to them. She was one of the top thieves during the war. 'Mad' Frankie Fraser dead aged 90 | Daily Mail Online In 1969 Fraser led the Parkhurst prison riot on the Isle of Wight and found himself back in court charged with incitement to murder. 'Any girl worth her salt in South London in those days was a. Monty Python sketch featuring the Piranha brothers, Doug and Dinsdale. He later joined the notorious Richardson gang, formed by brothers Eddie and Charlie, and began carrying out more criminal activities. This is Eva Fraser, sister of gangster " Mad" Frankie who was one of the leading lights in The Forty Thieves. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience the local community. During World War 2 he was a deserter - escaping from his barracks on several occasions. MAD FRANK and SONS - Home - Facebook He was a deserter during the Second World War, escaping from his barracks . [9] 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. When Frank Sinatra came to London in the early 1970s, he made a special visit in his limo to Eva in her little terrace house in South London to pay his respects. Photograph: Alex Segre/Rex. Tallymen, who sold goods door-to-door, would shift them across London. They stole to put food on the table. Who was 'Mad' Frankie Fraser? | The Irish Sun They would go through Selfridges department store in the West End and steal furs and expensive clothes. When police switched on to the gang's methods they branched out, with trips to Southend, Brighton, Liverpool and Manchester. As a subscriber, you are shown 80% less display advertising when reading our articles. Then they were turned over to Fraser. 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. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Beezy reveals how the girls father would beat their mother a big influence on their outlook. Fraser was the. Moment brazen thieves jump behind counter at Chicago Drug baron, 58, who 'hid 198MILLION fortune from police' is Isabel Oakeshott receives 'menacing' message from Matt Hancock, Dozens stuck in car park as staff refuses to open gate for woman, Incredible footage of Ukrainian soldiers fighting Russians in Bakhmut, Pro-Ukrainian drone lands on Russian spy planes exposing location, 'Buster is next!' We'll never send you spam or share your email address. '", 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. For other inquiries, Contact Us. 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. Mad Frank and Sons: Tougher than the Krays, Frank and his boys on in development with Fraser's endorsement. A mugshot of Forty Thieves' Hughes, who was uncontrollable and dissipated by drink. 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'. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. [4] He was involved in riots and frequently fought with prison officers and fellow inmates. It was during the war that he first became involved in serious crime, with the blackout and rationing, combined with the lack of professional policemen due to conscription, providing ample opportunities for criminal activities such as stealing from houses while the occupants were in air-raid shelters. [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. 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. 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. 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. Following a trial at theOld Baileyin 1967, he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. Mason was found, barely alive, wearing only his underpants and wrapped in a blanket, on the steps of the London Hospital in Whitechapel. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. 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. And involvement in such activities often led to his sentences being extended. 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. Photos of Frankie "Mad" Fraser - Find a Grave Memorial Please report any comments that break our rules. Former Northern Echo journalist Beezy Marsh has written a book about London gangster Mad Frankie Fraser. He was given an asbo, one of his sons told film-makers, after getting into an argument with a fellow-resident and is unrepentant about his life of crime. 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 wife, Doreen, whom he married in 1965, and who with Eva loyally toured the prisons to visit him, died in 1999. None of the gang were afraid to use razors on those who crossed them. 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. 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. HP10 9TY. ', The notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser's sister Eva had risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. Tue 11 Jun 2013 11.55 EDT He may be in his 90th year but "Mad" Frankie Fraser is still causing mayhem. Keeping My Sisters Secrets was published on July 27 by Pan Macmillan. Her wartime experience was spent on the switchboards during the Blitz. By the time of the Swinging Sixties, she was drinking champagne with the Krays. 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. 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. 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. It will only make me a worse villain!'. 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. When the police arrived, they found Hart lying under a lilac tree in a nearby garden. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. 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. From then on until the end of the 1980s, Fraser was more often in jail than not. She was an alcoholic and onceran out of a jeweller with a tray of 34 diamond rings and bumped straight into a policeman. 