Ms Marsh said: 'These women fought harder than the men and were feared by men and women in their communities. 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. 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. 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. A witness later changed histestimony,and the charges were eventually dropped, though Fraser still received a five-year sentence for affray. Shortly afterwards, Fraser kidnapped Eric Mason, a Kray gang member, outside the Astor Club in Berkeley Square, with even direr consequences. Their alleged specialities included pulling teeth out using pliers, cutting off toes using bolt cutters and nailing victims to floors using 6-inch nails. 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). To evade discovery they posted the stolen items back to London or depositing a suitcase of loot at the railway station's left luggage office, to be collected later. During the 1950s, Fraser's main criminal occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangsterBilly Hill. Monty Python sketch featuring the Piranha brothers, Doug and Dinsdale. The granddaughter of a member of the gang, who said she was taught how to steal in the 1970s, told Ms Marsh: 'My nan was always beautifully turned out. Frankie Fraser's Last Stand (2013) - IMDb His first conviction was for stealing cigarettes, and with the second he was sent to an approved school. The grim terraces of Waterloo and the tenements of Elephant and Castle provided plenty of girls desperate enough to join The Forty Thieves. In 1996 he was cast as the gangleader Pops Den in the film Hard Men, which premiered at the London film festival. 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. I saved myself from Royal life, Harry says & insists 'sharing's an act of service', Love Island's Olivia Hawkins breaks silence as she returns to the UK, Loose Women star lined up to be Strictly's first contestant in wheelchair, Coronation Street fans horrified as Amy Barlow is raped in disturbing scenes, News Group Newspapers Limited in England No. During his time behind bars he was involved in violence and was a major instigator in the Parkhurst Prison riots in 1969. "From there he goes on to burgle, and she goes onto shop lifting with a famous female gang called The 40 Thieves. Here are some pictures of Eva Fraser of the Forty Thieves and her sister Kathleen. By Emer Scully and Beezy Marsh for MailOnline, Published: 10:41 GMT, 4 November 2021 | Updated: 13:07 GMT, 4 November 2021. 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. 'Mad Frankie' Fraser - a legend in his own gaol time On 21 November 2014, Fraser fell critically ill whilst undergoing leg surgery atKing's College Hospital,Denmark Hill. The family was hard-working and kept themselves clean [out of crime].. End-right girl on the back row is Eva.. VIEWS Every old-school south Londoner knows the folklore of cockney criminal Frankie Fraser, whose violent tendencies were infamous on the streets of Walworth. 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. Many started as child lookouts. The thieves' earnings allowed them to live like upper-class debutantes. Harry Styles bares his impressively toned torso and body art at gig Both Fraser and his sister, Eva, were also active juvenile thieves. Aged seven, Ms Pitts was stealing milk and bread to provide food for her five siblings. For other inquiries, Contact Us. 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. 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. 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. He also attacked various governors. He spent 42 years almost half his life in prison for 26 offences. 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. The gang probably had its roots in the Victorian slums around Seven Dials, near Covent Garden, infamous in Dickens's day. Fraser himself was accused of pulling out the teeth of victims with a pair of pliers. 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. Author Beezy Marsh said: 'These women fought harder than the men and were feared by men and women in their communities. 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. Aged 17 she was convicted for stealing from a hat shop in Oxford Street. During the 1950s, Fraser's main occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangster Billy Hill. Another grandson, Anthony Fraser, was being sought by police in February 2011 for his alleged involvement in an alleged 5 million cannabis smuggling ring. 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. It was during this sentence that he was first certified insane and was sent to Cane Hill Hospital before being released in 1949. He shot, slashed, stabbed and axed. Mason was found, barely alive, wearing only his underpants and wrapped in a blanket, on the steps of the London Hospital in Whitechapel. Part of his mouth was shot away in the incident. According to Eddie Richardson, Fraser had Alzheimer's disease for the last three years of his life. 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. 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. He really did live by a code of honour which he took with him to the grave. 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'. Tallymen, who sold goods door-to-door, would shift them across London. Old London Photographs | This is Eva Fraser, sister of gangster " Mad . The Krays, according to Frank, were little more than thieves ponces.. 