The Krays

Ronald and Reginald Kray were identical twin brothers who become two of the best known gangsters operating in the East End of London between the late 1950s and 1967.

During this time, many cities had problems with organised crime and gang violence. Ronnie and Reggie, as they were better known, headed up a gang known as The Firm, operating in the East End of London. The Firm were well known, not only in the area, but across London, primarily for armed robbery and protection rackets, but were also connected to arsons, assaults and murder. At the height of their criminal careers, the twins had gained celebrity status due to their business interests, becoming ingratiated in society circles and for befriending some of the top celebs of the time. They were arrested on 8^th May 1968 and convicted in 1969 as a result of a police operation led by DS Nipper Read. They both received life sentances, though while Reggie was incarcerated in a traditional prison, Ronnie was committed to Broadmoor Hospital, where he remained until his death. Reggie was released from prison on compassionate grounds after developing cancer in the year 2000 and died 5 weeks later.

Early life

The twins were born on 24^th October 1933 in Haggerston, East London, before moving to nearby Bethnal Green. Their parents were Charles Kray, a wardrobe dealer, and his wife, Violet. The pair already had a son, Charlie.
As their father was a heavy drinker and lived a somewhat nomadic lifestyle, the three boys were mostly raised by their mother who heavily influenced them, especially the twins, throughout their lives. Even prior to her son's involvement in crime, Violet Kray was a well known figure in the East End of London as giving birth to and raising healthy twins was extremely rare at the time.

During WWII, the Kray family (Violet, the twins, and their brother, Charlie) were evacuated to Suffolk, but returned to London less than a year later. All three of the boys were particularly good boxers, though it is often stated that Ronnie was the more aggressive of the twins and was prone to getting into fights.

Military Service and Imprisonment

Both Ronnie and Reggie were called up to do National Service in March 1952 and although they reported to the Tower of London to register, tried to leave after only a few minutes, leading to a fight where Ronnie injured the corporal in charge. They both walked home and were arrested for desertion the following morning.

Later in their service, the pair were reported AWOL and when arrested, assaulted a police officer. They became among the last prisoners to be held at the Tower of London before being transferred to Shepton Mallet Prison in Somerset to await court martial. After it became clear they would be dishonourably discharged, their behaviour is said to have worsened, and in one incident, assaulted a number of guards and escaped. They were later transferred to a civilian prison to serve the rest of their sentences. It was while serving these sentences that Ronnie was diagnosed as being schizophrenic. Despite not completing military service, the twins were known to adopt a military style in how they conducted their business. Ronnie called himself the Colonel and their mother’s home was known as Fort Vallance as it was on Vallance Road.

Career and celebrity status

The twins’ boxing careers were ended by their frequent run ins with the law and they, along with their older brother, turned to a life of crime. Charlie was also a member of The Firm and served prison time for his involvement in the gang.
The Kray's criminal career began in Mile End, East London where they bought a snooker club and began a series of protection rackets for local businesses. By the end of the 1950s, the twins were working for a Liverpool based gang and participated in hijacking, armed robbery and arson, through this work, they acquired other properties and set up businesses. 

In 1960, Ronnie was imprisoned for 18 months for crimes relating to protection rackets, while he was inside, Reggie purchased a nightclub called Esmeralda’s Barn, which increased the Kray’s influence further afield into the West End. After the purchase of Emseralda's Barn, the twins adopted a rule that anyone who failed to show them respect would be punished. This was also around the time that they began money laundering and fighting with the West End’s Richardson gang. Later, after the legalisation of gambling, they opened four clubs where gambling was permitted. This made them appear much more approachable to the every day person.

Throughout the sixties, the twins were seen as prosperous celebrity nightclub owners and were a huge part of the swinging sixties scene in London. They were known to socialise with the likes of Frank Sinatra, Barbara Windsor, and Liza Minnelli, as well as socialites and MPs. They worked hard to promote and maintain this image. As their fame grew, the twins would promote a ‘gangster chic’ image, with double breasted suits and expensive watches. Over the years they have been viewed as being Robin Hood like as their crimes have been largely romanticised.

The peer and the gangster

In the 1960s, Lord Boothby, a Conservative peer, entered into a homosexual relationship with Ronnie Kray, something that was not legal at the time. Though Ronnie would openly flaunt his relationships with men and publicly identified as being bisexual, Boothby’s life and relationship status was not known by the general public. Ronnie would regularly host parties for Boothby and other upper class men where working class sex workers, mostly male, were available – something the Krays would later use to blackmail the party attendees.

In 1964, the Sunday Mirror ran an exposè insinuating that the police had passed them a number of incriminating photographs of a well known gangster and a peer. Though no one was explicitly named, it was obvious from the piece who the article was about and the Krays and Boothby both threatened to sue the paper. Eventually the Sunday Mirror printed an apology and paid Boothby in an out of court settlement. The incident made other papers wary of publishing anything else about the Krays. Ronnie was also known to have been close to Tom Driberg, a Labour MP who was known to have been in a relationship with another member of the Firm. This led to politicians being wary of supporting any criminal charges against the twins.

The twins’ relationships and personal lives

Out of the two, there is more known about Ronnie’s personal life than Reggie’s. Ronnie was openly queer in a time when being in same sex relationships was a crime. Though many claim he was homosexual, Ronnie himself stated that he was bisexual and was known to have relationships with both men and women. In queer circles, Ronnie was known for procuring young boys for sex work and connecting powerful people with young men.

In the 1960s, prior to his arrest, he was engaged to a woman named Monica, who he had been in a relationship with for around 3 years. She would go on to marry one of Ronnie’s ex boyfriends, but the pair would continue to write to each other after his arrest.  He would subsequently go on to marry twice, firstly to Elaine Mildener in 1985 and then Kate Howard. Both ended in divorce.

