How East End gangsters the Kray twins were arrested on murder charges 55 years ago today
They started out as petty criminals, but eventually became the most notorious gangsters in British history.
Twin brothers Ronnie and Reggie Kray used a mixture of extreme violence and intimidation to rule the criminal underworld in east London in the 1960s.
But on this day, 55 years ago, the nightclub owners’ 12-year reign of terror finally came to an end when they were arrested on charges of murdering fellow mobsters Jack ‘the Hat’ McVitie and George Cornell.
What followed in 1969 was the longest and most expensive trial in criminal history, all conducted under intense media scrutiny, when the men who had mingled with high-profile celebrities, including Barbara Windsor, finally went to trial.
After his conviction, Ronnie was eventually committed to Broadmoor mental hospital, while Reggie – who had driven his young wife Frances to suicide – spent most of his life behind bars.
Ronnie and Reggie Kray used a mixture of extreme violence and intimidation to rule the criminal underworld in East London in the 1960s. But on this day, 55 years ago, the nightclub owners’ 12-year reign of terror finally came to an end when they were arrested on charges of murdering fellow mobsters Jack ‘the Hat’ McVitie and George Cornell. Pictured: Ronnie and Reggie Kray at Cedra Court, off Cazenove Road in north east London, on August 3, 1964
The brothers’ lives have been dramatized on the big screen several times, most notably in the 1990 film The Krays and the 2015 production Legend, in which Tom Hardy portrayed both of them.
Ronnie and Reggie, who grew up in Hackney, East London, with older siblings Charlie and Violet, began their criminal careers with a string of violent crimes as teenagers.
By the time they were 21, they were known in the East End as the most vicious criminals in London’s gangland scene.
They then developed a protection racket network in which they forced fashionable clubs to pay weekly fees to avoid destroying their livelihoods.
And to cover up their misdeeds, they donated money to charity and even bought tickets to boxing shows in aid of cancer victims.
A police mugshot shows Reggie Kray after his arrest for murder in May 1968
A police mugshot shows Ronnie Kray after his arrest for murder in May 1968
Notorious London gangsters the Kray Twins, Reggie (left) and Ronnie (right)
In addition to intimidating business owners, they opened their own clubs – most famously Esmeralda’s Barn in Wilton Place, Knightsbridge.
The Krays initially went on trial in 1965, when they were charged with demanding money with threats (blackmail), but were acquitted.
Cheeky, they then held a party at the El Morocco Club in the West End and even invited Lenoard ‘Nipper’ Read, the Metropolitan Police detective who had been investigating them.
It was Nipper who would arrest both men three years later and charge them with murder.
Ronnie had murdered Cornell in March 1966 in the midst of an ongoing gang war with a gang led by Charles Richardson in South London.
An active member of the Richardson gang, Cornell had a violent argument with Ronnie over his and his brother’s desire to expand their protection racket to clubs south of the river.
Ronnie then shot Cornell when he was drinking in the Blind Beggar pub in Whitechapel.
Reggie then killed McVitie after luring him to a drinking party and stabbing him repeatedly.
Reggie Kray with actress Barbara Windsor and her then-husband Ronnie Knight, an associate of the Krays, at the twins’ El Morocco nightclub in Soho, London, April 1965
Reggie Kray drove his wife Frances Shea to suicide. Above: The couple on their wedding day
Reggie Kray marries Frances Shea in a church in Bethnal Green, his twin brother Ronnie kisses the bride and his other brother Charlie is pictured on the far left
The Kray twins, Ronnie (left) and Reggie (right), who began their careers in the boxing ring, trained at Klein’s Gym in London
Reggie, Charlie and Ronnie outside the family home in Bethnal Green after the twins were cleared of charges of attempted protection money from a Soho club
Detective Lenoard ‘Nipper’ Read of the Metropolitan Police was responsible for bringing the brothers to justice. Pictured: Read wearing a miniature handcuffed tie clip at the Home Office in London
The murders of both Cornell and McVitie were depicted in Hardy’s 2015 film.
The brothers’ convictions were secured thanks to the evidence of several witnesses, including Carol Skinner, whose flat was the site of McVitie’s murder.
Earlier this year, documents related to the Krays trial that were kept by Read for decades afterward were put up for sale.
He kept meticulous records as he tried to find evidence and witnesses willing to testify.
Also on display in the treasury were transcripts from each day of the brothers’ trial. He described their attempts to tamper with witnesses and dismiss the jury.
After their conviction, famed Daily Mail journalist Vincent Mulchrone wrote, “The Kray business of massive racketeering, violence and death was liquidated by the most brilliant campaign of criminal investigation in the history of the Yard.
“But it was also a classic at the highest level of detective work: crime prevention.
Reggie Kray waves to the crowd after attending his older brother Charlie’s funeral, April 19, 2000
The Daily Mail report on the arrest of the Kray twins on May 8, 1968
The Daily Mail reports on the Krays following their 1969 murder conviction
“If it failed, the lives of at least four women and eight men would be in danger today.”
Both Kray twins were sentenced to life imprisonment, while their older brother Charlie received ten years behind bars.
In 1979, Ronnie, a paranoid schizophrenic, was moved to Broadmoor after being declared insane.
Reggie spent time in prisons including Maidstone Prison in Kent and Wayland in Norfolk.
The pair were released from confinement for a day in 1982 so they could attend the funeral of their beloved mother, also known as Violet.
Reggie was then pictured at his brother Charlie’s funeral in 2000.
Ronnie died of a heart attack in 1995 at the age of 61, while Reggie was released from prison on compassionate grounds in August 2000, five weeks before his death from bladder cancer.