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. Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road inWaterloo,London on December 13, 1923. The Krays held Eva Fraser in high regard because of her role in the gang and during the 1940s and 1950s, and the Soho gang boss Billy Hill - brother of the fiery Maggie Hughes - was careful not to encroach too much on their territory because he respected their right to earn their own money, free from male interference. Fraser was part of Britain's Underworld between the 1940s-1960's. He was a known associate of gangster Billy Hill throughout the 1950s. Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. ", The new documentary returns to this theme, suggesting he had a hard time in prison because there were no criminals in his family. Frankie Fraser was known anotorious torturer and hitman, who worked as an enforcer for some of London's most feared gang leaders. 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. She is thought to have killed herself in the 1970s. He spent more than 40 years in prison. 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. But when her brother Frankie was in prison, she helped to run his protection rackets in Soho and even sent her daughters to collect payments, as the police would not stop a child. She helped support her young siblings by taking milk and bread from neighbour's doorsteps. Mothers would hide hoisted clothes in their prams and move them to pubs, where they were sold on. "If you play by the sword, you've got to expect the sword as well," says his son. [14] According to Fraser, it was they who helped him avoid arrest for the Great Train Robbery by bribing a policeman. 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. 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. Nothing ever got to Frankie, wrote Charlie Richardson. Before then, Fraser had been involved in smash-and-grab raids and wages snatches. MAD FRANK & SONS, by David Fraser, Patrick Fraser and Beezy Marsh is published by Sidgwick and Jackson on June 2. 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. None of the gang were afraid to use razors on those who crossed them. In the 1950s he worked for underworld boss Billy Hill and carried out razor attacks on victims for 50 each. 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. He was a rock.. Frank's mother, Margaret, was a huge influence on him but his "best pal" and early partner in crime was his sister, Eva. 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. in development with Fraser's endorsement. Throughout his life he denied the justice of this conviction, but he was happy to trade off it. But by the 1930s, the breeding ground for its recruits was South London. Reporters claimed she was 6ft tall - despite police records from 1919 putting her at 5ft9in. According to Fraser, it was they who helped him avoid arrest for theGreat Train Robberyby bribing a policeman. Fraser, he recalled, was more than capable of doing what he threatened. She was one of the top thieves during the war. Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London. Eva (Fraser) Brindle (1920s-2000s) | WikiTree FREE Family Tree As her reign came to an end, Forty Thieves queen Diamondpassed on her 'wisdom' to a future queen, Shirley Pitts. 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. She got six months in jail, for stealing stockings from Bentalls in Kingston upon Thames. 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. 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. MAD FRANK and SONS - Home - Facebook Frank had been active as a criminal from the 1930s and was given his first prison sentence at the outbreak of the Second World War. Diamond's second-in-command Maggie Hughes was known as 'Babyface' for her sweet looks and made a habit of cheekily shouting back at the judge when she was sentenced to jail: 'It won't cure me! 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. Eva knew the Krays well and they treated her with reverence, although she saw them as little more than naughty boys. [24], Fraser's wife, by whom he had four sons, died in 1999. 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. 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. 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. After trying his hand at crime as a. 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. Although his parents were not criminals, Fraser turned to crime aged 10 with his sister Eva, to whom he was close. 'Mad' Frankie Fraser handed an asbo aged 90 - the Guardian Joining the Forty Thieves was something of a right of passage for Eva Fraser. Newsquest Media Group Ltd, Loudwater Mill, Station Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. Fraser had no problem dealing with rival operators whose business was dented as a result. 42 years a lag She had died in. The violent thugs, the Kray twins, held Eva Fraser in high regard because of her role in the gang and during the 1940s and 1950s and the Soho gang boss Billy Hill - brother of the fiery Ms Hughes - was careful not to encroach too much on their territory because he respected their right to earn their own money, free from male interference. '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. A Gannett Company. Fraser in 1997 with his then girlfriend Marilyn Wisbey, daughter Of Great Train Robber Tom Wisbey (REX FEATURES). Frasers partner in this endeavour was Bobby Warren, an uncle of the boxing promoter Frank Warren. 