Though little is known about how Reggie identified, there are only records of him having relationship with women and he was accepting of his brother's sexuality. He married Frances Shea in 1965, though they had been together for some time, their marriage only lasted eight months. Not long after their separation, Frances took her own life. Many that knew Reggie claim that his grief over losing Frances was one of the reasons behind the killing of Jack Mcvitie. While in prison, he married Roberta Jones, who he remained with until the end of his life.

According to biographers, Ronnie made a point of flaunting his relationships with men which was considered shocking at the time, particularly among the underworld of the East End. Reggie on the other hand was known to be ostensibly heterosexual but there were rumours that he experimented with men during his teenage years. He was only known to have two relationships with women, firstly Frances, though their marriage broke down and then Roberta, who he met while in prison.

The Krays and the Mafia

During the 1960s, the Krays became the preferred British partners of the American Mafia. They were known to help the mafia with money laundering and the hiding of money stolen in bank robberies across the states. Leslie Payne, a member of The Firm was appointed as the go between, brokering and negotiating between the American gangsters and those working with the Krays. Payne left The Firm following a falling out with the twins and they, worried he would go to the police, began to plot his murder. 

Murders attributed to the Krays

The Krays were known locally to have been involved in a number of murders, either at their own hands or indirectly as members of The Firm, however, they were only charged and tried for one murder each. They both received life sentences for the murders they were each convicted of. 

One of the most infamous murders attributed to Ronnie Kray was that of George Cornell, a member of the Richardson Gang. Cornell was shot and killed by Ronnie in the Blind Beggar Pub in Whitechapel, East London in March 1966. The day before the killing, both the Richardsons and The Firm were involved in a shoot out in Catford, South London. These clashes with the Richardsons, who ruled the West End of London were not uncommon, however in this incident, The Firm suffered fatalities. The fact that a Richardson had encrouched on The Firm's territory was seen as hugely offensive, and was a contributing factor in Cornell's killing. 

Ronnie had been elsewhere in the East End when he heard that Cornell was at the Blind Beggar and so went there with his assistant. It is said that George Cornell called him a homophobic slur, which prompted Ronnie to shoot him in the head in full view of the pub's patrons. Despite there being multiple witnesses, they did not cooperate the police, likely because The Firm intimidated them. The lack of witnesse statements left the case to go cold, but spelled the end of the Kray's association with their American counterparts.  

Another incident this time, involving both twins was the case of Frank Mitchell. The twins helped Mitchell, known as the Mad Axeman, escape from Dartmoor Prison. Mitchell was smuggled into London and hidden for some, but would disappear in mysterious circumstances. The twins were initially suspected of his murder but were acquitted, it is likely that though they didn't kill him personally, they knew about it and helped orchestrate it via The Firm. 

A killing attributed to the twins that has become part of London folklore is the murder of fellow gangster, Jack the Hat Mcvitie.

McVitie was a junior member of the Firm and was the one who was charged with killing Leslie Payne in the failed plot to remove him after a falling out. McVitie was paid for the hit, but he never actually carried it out. In order to reocup the money the twins had paid him for the job, they lured him to a basement flat on the pretence of holding a party. When McVitie arrived, Ronnie and another member of the firm assaulted him, before he was violently stabbed by Reggie, who was being encouraged by Ronnie. Following the killing, the twins sent several members of the Firm to dispose of the body, however, their car broke down, so they left him in the vehicle in plain sight. When word got back to the twins, they sent someone else to deal with the situation and their anger was felt throughout the gang. McVitie ended up being dumped in the English Channel. His death led to many of the Firm turning on the twins and starting to work with the police. 

Nipper Read

DS Leonard “Nipper” Read of Scotland Yard was tasked to bring down the Krays after his promotion to the Murder Squad. Between 1964 and 1967, he compiled all the evidence he needed to finally arrest the twins. Both Ronnie and Reggie, along with 15 members of the Firm were arrested in May 1968. Exceptional measures were put in place to stop collusion, with Read secretly interviewing each person and offering them a deal if they testified against the others.

The trial lasted almost three months and was a media sensation, with members of the public paying for seats in the public gallery. In March 1969, Ronnie and Reggie were both sentenced to life in prison, Ronnie for the murder of Cornell and Reggie for the murder of McVitie. Their brother Charlie also received 10 years for his part in the murders.

Imprisonment and death

During sentencing, Ronnie was certified insane and diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. He was graded as a Category A prisoner and denied almost all liberties. In 1979, he was moved to Broadmoor Hospital where he spent the rest of his life. Reggie meanwhile was classified as Category B and spent time in Maidstone Prison, before being demoted to a Category C and transferred to Wayland Prison. While in separate prisons, the twins, along with their brother, ran a security and bodyguard business that provided protection to Hollywood stars. Frank Sinatra famously used them to provide security during a trip to London in the 1980s. 

The pair were allowed to attend the funeral service for their mother under guard in 1982, it was the first time they were allowed out and the first time they had seen each other since their arrest. They were not however, allowed to attend her burial. The funeral was attended by celebrities from across the world, though due to the publicity surrounding their mother's funeral, neither attended their father’s the following year.

Ronnie died at the age of 61 after suffering a heart attack. Reggie was allowed to attend his funeral and was also allowed out of prison to attend his older brother, Charlie’s funeral. Charlie would also die in prison, a few months before Reggie himself succumbed to cancer. With advanced cancer, Reggie was granted freedom on compassionate grounds and spent the final weeks of his life with his wife, Roberta, who he married while in prison. He was 66. Reggie was laid to rest next to Ronnie and thousands attended his funeral. 

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