"an associate of the Krays, who was shot dead. This public shoot-out led to the arrest of nearly all the Richardson gang. Cornell, by chance, was not present at the club during the shoot-out and was not arrested. Whilst visiting the hospital to check up on his friends, he randomly chose to visit the Blind Beggar pub, only a mile away from where the Krays lived. Ronnie was drinking in another pub when he learned of Cornell's location. He went there with his driver ""Scotch Jack"" John Dickson and his assistant Ian Barrie. Ronnie went into the pub with Barrie,"
"club in the—at the time—very disreputable area of West London known as Notting Hill. He was acquitted amid talk of ""jury nobbling"" and interference with witnesses, but the following year was accused of Grievous Bodily Harm (GBH), convicted and sentenced to 5 years' imprisonment. It was at the Astor in December 1965 that the infamous East End (East London) Kray twins had a confrontation with the South London criminals known as the Richardson Gang; during that face-off, the gangster George Cornell is said to have referred to Ronnie Kray as a ""fat poofter"" (in another version, ""a big fat poof""),"
"the Krays were working for Jay Murray from Liverpool and were involved in hijacking, armed robbery and arson, through which they acquired other clubs and properties. In 1960, Ronnie Kray was imprisoned for 18 months for running a protection racket and related threats. While Ronnie was in prison, Peter Rachman, head of a violent landlord operation, gave Reggie a nightclub called Esmeralda's Barn on the Knightsbridge end of Wilton Place next to a bistro called Joan's Kitchen. The location is where the Berkeley Hotel now stands. This increased the Krays' influence in the West End by making them celebrities as"
"Kray twins Ronald ""Ronnie"" Kray (24 October 193317 March 1995) and Reginald ""Reggie"" Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000), identical twin brothers, were English criminals, the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in the East End of London during the 1950s and 1960s. With their gang, known as ""The Firm"", the Krays were involved in murder, armed robbery, arson, protection rackets and assaults. As West End nightclub owners, the Krays mixed with politicians and prominent entertainers such as Diana Dors, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland. In the 1960s, they became celebrities, being photographed by David Bailey and interviewed on television. The"
"and tooth removals, he said that it was ""all false... Today, we wouldn't have even been charged, let alone gone to prison."" The Richardson gang and the Kray twins were engaged in a turf war in the mid- to late 1960s. Charlie Richardson and George Cornell had first met the Krays while in Shepton Mallet Prison. Tensions came to a head in 1965–66. During a Christmas party at the Astor Club in December 1965, Cornell called Ronnie Kray a ""fat poof"" and a fight ensued. On 7 or 8 March 1966, Richard Hart, one of the Krays's associates, was shot"
"Camberwell New Cemetery, south London. On 4 March 1969, Ronnie Kray was unanimously found guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey of the murder of George Cornell. His brother Reggie was also found guilty of murdering Jack McVitie, who was killed the year after Cornell. They were both sentenced to life imprisonment. Ronnie Kray died in jail in March 1995, while Reggie Kray was imprisoned for a total of 32 years before he was released from custody on compassionate grounds in August 2000 as a result of cancer, from which he died a few weeks after his release. George"
"referred to him as ""Effing Effingham"". Under the gambling club was the Cellar Club, run by Ginette, which was a lesbian club open to people of all sexual orientations. The resident singer was Cy Grant. Other musicians who regularly played there included Noel Harrison and Lance Percival. William Ives, a former boxer and, before his death in 2017, one of the richest men in Britain, worked as a doorman at the club during the Kray era. By 1963, the Krays' business interests in the West End had grown significantly and were becoming difficult to control. Esmeralda's Barn was closed at"
"Two plays were produced in the 1970s that were based on thinly-veiled versions of the Krays: Kray twins Ronald ""Ronnie"" Kray (24 October 193317 March 1995) and Reginald ""Reggie"" Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000), identical twin brothers, were English criminals, the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in the East End of London during the 1950s and 1960s. With their gang, known as ""The Firm"", the Krays were involved in murder, armed robbery, arson, protection rackets and assaults. As West End nightclub owners, the Krays mixed with politicians and prominent entertainers such as Diana Dors, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland."
