Reggie Kray

Twin brothers Ronald "Ronnie" Kray (24 October 1933 – 17 March 1995) and Reginald "Reggie" Kray (24 October 1933 – 1 October 2000) were English gangsters who were the foremost perpetrators of organised crime in the East End of London during the 1950s and 1960s. With their gang, the Firm, the Krays were involved in armed robberies, arson, protection rackets, assaults and the murders of Jack "the Hat" McVitie and George Cornell.

As West End nightclub owners, they mixed with politicians and prominent entertainers such as Diana Dors, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland. The Krays were much feared within their social environment; in the 1960s, they became celebrities, being photographed by David Bailey and interviewed on television.

They were arrested on 8 May 1968 and convicted in 1969, by the efforts of detectives led by Detective Superintendent Leonard "Nipper" Read. Both were sentenced to life imprisonment. Ronnie remained in Broadmoor Hospital until his death on 17 March 1995; Reggie was released from prison on compassionate grounds in August 2000, eight and a half weeks before his death from cancer.

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Reginald Kray was born at 64 Stene Street, Hoxton, East London, some minutes before his identical twin brother Ronald. Just before the War, the family moved to 178 Vallance Road, Bethnal Green ; a building which is now demolished. After an undistinguished education and an even less distinguished National Service, most of which was spent in an Army Prison at Shepton Mallet in Somerset, the twins embarked upon a career handling stolen goods and running protection rackets on betting shops (which were, at that time, illegal), shops, cafes, and pubs. By 1960, they were heading the most feared gang North of the river. Ronnie had already been imprisoned and released for shooting a docker, but Reg managed to avoid arrest until February 1960, when he was sentenced to eighteen months for demanding money with menaces from a shopkeeper. Not long after his release, he fell in love with Frances Shea whom he married on the 20th. April 1965. The marriage was not a success ; some claim that it was never consummated; and, on the 6th. June 1967, Frances killed herself by taking an overdose. The previous year, Ronnie had shot George Cornell and was constantly taunting his brother that the twins would be equal only when Reggie had killed somebody. In October 1967, they became equal, when Reggie murdered Jack "The Hat" McVitie. On the 7th. In May of the following year, the twins were arrested for these killings; and, on the 8th. March 1969, after a trial which had lasted for two months, they were given life sentences, with a recommendation that they serve not less than thirty years. Ronnie was sent to Durham Gaol (and, later, transferred to Broadmoor Hospital for the Criminally Insane) and Reggie was sent to Parkhurst, on the Isle of Wight. Later, he was moved to Maidstone in Kent; and it was there, on the 14th. July 1997, that he married Roberta Jones. She was 36, came from Southport in Lancashire, was the daughter of a college lecturer, and ran a company which made promotional videos. The couple had met in 1995, when Reg had hired her to make the video of Ronnie's funeral. In August 2000, shortly after attending the funeral of his elder brother Charlie, Reg was diagnosed with terminal cancer, which had spread from his bowel to his bladder, and was granted a compassionate release, although his thirty years had, by then, been served. He died, 24 days before his 67th. birthday, at the Town House Hotel in Norwich, and was buried in Chingford, East London, with his parents, his first wife, his nephew, and his brothers. (bio by: [fg.cgi?page=mr&MRid=46514200" target="_blank Iain MacFarlaine)] Cause of death: Cancer

• Reference: Find A Grave Memorial - SmartCopy: Jan 22 2018, 5:30:37 UTC