She once stabbed a policeman in the eye with a hatpin, blinding him. The Old Bailey jury heard, in grisly detail that still resonates 50 years on, how Frankie Fraser tried to pull Coulstons teeth out one by one with a pair of pliers. 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. Fraser, he recalled, was more than capable of doing what he threatened. By the time of the Swinging Sixties, she was drinking champagne with the Krays. 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. [8] Although his parents were not criminals, Fraser turned to crime aged 10 with his sister Eva, to whom he was close. 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. Born 1920s. He was frequently punished for breaking prison rules or fighting prison officers: "I've done more bread and water than any man alive. '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. He also claimed to have been the first bandit to wear a stocking mask. Photograph: Crime and Investigation network. Many started as child lookouts. The raids seem often to have been left to chance, and he was particularly unfortunate with cars. 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. 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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. Yet they fiercely guarded their right to 'earn' their own money. She was sentenced to five months. 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.. contact the editor here. From the time of Frankie Fraser's sister Eva and the gang of hoisters The Forty Thieves, comes a book which will have you gripped this summer. He spent 42 years almost half his life in prison for 26 offences. Then theres Frankie himself, who makes a brief appearance. [25] In June 2013, the 89-year-old Fraser was served with an anti-social behaviour order (ASBO) by police after a row with another resident. Fraser spent a lot of time in solitary confinement, tormented by prison officers who would spit in his food. View the profiles of people named Frankie 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. In 1969 Fraser led the Parkhurst prison riot on the Isle of Wight and found himself back in court charged with incitement to murder. It was almost as if the biggest thrill of all was the act of stealing itself. 'Any girl worth her salt in South London in those days was a. At the age of five, he moved with his family to a flat on Walworth Road, Elephant and Castle. ", Of the war years, when he was heavily involved in theft from bombed-out stores, he says: "You wanted to win the war but you wanted it to go on for ever. The comments below have not been moderated. 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. Shortly afterwards, Fraser kidnapped Eric Mason, a Kray gang member, outside the Astor Club in Berkeley Square, with even direr consequences. In the early half of the 20th century one queen, Diamond, regularly appeared in the press where she was once described as a 'tall and commanding figure with a cool demeanour'. "You name it, we nicked it," he says. 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. Their view on Hatton Garden was that the world had moved on and robbing banks now was akin to Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid trying to get away on horseback, while the police gave chase in cars. Ms Marsh said: 'These women fought harder than the men and were feared by men and women in their communities. Ancestors . While serving this sentence, Fraser received 10 years for his part in the so-called Richardson torture trial. 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). As a young woman, Eva became an accomplished hoister (shoplifter). After trying his hand at crime as a. 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. The Krays, according to Frank, were little more than thieves ponces.. His greatest moment of national notoriety came during what was known as the 'torture trial' of the Richardson gang in 1967, which became . This resulted in Fraser returning to prison once again - this time to serve a seven-year sentence. 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. This service is provided on News Group Newspapers' Limited's Standard Terms and Conditions in accordance with our Privacy & Cookie Policy. 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. contact IPSO here, 2001-2023. Eva got six months for stealing stockings from Bentalls in Kingston upon Thames. During World War 2 he was a deserter - escaping from his barracks on several occasions. Although his parents were not criminals, Fraser turned to crime aged 10 with his sister Eva, to whom he was close. 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. 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. 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. Fraser himself was charged with pulling out people's teeth with pliers and sentenced to 10 years in prison. 'The other side of the story involves these feisty women and it is perhaps more fascinating given the limited powers such working class girls had to earn a decent wage.'. 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It was just what we knew and to be honest, we loved it.. 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. They enjoyed buying nice things with the money and putting on the posh. "The Sun", "Sun", "Sun Online" are registered trademarks or trade names of News Group Newspapers Limited. Her brother was the notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser, who joined turf wars between London gangs in the sixties. It will only make me a worse villain!'. The middle sister was Kathleen, who constantly aspired to make it as an actress, and make use of her striking good looks. [24], Fraser's wife, by whom he had four sons, died in 1999. The notorious English gangster turned to a life of a crime and before he knew it, he was behind bars. For further details of our complaints policy and to make a complaint please click this link: thesun.co.uk/editorial-complaints/, 'Mad' Frankie Fraser was a notorious English gangster, Funeral of South London enforcer, FRANKIE FRASER at Honour Oak Crematorium, Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). 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. And I felt the same way,' she said. 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. Born on Cornwall Road, Waterloo, Lambeth, South London, Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. Eva got into shoplifting, but had a heart of gold. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription you will not receive any updates until your subscription is confirmed. Pitts wore a school girl's outfit, complete with straw boater, to act as a decoy. 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. Peggy stayed out of crime and worked for the Post Office. According to Fraser, it was they who helped him avoid arrest for theGreat Train Robberyby bribing a policeman. He shot, slashed, stabbed and axed. 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. The most famous 'queen', Alice Diamond (left), was the daughter of a docker and renowned for her row of diamond rings that doubled as a knuckle duster. The 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. 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. Here are some pictures of Eva Fraser of the Forty Thieves and her sister Kathleen. 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. 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Then they were turned over to Fraser. Sometimes the hoisters' lives became entangled with those of underworld bosses through affairs, family ties or marriage. of James Fraser and Margaret Alice (Anderson) Fraser. She got six months in jail, for stealing stockings from Bentalls in Kingston upon Thames. 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. At the age of five, he moved with his family to a flat on Walworth Road, Elephant and Castle. 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. The notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser's sister Eva had risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. Keeping My Sisters Secrets was published on July 27 by Pan Macmillan. In August 1963, invited to take part in the Great Train Robbery, Fraser pulled out because he was on the run from the police. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. She was taught by Alice Diamond in the 1930s and a very senior member throughout the. 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. A Gannett Company. Following the Frankie Fraser story is akin to re-tracing the history of gangland London throughout the 20th Century. Together they set up the Atlantic Machines fruit-machine enterprise, which acted as a front for the criminal activities of the gang. Tallymen, who sold goods door-to-door, would shift them across London. 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. On 21 November 2014, Fraser fell critically ill whilst undergoing leg surgery atKing's College Hospital,Denmark Hill. By the 1950s, the gang were facing ever-present store detectives and had to rely more on disguises. 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. 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. Mothers would hide hoisted clothes in their prams and move them to pubs, where they were sold on. He really did live by a code of honour which he took with him to the grave. According to Eddie Richardson, Fraser had Alzheimer's disease for the last three years of his life. She was one of the top thieves during the war. "From there he goes on to burgle, and she goes onto shop lifting with a famous female gang called The 40 Thieves. HP10 9TY. 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. A feature film production is currently[when?] View our online Press Pack. Franks mother, Margaret, was a huge influence on him but his best pal and early partner in crime was his sister, Eva. 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. It has emerged that the former gangland enforcer, who has spent 42 years in prison for 26. Hughes was famed for her red hair, a love of drink and a violent temper. 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. He emerged from jail in 1989 and has not been back since. Fraser was the. His mother was of Norwegian-Irish stock and his father was half Native American. In 1941, Fraser was given his first taste of punishment when he was sent to borstal for breaking into a Waterloo hosiery store. 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. '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. 'Mad' Frankie Fraser: Sweet dapper. 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. 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. She was an alcoholic and onceran out of a jeweller with a tray of 34 diamond rings and bumped straight into a policeman. Editors' Code of Practice. By 20 she was leader of The Forty Thieves and wore a row of diamond rings that acted as a knuckle duster. 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. Profile manager: Evelyn Wolff [send private message] Fraser was one of the ringleaders of the major Parkhurst Prison riot in 1969, spending the following six weeks in the prison hospital because of his injuries. 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. What saved him I think was the branch; it was supple and it bent. Although Lawton survived, the dog died. What officers didn't know then was that his crime spree would continue over a career spanning seven decades, and his offences only worsened. After Frasers release from the Spot sentence, he was courted by the Kray Twins and the Richardson gang. After three years in jail she tookpart in the Lambeth riot at Christmas 1925. Had her first criminal conviction aged 14 and went on to become Diamond's accomplice. 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. Are you sure you want to delete this comment? 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. Ms Marsh said it 'was time to reappraise London's gangland' when she wrote The Queen of Thieves. When caught by police she replied: 'I don't know anything about it.'. '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.'. 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. 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. His funeral took place on December 18, 2014. The violent thugs, the Kray twins, held The Forty Thieves member Eva Fraser in high regard during the 1940s and 1950s. in development with Fraser's endorsement. ', The notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser's sister Eva had risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. 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. pre order Queen of Thieves now for just 2.99. 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. Eric wasnt a bad fellow, Fraser later explained, but that particular night he was bang out of order.. Fraser in 1997 with his then girlfriend Marilyn Wisbey, daughter Of Great Train Robber Tom Wisbey (REX FEATURES). 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.