"the end of that year. The site is now home to The Berkeley, a five-star hotel. Esmeralda's Barn Esmeralda's Barn was a nightclub in Wilton Place, Knightsbridge, London, that was owned by the Kray twins from 1960 until its closure in 1963. The Krays used the club as a way of expanding their criminal activities into London's West End. In the 1950s, Esmeralda's Barn was a conventional nightclub run by Stefan de Faye. After the Betting and Gaming Act 1960 legalised gambling in the United Kingdom from 1961, de Faye turned Esmeralda's Barn into a gambling club. According to John"
"Humphreys was under investigation by another squad, and Drury refused to acknowledge his association with Humphreys even after Drury reportedly received a ""Wish you were here"" holiday postcard from him. Cornell was originally a member of an East End gang called ""The Watney Streeters"" and later became involved with the Krays. However, he changed sides around 1964 and allied himself with the Richardsons. Cornell was unstable, unpredictable and nearly caused an all-out war between the two gangs before his death when Ronnie Kray shot and killed him in 1966. Frankie Fraser teamed up with the Richardson gang in the mid-1960s."
"convicted associate of the Kray twins, later wrote that, despite the restrictive door policy at Sibylla's, ""I always welcome at the club"" due to O'Leary's presence. In October 1966, Macdonald, who was suffering from depression, died after jumping from a rooftop in west London. Author Steve Turner describes him as an early casualty among London's psychedelic drug users, at a time when the full psychological effects of LSD were not widely known. Tara Browne, who was a regular at the club in the company of the Beatles and the Rolling Stones, died after crashing his sports car into a parked"
"death, which was in 2000. Ronnie Kray was imprisoned for life at the same time for the murder of George Cornell in 1966 and remained behind bars until his death in 1995. McVitie married Marie Marney in Surrey in 1950. He fathered one son who was named Tony McVitie. The nickname ""Jack the Hat"" is said to be because of a trilby hat that he wore to cover up his hair loss. A known drug trafficker by the 1960s, he had been an associate of the Kray twins for some time and, although never a permanent member of ""The Firm"","
"the ""Astor Club"" on Christmas Day 1965. Richardson gang member ""Mad"" Frankie Fraser was tried for the murder of Richard Hart at ""Mr.Smith's"", but was found not guilty. Richardson gang member Ray ""the Belgian"" Cullinane testified that he saw Cornell kicking Hart. Witnesses would not co-operate with the police in the murder case due to intimidation, and the trial ended inconclusively without pointing to any suspect in particular. On 12 December 1966, the Krays helped Frank Mitchell, ""the Mad Axeman"", to escape from Dartmoor Prison. Ronnie had befriended Mitchell while they served time together in Wandsworth Prison. Mitchell felt that"
"was bound with chicken wire, weighted down and dumped in the English Channel. Reg Kray cited springing Mitchell from prison as one of his biggest mistakes. In 1968, the Krays and various accomplices were arrested and put on trial for an array of offences, including the murders of George Cornell, Jack McVitie and Frank Mitchell. Their attempt to cajole gang member Albert Donoghue into confessing to killing Mitchell led to him becoming a crown witness and testifying against them. Ron, Reg and Charlie Kray and Freddie Foreman were all acquitted of Mitchell's murder, due to lack of evidence and the"
"Keith Simpson (pathologist) Cedric Keith Simpson, CBE, FRCP, FRCPath, (20 July 1907 – 21 July 1985) was an English forensic pathologist. He was Professor of Forensic Medicine in the University of London at Guy's Hospital, Lecturer in Forensic Medicine at the University of Oxford and a founder member and President of the Association of Forensic Medicine. Professor Simpson became renowned for his post-mortems on high-profile murder cases, including the 1949 Acid Bath Murders committed by John George Haigh and the murder of gangster George Cornell, who was shot dead by Ronnie Kray in 1966. He pioneered forensic dentistry, and was"
"took out a 9 mm Luger, and calmly shot him once in the top of the forehead, above his right eye. The men turned and departed to a waiting car on the street. Cornell slumped against a nearby pillar, the bullet, apparently, passing straight through him. He was taken to a nearby hospital, where he died at around 3:30am. The news spread rapidly. Although Ronnie Kray was identified by several eyewitnesses as he calmly left the public house, no one would agree to testify against him and the police were forced to release him from custody. Cornell was buried in"
