. [28], "Gangland enforcer sets the record straight about 'the bad old days': Rhys Williams meets "Mad" Frankie Fraser, once known as Britain's most violent man", "Find & contact The White Hart in Waterloo", "Local and community news, opinion, video & pictures - Southport Visiter", "Tories condemn prisoners' freedom to read criminal memoirs", "Gangland enforcer 'Mad' Frankie Fraser dies at 90", "Mad Frankie Fraser given Asbo at age of 89 after bust-up at care home", "Gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser dies at 90", "Mad Frankie Fraser dead: Notorious gangster dies in hospital aged 90 following leg surgery", Personal website with biography and details of gangland tours, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Frankie_Fraser&oldid=1107726220, This page was last edited on 31 August 2022, at 15:09. Join Facebook to connect with Frankie Fraser and others you may know. They enjoyed buying nice things with the money and putting on the posh. After Frasers release from the Spot sentence, he was courted by the Kray Twins and the Richardson gang. He was working all the hours he got sent, but he couldnt make ends meet. 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. 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. Author Beezy Marsh said: 'These women fought harder than the men and were feared by men and women in their communities. During the 1950s, Fraser's main criminal occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangsterBilly Hill. Petite shoplifter Bertha Tappenden 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. '", 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. Questioned by police, Fraser reportedly gave his name as Tutankhamen (gangland slang for shtum) and asked What incident?. It was just what we knew and to be honest, we loved it.. contact IPSO here, 2001-2023. [23] In 1991, Fraser was shot in the head from close range in an apparent murder attempt outside the Turnmills Club in Clerkenwell, London. Eva Brindle formerly Fraser. Frankie Fraser belonged to a bygone era of crime and was cut from a different cloth than so many other gangsters of his generation. In the 1950s he worked for underworld boss Billy Hill and carried out razor attacks on victims for 50 each. Mad Frank: Memoirs of a Life of Crime appeared in 1994, with two further volumes following in 1998 and 2001. "Maybe he was bored with going to prison," Ronnie Richardson, Charlie's widow, tells the programme. Members of The Forty Thieves, whose mugshots were captured by the Police Gazette ahead of regular stays at Holloway Prison, often wore beautifully designed hats, coats and dresses in order to fit in - known as 'putting on the posh'. Ms Marsh said it 'was time to reappraise London's gangland' when she wrote The Queen of Thieves. By Emer Scully and Beezy Marsh for MailOnline, Published: 10:41 GMT, 4 November 2021 | Updated: 13:07 GMT, 4 November 2021. 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. He appeared on pop records and in television documentaries, toured his one-man show of criminal reminiscences (flexing a pair of gilded pliers), and found himself invited into bookshops to sign copies of his memoirs. When Mason demurred, Fraser buried a hatchet in his skull, pinning his hand to his head. [16], Fraser's 42 years served in over 20 different prisons in the UK were often coloured by violence. A witness changed his testimony and the charges were eventually dropped, though Fraser still received a five-year sentence for affray. For other inquiries, Contact Us. One such member was Lilian Goldstein, who was known as the Bob-Haired Bandit. They worked department stores including Selfridges in teams of three or four during hoisting trips up to three times a week. For a time he was engaged to Marilyn Wisbey, daughter of the Great Train Robber Tommy Wisbey, with whom he briefly ran a massage parlour in Islington, in which Fraser made the tea. We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. Fraser in 1997 with his then girlfriend Marilyn Wisbey, daughter Of Great Train Robber Tom Wisbey (REX FEATURES). 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. New biography of notorious Frankie Fraser promises to reveal the late 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. 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). Notorious 1930s West End girl gang who hid stolen jewellery in 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. 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. The singer, 29, bared his chest and showed off his . Born near Waterloo station, central London, he was the fifth child of a poor family. Once he said he would do something, he did it, and he despised others who backed down. He was frequently punished for breaking prison rules or fighting prison officers: "I've done more bread and water than any man alive. Yet they fiercely guarded their right to 'earn' their own money. 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. 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. Born 1920s. Both Fraser and Warren were given seven years for their acts of violence. As a young woman, Eva became an accomplished hoister (shoplifter). The criminal, who has spent almost half his life in prison, passed away earlier at King's. By the time of the Swinging Sixties, she was drinking champagne with the Krays. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. His funeral took place on December 18, 2014. Part of his mouth was shot away in the incident. He had 10 years added to a sentence he was serving in 1967 along with The Richardson Brothers in the Torture Trials which were the longest trials in British criminal history. 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'. [22], Fraser gave gangland tours around London, where he highlighted infamous criminal locations such as The Blind Beggar pub. There were further language difficulties. 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. 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. Fraser, tried separately, was jailed for 10. ', The notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser's sister Eva had risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. On this release, he determined to write his memoirs. 