After being sent to HM Prison Durham for taking part in bank robberies, he was again certified insane and this time was sent to Broadmoor Hospital. Francis Davidson Fraser, 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. 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. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. 'They didn't see anything wrong in it because these things were too expensive for most people to afford and shops had insurance. He built a reputation as an enforcer and strongman for various gang leaders, including Billy Hill, self-styled King of Britains Underworld in the 1940s and 1950s and, in the 1960s, the Richardson brothers. Beezy reveals how the girls father would beat their mother a big influence on their outlook. From then on until the end of the 1980s, Fraser was more often in jail than not. Frankie Fraser was tried at the Old Bailey for Harts murder, while six others, including Eddie Richardson, faced lesser charges. 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. He has been part of the most infamous criminal gangs of the past 100 years, while maintaining his South London roots and deep devotion to his family. '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. Their alleged specialities included pulling teeth out using pliers, cutting off toes using bolt cutters and nailing victims to floors using 6-inch nails. Alice herself was famous for clouting three furs in one go: one down each leg and one under her gusset. His mother was of Norwegian-Irish stock and his father was half Native American. When caught by police she replied: 'I don't know anything about it.'. Before World War Two, if you got married you were expected to leave work and stay at home, Beezy said. 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. Comments have been closed on this article. The trial which became one of the longest in British criminal history. In 1996 he was cast as the gangleader Pops Den in the film Hard Men, which premiered at the London film festival. Facebook gives people the power. It was during this sentence that he was first certified insane and was sent to Cane Hill Hospital before being released in 1949. ', The notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser's sister Eva had risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. 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. 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. News reports were checked to see how much was owing. 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. "If you play by the sword, you've got to expect the sword as well," says his son. By 20 she was leader of The Forty Thieves and wore a row of diamond rings that acted as a knuckle duster. Are you sure you want to delete this comment? 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. [16], Fraser's 42 years served in over 20 different prisons in the UK were often coloured by violence. He also attacked various governors. Ms Marsh said: 'These women fought harder than the men and were feared by men and women in their communities. Together they set up the Atlantic Machines fruit-machine enterprise, which acted as a front for the criminal activities of the gang. Prisoners and ex-prisoners all over Britain speak about him with undisguised admiration. On the morning of Derek Bentleys execution at Wandsworth in 1953, he spat at the executioner Albert Pierrepoint and tried to attack him. 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. [3][4], Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London. '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. Fraser was released in 1988 and almost immediately served a two-year sentence for receiving. Although he was acquitted, a further five years were added to his sentence. 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. Former Northern Echo journalist Beezy Marsh has written a book about London gangster Mad Frankie Fraser. From the time of Frankie Fraser's - MAD FRANK and SONS | Facebook When police visited she showed them ledgers to demonstrate her honest buying. Although his parents were not criminals, Fraser turned to crime aged 10 with his sister Eva, to whom he was close. The years just after World War II were a boom time for the gang, as clothing was rationed until 1949. [23] In 1991, Fraser was shot in the head from close range in an apparent murder attempt outside the Turnmills Club in Clerkenwell, London. To inquire about a licence to reproduce material, visit our Syndication site. 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. 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. 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 was not just a man's world, despite the countless column inches still spent poring over the phenomenon that was the Kray Twins,' she added. I just waited, caught up with him, knocked him about and strung him up with his dog, Fraser remembered. 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. Fraser himself was accused of pulling out the teeth of victims with a pair of pliers. 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. Frankie Fraser was known anotorious torturer and hitman, who worked as an enforcer for some of London's most feared gang leaders. Peggy stayed out of crime and worked for the Post Office. Fraser served a total of 42 years in over 20 different prisons in the UK for numerous violent offences. But few would perhaps know about the equally incredible lives led by his three sisters. 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. Frankie Fraser's Last Stand: Directed by Matt Blyth. Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty. In 1966 he was charged with the murder of Richard Hart, who was shot at a club in Catford, but the charges were dropped when a witness changed their testimony. But by the 1930s, the breeding ground for its recruits was South London. She lived an unashamedly lavish lifestyle and splashed her money around. Eva knew the Krays well and they treated her with reverence, although she saw them as little more than naughty boys. 