"Church. The Quakers hold regular meetings in Old Ford Road. There are at least eight Islamic mosques or places of worship in Bethnal Green for the Muslim community. These include the Baitul Aman Mosque and Cultural Centre, Darul Hadis Latifiah, the Senegambian Islamic Cultural Centre and the Globe Town Mosque and Cultural Centre. Bethnal Green, being the cultural heart of the East End, has long been a hotbed of organised crime. Its most famous criminals were the Kray twins, known as Ronald ""Ronnie"" Kray and Reginald ""Reggie"" Kray who were identical twin brothers and were active in during the 1950s"
"of a rival gang, the Richardsons, as he was sitting at the bar. The murder took place in the then saloon bar. The pub is also a popular starting point for the Monopoly Pub Crawl, despite being located on the board's third space. The pub was frequented by Harry Redknapp and was owned by Bobby Moore at one stage. The freehold ownership of the pub was sold at Allsop auction on 17 May 2010, the buyers being a family of Indian descent who previously owned a casino in Whitechapel at the time of the Krays. In the Blind Beggar legend,"
"walked straight to Cornell and shot him in the head in public view. Barrie, confused by what happened, fired five shots in the air warning the public not to report what had happened to the police. Just before he was shot, Cornell remarked, ""Well, look who's here."" He died at 3:00am in hospital. Ronnie Kray was already suffering from paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the killing. According to some sources, Ronnie killed Cornell because Cornell referred to Ronnie as a ""fat poof"" (a derogatory term for gay men) during a confrontation between the Krays and the Richardson gang at"
"recording studio at 304 Holloway Road, Islington, in North London. Police in the Oliver investigation announced their intent to interview all of the homosexual men in London. This would have included Meek, following a 1963 conviction for “importuning for immoral purposes” in a public toilet. Some accounts claim that Meek was afraid of being questioned. It was rumoured that Oliver had worked as a tape-stacker in Meek's studio. On 3 February 1967, Meek killed himself after murdering his landlady, Violet Shenton. Reginald Kray (24 October 1933 – 1 October 2000) was a gangster from the East End of London, sentenced"
"West End nightclub owners, they mixed with prominent entertainers including Diana Dors, Frank Sinatra, Judy Garland and politicians. The Krays were highly feared within their social environment. In the 1960s they became celebrities in their own right, being photographed by David Bailey and interviewed on television. They were arrested in 1968 and both sentenced to life imprisonment. Lucky Luciano (born Salvatore Lucania), a Sicilian gangster, is considered to be the father of modern organized crime and the mastermind of the massive postwar expansion of the international heroin trade. He was the first official boss of the modern Genovese crime family"
"sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommendation that they should each serve a minimum of 30 years. Ronnie's murder conviction was for the murder of rival gangster, George Cornell, whom he shot dead in March 1966. The jury took 6 hours and 55 minutes to reach their unanimous verdict. Never before at the Old Bailey had such a long and expensive trial taken place. The Krays' elder brother Charlie, together with Freddie Foreman (who helped move the body) and Cornelius Whitehead, were all found guilty of being accessories to McVitie's murder. Prison seemed to do much to encourage the myth"
"cannon."" Arriving at Payne's home, McVitie hammered loudly on the front door, which luckily for Payne was opened by his wife. ""He's not in,"" she said. ""That's all right,"" said McVitie and he and Exley left. Instead of repaying the money McVitie kept it. This incident led, in part, to McVitie's death. On 29 October 1967, McVitie was invited to a party in Evering Road in Stoke Newington, London, with several of his underworld associates and their families. The Krays had secretly arrived at the party first and had spent an hour clearing away guests. Reggie Kray's initial plan to"
"Esmeralda's Barn Esmeralda's Barn was a nightclub in Wilton Place, Knightsbridge, London, that was owned by the Kray twins from 1960 until its closure in 1963. The Krays used the club as a way of expanding their criminal activities into London's West End. In the 1950s, Esmeralda's Barn was a conventional nightclub run by Stefan de Faye. After the Betting and Gaming Act 1960 legalised gambling in the United Kingdom from 1961, de Faye turned Esmeralda's Barn into a gambling club. According to John Pearson, the Act, which was intended to drive criminals out of gambling, instead proved a boon"