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. 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. She also passed on her 'wisdom' to a future queen, Shirley Pitts. Family ways of 'Mad' Frankie | The Northern Echo '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. 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. From then on until the end of the 1980s, Fraser was more often in jail than not. 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. A witness later changed histestimony,and the charges were eventually dropped, though Fraser still received a five-year sentence for affray. 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. It will only make me a worse villain! In the second part, she reveals how Frank wasnt the only member of his family with a chequered past. 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. 'They didn't see anything wrong in it because these things were too expensive for most people to afford and shops had insurance. 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. 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 was a notorious torturer and hitman for the Richardson gang of south London criminals in the 1960s. 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. She operated out of Walworth, South East London and her home was called an 'Aladdin's cave of loot'. Each incident added more time to his sentence. 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 (1994), which went on to sell around 100,000 copies, was the first in a successful series. When police switched on to the gang's methods they branched out, with trips to Southend, Brighton, Liverpool and Manchester. Then theres Frankie himself, who makes a brief appearance. She helped support her young siblings by taking milk and bread from neighbour's doorsteps. Fraser was jailed along with other members of the Richardson gang for violently punishing people whom the Richardsons believed owed them money. Together they set up the Atlantic Machines fruit-machine enterprise, which acted as a front for the criminal activities of the gang. Diamond's second-in-command Maggie Hughes (right) 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! Nothing ever got to Frankie, wrote Charlie Richardson. '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.'. [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. 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. ", A deserter during the war he pretended to be mad to avoid the call-up Fraser was certified insane three times and spent time in Broadmoor secure hospital. Aged seven, Ms Pitts was stealing milk and bread to provide food for her five siblings. 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. Joining the Forty Thieves was something of a right of passage for Eva Fraser. 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. According to Eddie Richardson, Fraser had Alzheimer's disease for the last three years of his life. She was an alcoholic and onceran out of a jeweller with a tray of 34 diamond rings and bumped straight into a policeman. Fraser, whose health has been deteriorating in recent years, turned to crime aged just nine when he and his sister, Eva, became petty thieves. Following a trial at theOld Baileyin 1967, he was sentenced to ten years imprisonment. Their alleged specialities included pulling teeth out using pliers, cutting off toes using bolt cutters and nailing victims to floors using 6-inch nails. [3][4], Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London. The thieves' earnings allowed them to live like upper-class debutantes. But his criminal activities didn't stop when he was locked up. "If you play by the sword, you've got to expect the sword as well," says his son. Once again, he was sent toprison, this timefor taking part in bank robberies. He refused to discuss the shooting with the police. The publisher also decided to include a glossary for the reader. He stopped following a warning from the Kray Twins. He was released from prison in 1985.[17]. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was halfNative-American. 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 raids seem often to have been left to chance, and he was particularly unfortunate with cars. But Hill was already an admirer: a picture taken at a party to launch Hills ghosted autobiography in 1955 shows Fraser draped artistically over a piano. During the 1950s, Fraser's main occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangster Billy Hill. 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. Its clear she still had to feed her family by acting on the wrong side of the law Beezy said. If you have a complaint about the editorial content which relates to Frankie Fraser Wiki & Bio - everipedia.org This is Eva Fraser, sister of gangster " Mad" Frankie who was one of the leading lights in The Forty Thieves. 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. [6] Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. And involvement in such activities often led to his sentences being extended. In 1996 he was cast as the gangleader Pops Den in the film Hard Men, which premiered at the London film festival. There was no evidence that Fraser had fired the fatal shots, and although he claimed to have been fitted up for the killing, he was convicted of affray and sentenced to five years imprisonment. 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.. 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 little by little, over weeks and months of interviews, cups of tea and chats, their life stories emerged and with that came a fascinating insight into the Fraser family history and what really made Frank tick. I don't think they felt bad about it. [14] According to Fraser, it was they who helped him avoid arrest for the Great Train Robbery by bribing a policeman. Eva (Fraser) Brindle. 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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 knew the Krays well and they treated her with reverence, although she saw them as little more than naughty boys. 