He was a deserter during the Second World War, escaping from his barracks . "If you play by the sword, you've got to expect the sword as well," says his son. They set up a fruit machine enterprise, which they would sell to pub landlords, to cover up their crimes. 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. He later joined the notorious Richardson gang, formed by brothers Eddie and Charlie, and began carrying out more criminal activities. Eva got six months for stealing stockings from Bentalls in Kingston upon Thames. Fraser was part of Britain's Underworld between the 1940s-1960's. In the 1950s he worked for underworld boss Billy Hill and carried out razor attacks on victims for 50 each. Descendants . But his criminal activities didn't stop when he was locked up. 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. Both Frank and his sister, Eva, whom he adored, inherited their fathers features and his jet-black hair. We are no longer accepting comments on this article. [8] Although his parents were not criminals, Fraser turned to crime aged 10 with his sister Eva, to whom he was close. The singer, 29, bared his chest and showed off his . 'It was incredibly subversive to go against the class system and steal furs and luxury items and swan about like they were rich - but that is exactly what they did. Before World War Two, if you got married you were expected to leave work and stay at home, Beezy said. Diamond took her under her wing and showed her how to shoplift in 1947, when Pitts was just 12. 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. Frankie Fraser Biography | HowOld.co Beezy said: "Frank's sister Eva was the one who led him into crime as a small boy. 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. ', The notorious gangster 'Mad' Frankie Fraser's sister Eva had risen through the ranks of the gang after joining in the 1930s. Fraser served a total of 42 years in over 20 different prisons in the UK for numerous violent offences. After the war, he worked for underworld boss Billy Hill, for whom he carried out razor attacks. There was also quite a comeuppance for both Patrick and David who both served their time. He spent 42 years almost half his life in prison for 26 offences. 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A feature film production is currently[when?] Yet they fiercely guarded their right to 'earn' their own money. An early nickname Razor Fraser reflected his penchant for shivving his enemies faces with a cut-throat blade. 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. Pitts wore a school girl's outfit, complete with straw boater, to act as a decoy. Alice herself was famous for clouting three furs in one go: one down each leg and one under her gusset. Monty Python sketch featuring the Piranha brothers, Doug and Dinsdale. Aged 17 she was convicted for stealing from a hat shop in Oxford Street. '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.'. They didnt go to jail, they did bird or got a lagging. Fraser had no problem dealing with rival operators whose business was dented as a result. They stole to put food on the table. She also passed on her 'wisdom' to a future queen, Shirley Pitts. Whatever you nicked you could sell, they'd be queuing up to buy it off you.". The raids seem often to have been left to chance, and he was particularly unfortunate with cars. Fraser was released in 1988 and almost immediately served a two-year sentence for receiving. Another of Fraser's grandsons, James Fraser, also spent a short time with Bristol Rovers. When shoplifting she used a number of techniques including: wearing different wigs, putting stolen items under her skirt and the use of barrier bags lined with tin foil to prevent the detection of security tags. 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. Data returned from the Piano 'meterActive/meterExpired' callback event. Photograph: Alex Segre/Rex. His new career took off and he was in regular demand as a radio and television pundit. Former Northern Echo journalist Beezy Marsh has written a book about London gangster Mad Frankie Fraser. Young Frankie attended local schools, captained the football team, and acted as bookies runner to one of the teachers. Because of the type of person I am, he wrote, in the life I led, you learn to shrug off adversity better than people whove worked hard all their lives.. 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. 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. A mugshot of Forty Thieves' Hughes, who was uncontrollable and dissipated by drink. There were car chases and bank raids which would not have looked out of place in The Sweeney. His decision to join the Richardsons rather than their rivals, the Krays, has been described as "like China getting the atom bomb". As her reign came to an end, Forty Thieves queen Diamondpassed on her 'wisdom' to a future queen, Shirley Pitts. 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. Frankie Fraser Profiles | Facebook Frankie Fraser was a south London gangster who knew no language but violence and spent half his life behind bars. The criminal, who has spent almost half his life in prison, passed away earlier at King's. 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 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 following year, the British mobsterJack Spotand wife Rita were attacked on Billy Hill's say-so, by Fraser, Bobby Warren and at least half a dozen other men. Newsquest Media Group Ltd, Loudwater Mill, Station Road, High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire. 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. ", The new documentary returns to this theme, suggesting he had a hard time in prison because there were no criminals in his family. 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. She lived an unashamedly lavish lifestyle and splashed her money around. She helped support her young siblings by taking milk and bread from neighbour's doorsteps. The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of MailOnline. Reporters claimed she was 6ft tall - despite police records from 1919 putting her at 5ft9in. Both Fraser and his sister, Eva, were also active juvenile thieves. '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. Frankie Fraser was known anotorious torturer and hitman, who worked as an enforcer for some of London's most feared gang leaders. Queen of Thieves: The gangland women who made Peaky Blinders look like '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 trying his hand at crime as a child, Fraser then continued into his later life. Even decent folk were often only too happy to 'take a bit of crooked' to have something new. Franks mother, Margaret, was a huge influence on him but his best pal and early partner in crime was his sister, Eva. After Frasers release from the Spot sentence, he was courted by the Kray Twins and the Richardson gang. Had her first criminal conviction aged 14 and went on to become Diamond's accomplice. He had an ungovernable temper and an inability to think through the undoubted consequences of his proposed actions. It was during this sentence that he was first certified insane and was sent to Cane Hill Hospital before being released in 1949. 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'. 'Mad Frank' the thug, hitman and enforcer Fraser died at the age of 91 on November 26, 2014. [6] Fraser was the youngest of five children and grew up in poverty.
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