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. On 26 November, Fraser died after his family made the decision to turn off his life-support machine. Frankie Fraser: Died On This Day in 2014, Aged 90 - The NCS Frankie Fraser Wiki & Bio - everipedia.org 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. "At the races, I'd be bucket boy," says Fraser in the documentary, Frankie Fraser's Last Stand, which will be broadcast on the Crime and Investigation network on 16 June at 9pm. Frankie Fraser was born on Cornwall Road inWaterloo,London on December 13, 1923. 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. They would go through Selfridges department store in the West End and steal furs and expensive clothes. Mad Frank (1994), which went on to sell around 100,000 copies, was the first in a successful series. 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. Francis Davidson Fraser was born on December 13 1923 in Cornwall Road, a slum area of south London on the site of what is now the Royal Festival Hall. 'Mad' Frankie Fraser dead aged 90 | Daily Mail Online He then became involved in serious crime - and the war provided a perfect backdrop with the blackout, rationing and a shortage of police officers. 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. [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 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. Frankie Fraser belonged to a bygone era of crime and was cut from a different cloth than so many other gangsters of his generation. 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. Who was 'Mad' Frankie Fraser? | The Irish Sun Even decent folk were often only too happy to 'take a bit of crooked' to have something new. 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. A ponce was someone who thieves looked down on, because they lived by taking a cut from someone elses earnings. 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). '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.'. Because of Frasers behaviour in jail over the years, he forfeited almost every day of his remission. 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. 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. Join Facebook to connect with Frankie Fraser and others you may know. Data returned from the Piano 'meterActive/meterExpired' callback event. It was not that he thought he was Napoleon. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. [11] In 1942, while serving a prison sentence in HM Prison Chelmsford, he came to the attention of the British Army. On 21 November 2014, Fraser fell critically ill whilst undergoing leg surgery atKing's College Hospital,Denmark Hill. Frankie Fraser's Last Stand (2013) - IMDb 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. The pair were the only ones of the children to embrace a life of crime. Nevertheless he was good at sports, captaining the football team at St Patricks school, Southwark, and boxing as an amateur. Ms Marsh said it 'was time to reappraise London's gangland' when she wrote The Queen of Thieves. 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. 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. These adverts enable local businesses to get in front of their target audience the local community. Author Beezy Marsh said: 'These women fought harder than the men and were feared by men and women in their communities. [9] In 1969, Fraser was one of the ringleaders of the major Parkhurst Prison riot, which resulted in him spending the six weeks in the prison hospital due to his injuries. Before then, Fraser had been involved in smash-and-grab raids and wages snatches. Eric wasnt a bad fellow, Fraser later explained, but that particular night he was bang out of order.. 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. Sister of Frankie Davidson Fraser. 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. 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. Fraser, tried separately, was jailed for 10. 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. With Frankie Fraser, Chris Keenan, Steve Box, Michael Boyd. His greatest moment of national notoriety came during what was known as the 'torture trial' of the Richardson gang in 1967, which became . During the 1940s it was not unusual for 'hoisters', a historical term for shoplifters, to be paid a hundred pounds a week - out earning men's average wages ten-to-one. He was said to have pulled out the teeth of one of the victims with a pair of pliers. They set up a fruit machine enterprise, which they would sell to pub landlords, to cover up their crimes. What officers didn't know then was that his crime spree would continue over a career spanning seven decades, and his offences only worsened. He was a deserter during the Second World War, escaping from his barracks . Both Fraser and Warren received seven-year sentences. 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. His mother was of Irish and Norwegian descent, while his father was half Native-American. He later joined the notorious Richardson gang, formed by brothers Eddie and Charlie, and began carrying out more criminal activities. The grim terraces of Waterloo and the tenements of Elephant and Castle provided plenty of girls desperate enough to join The Forty Thieves. Eva Brindle formerly Fraser. However, according to a new documentary, he is clearly not going gentle into any good night. He spent more than 40 years in prison. 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). 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. "From there he goes on to burgle, and she goes onto shop lifting with a famous female gang called The 40 Thieves. After trying his hand at crime as a. Mad Frank: Memoirs of a Life of Crime appeared in 1994, with two further volumes following in 1998 and 2001. During the 1950s, Fraser's main criminal occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangsterBilly Hill. Here are some pictures of Eva Fraser - MAD FRANK and SONS | Facebook
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