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). She helped him sell on his loot. [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. But few would perhaps know about the equally incredible lives led by his three sisters. She was taught by Alice Diamond in the 1930s and a very senior member throughout the. Had it all gone to plan, she could have inhabited a very different side of the West End to her little sister Eva. When Mason demurred, Fraser buried a hatchet in his skull, pinning his hand to his head. Frankie Fraser was tried at the Old Bailey for Harts murder, while six others, including Eddie Richardson, faced lesser charges. What officers didn't know then was that his crime spree would continue over a career spanning seven decades, and his offences only worsened. 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. [9] [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. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription you will not receive any newsletters until your subscription is confirmed. 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 then became involved in serious crime - and the war provided a perfect backdrop with the blackout, rationing and a shortage of police officers. If you love GANGLAND and women in crime who rubbed shoulders with Frank and the Krays, you're going to QUEEN OF CLUBS my new book set in seedy 1950s Soho and inspired by the Forty Thieves hoisters gang including Frank's sister Eva Fraser and the notorious hoister Shirley Pitts from Walworth who grew up with his sons David and Patrick. 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. In 1991, while emerging from Turnmills nightclub in Clerkenwell, London, he was shot at by an unidentified gunman. Francis Davidson Fraser, known as Mad Frankie Fraser, was the scourge of prison governors and warders up and down Britain during the periods when he served a total of more than 40 years imprisonment. Fraser 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. Fraser was the. Fraser himself was charged with pulling out people's teeth with pliers and sentenced to 10 years in prison. Franks mother, Margaret, was a huge influence on him but his best pal and early partner in crime was his sister, Eva. Photograph: Crime and Investigation network. 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. 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. A bucket boy would offer to clean the bookies' blackboards with a sponge, for which they were obliged to pay the Sabinis. After trying his hand at crime as a child, Fraser then continued into his later life. Though like Eva, she struggled to come to terms with the choice facing women to work or marry. Police reveal more details, as man remains at large after brutal attack outside school, Interview with MP Neil Coyle after Commons suspension: Why the drinking has stopped having started in childhood, but the swearing wont, plus deliberately avoiding Labour leader Keir Starmer, Read our print products (Digital Editions). 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. Beezy said: "Frank's sister Eva was the one who led him into crime as a small boy. 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. There was also quite a comeuppance for both Patrick and David who both served their time. 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! Fraser, whose health has been deteriorating in recent years, turned to crime aged just nine when he and his sister, Eva, became petty thieves. 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. 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. contact IPSO here, 2001-2023. Sister of Frankie Davidson Fraser. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was halfNative-American. Following a trial at the Old Bailey in 1967, he was sentenced to ten years' imprisonment. She helped him sell on his loot. However, it was the during the 'torture trial' of the Richardson gang in 1967, that Frankie Fraser become notorious nationally. 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. When he was 10, the pair stole a cigarette machine from a local pub, hauled it to some waste ground and jemmied it open. Fraser was seen kicking Richard Hart, a Kray associate, as he lay on the pavement outside. [9] He was a deserter during the Second World War, escaping from his barracks on several occasions. '", 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. 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. They also spoke, as Frank did, using the prison slang of a bygone era, which they had to translate for me. Both Frank and his sister, Eva, whom he adored, inherited their fathers features and his jet-black hair. Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription you will not receive any updates until your subscription is confirmed. While serving this sentence, Fraser received 10 years for his part in the so-called Richardson torture trial. There was Eva, the naughty girl of the three, who became a key figure in the all-girl gang, the Forty Thieves, who targeted the West Ends big department stores. Once he said he would do something, he did it, and he despised others who backed down. Born 1920s. From the time of Frankie Fraser's - MAD FRANK and SONS | Facebook He later joined the notorious Richardson gang, formed by brothers Eddie and Charlie, and began carrying out more criminal activities. '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.

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