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. They also spoke, as Frank did, using the prison slang of a bygone era, which they had to translate for me. Although his parents were not criminals, Fraser turned to crime aged 10 with his sister Eva, to whom he was close. It was during the war that he first became involved in serious crime. [24], Fraser's wife, by whom he had four sons, died in 1999. 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. Had it all gone to plan, she could have inhabited a very different side of the West End to her little sister Eva. 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. Frankie Fraser Biography | HowOld.co 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 is important that we continue to promote these adverts as our local businesses need as much support as possible during these challenging times. 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. Author Beezy Marsh investigates criminal matriarchs of 1950s London 42 years a lag She had died in. At signing sessions of his books he was always willing to be photographed pretending to extract a tooth with pliers brought by the fan. Photograph: Crime and Investigation network. When she married the father of five of her seven children, Chris Hawkins, he subjected her to cruel beatings - but quickly stopped following a warning from the Kray Twins. 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. Furs were rolled on the hanger and tucked into the women's undergarments when the store assistant was distracted, while jewellery and watches were swapped for fake versions and hidden under hats or in their hair. contact IPSO here, 2001-2023. 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. During the 1950s, Fraser's main occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangster Billy Hill. On 21 November 2014, Fraser fell critically ill whilst undergoing leg surgery atKing's College Hospital,Denmark Hill. Both Fraser and Warren received seven-year sentences. 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'. Notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser died in hospital today aged 90, relatives have revealed. Frankie Fraser Profiles | Facebook Tony Lambrianou, a one-time henchman of the rival Kray brothers, was also a fan. 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. "If you play by the sword, you've got to expect the sword as well," says his son. The grim terraces of Waterloo and the tenements of Elephant and Castle provided plenty of girls desperate enough to join The Forty Thieves. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. He was still touring clubs and pubs in 2011. Facebook gives people the power. Fraser earned his mad nickname during the second world war, when he managed to get himself out of military service by pretending to be mentally ill. To prove his unsuitability to the force, he assaulted a doctor before jumping out of the window at the Bradford assessment centre where he had been sent. News reports were checked to see how much was owing. Once he said he would do something, he did it, and he despised others who backed down. What Fraser invariably threatened was violence. Mad Frank (1994), which went on to sell around 100,000 copies, was the first in a successful series. Ancestors . Fraser had no problem dealing with rival operators whose business was dented as a result. There was also kind of respect for them locally because people could get a nice dress or a pair of stockings cheaply. 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. As a solicitor, I defended him in the trial following the Parkhurst riot and as a result wrote a number of books with him. Frankie Fraser was a south London gangster who knew no language but violence and spent half his life behind bars. 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. Frankie Fraser's Last Stand (2013) - IMDb 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 Kray twins (pictured) held The Forty Thieves member Eva Fraser in high regard. "Hill paid by the stitch if you put 50 stitches in a man's face, you could expect 50," says James Morton, Fraser's biographer. There were car chases and bank raids which would not have looked out of place in The Sweeney. Fraser himself was charged with pulling out people's teeth with pliers and sentenced to 10 years in prison. 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. During his time behind bars he was involved in violence and was a major instigator in the Parkhurst Prison riots in 1969. pre order Queen of Thieves now for just 2.99. Born on Cornwall Road, Waterloo, Lambeth, South London, Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. Had her first criminal conviction aged 14 and went on to become Diamond's accomplice. MAD FRANK & SONS, by David Fraser, Patrick Fraser and Beezy Marsh is published by Sidgwick and Jackson on June 2. After the war he was involved in a smash-and-grab raid on a jeweller's and was given a two year prison sentence. 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. 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). 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. "Maybe he was bored with going to prison," Ronnie Richardson, Charlie's widow, tells the programme. 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. 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. His decision to join the Richardsons rather than their rivals, the Krays, has been described as "like China getting the atom bomb". 