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Frankie Fraser
Francis Davidson Fraser (13 December 1923 – 26 November 2014), better known as "Mad" Frankie Fraser, was an English gangster who spent 42 years in prison for numerous violent offences.
Francis Davidson Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London, the youngest of five children of a partly Native American seaman and an Irish-Norwegian washerwoman. He grew up in poverty in a Roman Catholic household, where he learned to recite prayers in Latin. At the age of five, he moved with his family to a flat on Walworth Road, Elephant and Castle.
Although his parents were not criminals, Fraser turned to crime aged 10 with his sister Eva, to whom he was close. He was a deserter during the Second World War, escaping from his barracks on several occasions. 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 1941, Fraser was sent to borstal for breaking into a Waterloo hosiery store, then given a 15-month prison sentence at HM Prison Wandsworth for shop-breaking. Such were the criminal opportunities during the war, Fraser joked in a television interview years later, that he had never forgiven the Germans for surrendering.
In 1942, while serving a prison sentence in HM Prison Chelmsford, he came to the attention of the British Army. Although he was conscripted, Fraser later boasted that he had never once worn the uniform, preferring to ignore call-up papers, desert, and resume his criminal activities.
After the war, Fraser was involved in a smash-and-grab raid on a jeweller, for which he received a two-year prison sentence, mostly served at HM Prison Pentonville. It was during this sentence that he was first certified insane and was sent to Cane Hill Hospital before being released in 1949.
During the 1950s, Fraser's main occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangster Billy Hill. After being sent to HM Prison Durham for taking part in bank robberies, he was again certified insane and this time was sent to Broadmoor Hospital. Afraid of being heavily medicated for bad behaviour, Fraser stayed out of trouble and was released in 1955. The following year, the British mobster Jack Spot and wife Rita were attacked, on Hill's say-so, by Fraser, Bobby Warren and at least half a dozen other men. Both Fraser and Warren were given seven years for their acts of violence.
It was in the early 1960s that Fraser first met Charlie and Eddie Richardson of the Richardson Gang, rivals to the Kray twins. According to Fraser, they helped him avoid arrest for the Great Train Robbery by bribing a policeman. Together they set up the Atlantic Machines fruit-machine enterprise, which acted as a front for the criminal activities of the gang.
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Frankie Fraser
Francis Davidson Fraser (13 December 1923 – 26 November 2014), better known as "Mad" Frankie Fraser, was an English gangster who spent 42 years in prison for numerous violent offences.
Francis Davidson Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, London, the youngest of five children of a partly Native American seaman and an Irish-Norwegian washerwoman. He grew up in poverty in a Roman Catholic household, where he learned to recite prayers in Latin. At the age of five, he moved with his family to a flat on Walworth Road, Elephant and Castle.
Although his parents were not criminals, Fraser turned to crime aged 10 with his sister Eva, to whom he was close. He was a deserter during the Second World War, escaping from his barracks on several occasions. 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 1941, Fraser was sent to borstal for breaking into a Waterloo hosiery store, then given a 15-month prison sentence at HM Prison Wandsworth for shop-breaking. Such were the criminal opportunities during the war, Fraser joked in a television interview years later, that he had never forgiven the Germans for surrendering.
In 1942, while serving a prison sentence in HM Prison Chelmsford, he came to the attention of the British Army. Although he was conscripted, Fraser later boasted that he had never once worn the uniform, preferring to ignore call-up papers, desert, and resume his criminal activities.
After the war, Fraser was involved in a smash-and-grab raid on a jeweller, for which he received a two-year prison sentence, mostly served at HM Prison Pentonville. It was during this sentence that he was first certified insane and was sent to Cane Hill Hospital before being released in 1949.
During the 1950s, Fraser's main occupation was as bodyguard to well-known gangster Billy Hill. After being sent to HM Prison Durham for taking part in bank robberies, he was again certified insane and this time was sent to Broadmoor Hospital. Afraid of being heavily medicated for bad behaviour, Fraser stayed out of trouble and was released in 1955. The following year, the British mobster Jack Spot and wife Rita were attacked, on Hill's say-so, by Fraser, Bobby Warren and at least half a dozen other men. Both Fraser and Warren were given seven years for their acts of violence.
It was in the early 1960s that Fraser first met Charlie and Eddie Richardson of the Richardson Gang, rivals to the Kray twins. According to Fraser, they helped him avoid arrest for the Great Train Robbery by bribing a policeman. Together they set up the Atlantic Machines fruit-machine enterprise, which acted as a front for the criminal activities of the gang.