Boothby’s friendship with Kray was attracting the attention of Scotland Yard’s intelligence section C11. ibid.
Some of the photographs showed a fourth man, Teddy Smith, or Mad Teddy as he was known. ibid.
The Mirror caved in. Cecil King agreed to pay Boothby £40,000. ibid.
There were orgies too. ibid.
The unlikely friendships which at once seemed so promising were disintegrating. ibid.
Freddie Foreman had a life-long association with the Krays. The Krays – Inside the Firm, ITV 2000
In December 1961 Foreman’s gang attacked a bank van carrying wages worth today over a million pounds ... The failed raid left the police with plenty of forensic evidence. ibid.
London was less security conscious in the 1960s. ibid.
In January 1965 Freddie Foreman became a murderer. ibid.
The defeat of the Richardsons robbed Ronnie Kray of the violent night out he craved. And he was not to be thwarted. ibid.
In the 1960s Britain’s most infamous gangsters played host to movie stars, politicians and boxing champions. Behind the glamorous facade Ronnie and Reggie Kray conducted a ruthless reign of terror. The Twin’s criminal organisation was known as The Firm. And their most trusted henchman was Albert Donoghue. Gangsters: The Krays – The Firm, 1994
The Firm’s real strength lay in professional violence. ibid.
The police moved in and netted almost the entire south London gang. ibid.
Franny Kray killed herself with an overdose of sleeping tablets. ibid.
The police were now investigating the Krays’ involvement in at least three murders. ibid.
Three brothers named Kray had ambitions to become the godfathers of British crime. They created an evil empire of violence, extortion and intimidation. Gangsters: The Krays – Unfinished Business, ITV 2000
Mitchell put his trust in the Krays. But in return they destroyed him. ibid.
Reggie Kray recruited Albert Donoghue into The Firm after first shooting him in the leg as a punishment for insulting the Twins. But when he didn’t grass he was put on the payroll and became a core member of the Kray organisation. ibid.
The Krays had a sentimental attachment to the community spirit which excluded outsiders. ibid.
The apparent injustice of Mitchell’s punishment brought out the Krays’ charitable instincts. ibid.
Two months before Mitchell escaped, Albert Donoghue came on a visit with Ronnie Kray. ibid.
Foreman was from south London not the East End. But he knew the Krays well ... The Krays wanted Foreman to do something about Mitchell. ibid.
The Twins’ elder brother Charlie had been a boxing champion whilst serving in the Royal Navy and was keen to encourage Ron & Reg. The Notorious Kray Twins
All three Kray brothers fought on the same bill at the Royal Albert Hall. ibid.
The Richardson’s gang were involved in a shootout in Mr Smith’s club in south London. ibid.
The Krays felt invincible. To enhance their reputation they hatched an audacious plan to spring one of England’s most dangerous criminals from Dartmoor Prison – Frank Mitchell. ibid.
Ronnie’s thirst for murder was out of control. ibid.
May 9th 1968: the Kray Twins and other members of The Firm were arrested by Nipper Read and his team. ibid.
At least seven betting shops have been bombed in the last six to nine months. A pattern which looks horribly like the Chicago days of the 1930s where the mobs moved in on gambling. BBC News
28-year-old Jimmy Nash defied certainty to escape the rope and taught the underworld how to get away with murder. The Underworld: Getting Away With Murder, 1994
One of six brothers from an Islington family. ibid.
This was one of the first trials where witnesses and jurors received police protection. ibid.
The Nashs were true sons of north London. ibid.
Charlie and Eddie Richardson were two Lambeth boys who ran their own company when they were still in their teens. ibid.
The yards became a front for a criminal empire of fraud and violence. ibid.
Fraser was a henchman for London underworld boss Billy Hill. When Hill fell out with his former gangland partner Jack Spot each began plotting to kill the other. Fraser led a street attack on Spot to teach him a lesson. ibid.
This crime is still popular today – it’s called a long-firm fraud. ibid.
The street markets of South London were an ideal distribution network for the Richardson’s gang. ibid.
North of the river resentment was brewing: the Krays’ long-firm frauds were much less successful. ibid.
After the gun battle at Mr Smith’s, one man was dead and Eddie Richardson and Frankie Fraser had gunshot wounds. ibid.
The police began to realise there was a link between the fraudulent companies and the violence. ibid.
The main architect of the frauds was Jack Duval. He built a pyramid of shady companies. ibid.
These men were so callous they took meal breaks while they tortured others. ibid.
In June 1967 the man who had given the orders had to take some: Charlie Richardson was sentenced to twenty-five years for crimes of violence and demanding money with menaces. Eddie Richardson and Frank Fraser got fifteen years apiece. ibid.
Ronnie and Reggie Kray, the East End twins who have become the most notorious gangsters in recent British history: in 1969 they were jailed for Life for two premeditated murders. But the Krays were only the latest in a long line of gangland bosses. For the previous 20 years London’s underworld had been dominated by three men: Billy Hill, Albert Dimes and Jack Spot. Gangster Kings of the Underworld: Jack Spot
Whitechapel, East London ... Jack Comer, better known as Jack Spot ... Jack Spot grew up in the hub of the Jewish East End. ibid.
Spot became a sort of hero to Jews for his street battles with anti-Semites. In 1936 he was singled out by Oswald Moseley for leading a violent attack on Moseley’s black shirts as they marched through the East End. But by this time Spot was combining community protection with protection rackets. Spot’s menace was reinforced with the razor. ibid.
But Spot had his eyes on another gambling racket: protecting bookmakers at England’s richest race-courses. ibid.
Spot found himself thwarted by an ambitious thief who had spent many years in jail – Billy Hill. ibid.
Hill himself was setting up the most audacious robberies of all: in 1952 a team of his stole more than £200,000 from a post office van. ibid.
He decided he didn’t need Jack Spot any more. ibid.
18,421. Albert Dimes – the leader of a rising generation of Anglo-Italians. ibid.
Spot was no longer the hunter but the hunted. ibid.
In the 1960s Albert Dimes was the most respected gangster in London. But at the height of his power he died. ibid.
A quiet lay-by in Essex. December 22nd 1989. An accountant with gangland connections and his girlfriend are being executed. Godfathers: The Adams North London
We get the gangstas we deserve. For we are the people who make them multi-millionaires. ibid.
Gangland still depends largely on family loyalties. ibid.
Most powerful of all are the brothers Adam. ibid.
Tommy hit the big time. He was the key player in Britain’s biggest heist when raiders escaped with £26 million of gold ingots ... Tommy Adams was acquitted. ibid.
The drugs business: they were about to enter the criminal super-league. ibid.
Gradually, the Adams brothers extended their presence across north London, even the West End. ibid.