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. 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. 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. Please report any comments that break our rules. Then they were turned over to Fraser. Sometimes the hoisters' lives became entangled with those of underworld bosses through affairs, family ties or marriage. 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. A machine costing 400 could quickly recoup its cost if well-sited, and Frasers company offered club owners 40 per cent of the take rather than the standard 35 per cent as an inducement to install their machines. The notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser's sister Eva had risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. Updated November 28, 2014 2.43pmfirst published at 2.41pm Save Share 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. ", The new documentary returns to this theme, suggesting he had a hard time in prison because there were no criminals in his family. But who were the gang's most brazen members? Former Northern Echo journalist Beezy Marsh has written a book about London gangster Mad Frankie Fraser. The gang probably had its roots in the Victorian slums around Seven Dials, near Covent Garden, infamous in Dickens's day. 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. Both Frank and his sister, Eva, whom he adored, inherited their fathers features and his jet-black hair. 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. Nevertheless he was good at sports, captaining the football team at St Patricks school, Southwark, and boxing as an amateur. 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. You understand the choices that lay ahead of you if you were a working-class girl. Queen of Thieves, by author and journalist Beezy Marsh (published by Orion, November 4 2021, 8.99). There were car chases and bank raids which would not have looked out of place in The Sweeney. His first conviction was for stealing cigarettes, and with the second he was sent to an approved school. Photos of Frankie "Mad" Fraser - Find a Grave Memorial On the morning of Derek Bentleys execution at Wandsworth in 1953, he spat at the executioner Albert Pierrepoint and tried to attack him. 'It gave them a life they could never have afforded. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. It has emerged that the former gangland enforcer, who has spent 42 years in prison for 26. 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. However, it was the during the 'torture trial' of the Richardson gang in 1967, that Frankie Fraser become notorious nationally. ", 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. 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. Profile manager: Evelyn Wolff [send private message] '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.'. After one snatch, he and his companion were arrested when their car would not start. Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London on December 13, 1923. 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. 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. "You name it, we nicked it," he says. His new career took off and he was in regular demand as a radio and television pundit. With Frankie Fraser, Chris Keenan, Steve Box, Michael Boyd. Indeed, his criminality was closely bound up with what one criminologist described as an overt almost Samurai vindication of violent action in pursuit of inverted honour. Despite this, or possibly because of it, newspapers of the day were tipping him as Spots natural successor. 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 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. 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). Mad Frank and Sons: Tougher than the Krays, Frank and his boys on She was chauffeured in a Bentley and always wore a sable coat. She helped him sell on his loot. On the night of March 7 1966 Fraser and Eddie Richardson were badly hurt in a brawl at Mr Smiths club in Catford, the incident that broke the Richardson familys grip on south London. He spent more than 40 years in prison. 'Any girl worth her salt in South London in those days was a. Frank's mother, Margaret, was a huge influence on him but his "best pal" and early partner in crime was his sister, Eva. Fraser was acquitted but received five years for affray. 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. Eva was a leading light in the gang in the thirties and forties, having risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. 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. 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. Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road inWaterloo,London on December 13, 1923. 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. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. 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. While serving this sentence, Fraser received 10 years for his part in the so-called Richardson torture trial. After the war he was involved in a smash-and-grab raid on a jeweller's and was given a two year prison sentence. Prisoners and ex-prisoners all over Britain speak about him with undisguised admiration. She lived an unashamedly lavish lifestyle and splashed her money around. 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. [9], Fraser was an Arsenal fan, and his grandson Tommy Fraser is a professional footballer. If you weren't actually stealing, you were outranked by The Forty Thieves. Fraser spent practically half his life behind bars. of James Fraser and Margaret Alice (Anderson) Fraser. [9] 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. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription you will not receive any updates until your subscription is confirmed. According to one of his sons, David, Fraser was unharmed but he did not inform on his assailant. His fourth son, Francis, in Frasers joking words, let me down by having no criminal career at all. 42 years a lag She had died in.
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