"as in the killing of Mary Jane Kelly, her murderer was never found. As in 1888, the landlord of Miller's Court in 1909 was still John McCarthy. The last murder in Dorset Street was the gangland killing of a Soho club manager and a former middleweight boxer called Selwyn Cooney in February 1960. Cooney was shot in the head at a drinking club on the street, staggered down the stairs into the road and there died. A vivid description of crime and vice in Dorset Street is given in Ralph L. Finn's 1963 memoir of a Jewish boyhood in the"
"The New Penny The New Penny is a gay pub in The Calls area of Leeds, West Yorkshire. It is reported to be the oldest continually running gay pub in the UK. The pub started as the Hope and Anchor in 1953. Although difficulty with the law meant it was a secretive place, it was the first gay venue to open outside London. In March 1968, the Hope and Anchor was featured in an exposé-style article in the local ""Union News"" and possibly as a result of this article, the content of which was soon reprinted in a national newspaper,"
"on to Eastburn and Leeds. He was convicted in 1976 of four murders. In 1966, bookie Fred Craven was brutally murdered in his betting shop on Wellington Street Bingley. Mr Craven, who was well known in the area because of his short stature (he was 4 ft 7in tall), had gone into his shop to collect papers despite there being no racing that day. It is believed that he had £200 in his wallet (£3,200.00 in 2015 prices) which went missing. Mr Craven suffered extensive injuries at the hands of the killer. Because the local constabulary had a very narrow"
"1960. Born Fighter Born Fighter is an autobiographical book written by Reginald Kray. In 1969 he and his twin brother Ronnie Kray received life sentences for the murders of George Cornell and Jack McVitie. First published in London in 1990 in hardback by Century and paperback in 1991 by subsidiary Arrow Books. Reggie Kray wrote several successful books while incarcerated in high security prison as a ""Category A"" prisoner for 30 years (of those, 18 years in Parkhurst Prison). The book gives a first-hand account of Reggie's life as one half of the most notorious underworld gangsters in the 1950s"
"including Ben Elton as Judas Iscariot. In 2001, after he sold his percentage in Up The Creek, Hardee took over a floating pub, The Wibbley Wobbley, on a converted Rhine pleasure cruiser in Greenland Dock, Rotherhithe, by the River Thames. On 2 February 2005, Hardee's body was recovered from Greenland Dock, after he was reported missing from The Wibbley Wobbley on 31 January; he had been last seen late-night on 30 January. A post-mortem soon confirmed he had drowned. In an inquest at Southwark Coroner's Court on 20 July, Coroner John Sampson recorded a verdict of accidental death. It had"
"he had been successful, the property could have been worth more than £10 million. In 2013, following a successful campaign by local people, it was sold on behalf of a private owner to Parsons Green Land for £3.9m, and later reopened as a pub. The Cross Keys, Chelsea The Cross Keys is a public house at 1 Lawrence Street, Chelsea, London SW3 5NB. Built in 1708, it is the oldest pub in Chelsea. Regular visitors have included the artists Turner, Whistler and Sargent, writers Agatha Christie and Dylan Thomas, and musicians Bob Marley and the Rolling Stones. In 2012, the"
"to central London also make it popular with film crews. In the 1960s the square was notorious as the base of the Richardson Gang, a south London rival to the Kray twins. They ran a private drinking club from the square, which had ""Mad"" Frankie Fraser and two dancing bears in residence. According to the gang's Old Bailey trial in 1967, the club was used to kangaroo court and torture rivals. The bears escaped onto Camberwell Road one night. In more genteel times, one of the founders of the National Trust, Robert Hunter was born in the square in 1844,"
"reported that he had been heard from Kelso Cochrane's daughter in the US and was able to put her in touch with her uncle. Cochrane's murder is thought to have led to a decline in support for Oswald Mosley, who was planning a return to politics in the UK. Mosley polled under 3,000 votes in Kensington North in that year's general election. On Sunday, 17 May 2009, to mark the 50th anniversary of Cochrane's death, a blue plaque was unveiled at the Golborne Bar & Restaurant, now ""West Thirty Six"" (36 Golborne Road, London W10), just opposite the place where"
"The Cross Keys, Chelsea The Cross Keys is a public house at 1 Lawrence Street, Chelsea, London SW3 5NB. Built in 1708, it is the oldest pub in Chelsea. Regular visitors have included the artists Turner, Whistler and Sargent, writers Agatha Christie and Dylan Thomas, and musicians Bob Marley and the Rolling Stones. In 2012, the property developer Andrew Bourne, the owner of the Cross Keys, closed its doors and boarded up the windows, having claimed that the pub loses money, and applied for planning permission to turn it into a mansion with a swimming pool in the basement. If"