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. There was also quite a comeuppance for both Patrick and David who both served their time. [11] In 1942, while serving a prison sentence in HM Prison Chelmsford, he came to the attention of the British Army. In the second part, she reveals how Frank wasnt the only member of his family with a chequered past. Shegot her first criminal record aged just 14 and, in 1923, she was jailed after running out of a jeweller's with a tray of 34 diamond rings straight into the arms of a policeman. She is thought to have killed herself in the 1970s. A feature film production is currently[when?] Eva (Fraser) Brindle. After Frasers release from the Spot sentence, he was courted by the Kray Twins and the Richardson gang. Updated November 28, 2014 2.43pmfirst published at 2.41pm Save Share A Gannett Company. 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. While still a teenager, in the spring of 1943, he took part in a daring raid to free an Army deserter from a squad sent to collect him from Wandsworth Prison. Peggy stayed out of crime and worked for the Post Office. 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. After the war, he worked for underworld boss Billy Hill, for whom he carried out razor attacks. 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. 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. Editors' Code of Practice. View the profiles of people named Frankie Fraser. According to one of his sons, David, Fraser was unharmed but he did not inform on his assailant. The singer, 29, bared his chest and showed off his . While serving this sentence, Fraser received 10 years for his part in the so-called Richardson torture trial. She also passed on her 'wisdom' to a future queen, Shirley Pitts. He had an ungovernable temper and an inability to think through the undoubted consequences of his proposed actions. The middle sister was Kathleen, who constantly aspired to make it as an actress, and make use of her striking good looks. Born to criminal parents in Southwark, South London, in 1886, her first crimes were aiding and abetting men. 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. Aged seven, Ms Pitts was stealing milk and bread to provide food for her five siblings. Eva knew the Krays well and they treated her with reverence, although she saw them as little more than naughty boys. Reporters claimed she was 6ft tall - despite police records from 1919 putting her at 5ft9in. She was chauffeured in a Bentley and always wore a sable coat. 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. Alice herself was famous for clouting three furs in one go: one down each leg and one under her gusset. 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. This site is part of Newsquest's audited local newspaper network. 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. 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. The notorious English gangster turned to a life of a crime and before he knew it, he was behind bars. Fraser himself was accused of pulling out the teeth of victims with a pair of pliers. 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.. Eric wasnt a bad fellow, Fraser later explained, but that particular night he was bang out of order.. His new career took off and he was in regular demand as a radio and television pundit. Hughes was famed for her red hair, a love of drink and a violent temper. 'MAD' Frankie Fraser, was one of the most feared and respected West End crime lords of the 1960s. The criminal, who has spent almost half his life in prison, passed away earlier at King's. Born near Waterloo station, central London, he was the fifth child of a poor family. His fourth son, Francis, in Frasers joking words, let me down by having no criminal career at all. 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. Aged 17 she was convicted for stealing from a hat shop in Oxford Street. 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. 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 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. Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group. Fraser died at the age of 91 on November 26, 2014. [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. 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. 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. What saved him I think was the branch; it was supple and it bent. Although Lawton survived, the dog died. 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. Frankie Fraser was tried at the Old Bailey for Harts murder, while six others, including Eddie Richardson, faced lesser charges. Following the Frankie Fraser story is akin to re-tracing the history of gangland London throughout the 20th Century. Another of Fraser's grandsons, James Fraser, also spent a short time with Bristol Rovers. He was said to have pulled out the teeth of one of the victims with a pair of pliers. 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. He was a member of the Richardson gang or the 'torture gang', led by brothers Charlie and Eddie Richardson, and were widely feared in Londons underworld. of James Fraser and Margaret Alice (Anderson) Fraser. She was still hoisting well into her 70s.'. Eva Brindle formerly Fraser. Then theres Frankie himself, who makes a brief appearance. Fraser was part of Britain's Underworld between the 1940s-1960's. Joining the Forty Thieves was something of a right of passage for Eva Fraser. Before then, Fraser had been involved in smash-and-grab raids and wages snatches. 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. Franks mother, Margaret, was a huge influence on him but his best pal and early partner in crime was his sister, Eva. 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. 'Mad Frank' the thug, hitman and enforcer When he was 10, the pair stole a cigarette machine from a local pub, hauled it to some waste ground and jemmied it open.

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