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Reggie later claimed to have become a born-again Christian, while Ronnie got married in Broadmoor to a former topless kissogram girl. Over the decades, the brothers' time in jail proved nearly as eventful as their life on the outside. Maybe mum was trying to find out more about Brady in prison." “Everyone knows how vicious the Krays could be. The convicts' bond appeared even more twisted after it emerged the Krays had also befriended Ann Downey, whose daughter Lesley Ann, 10, was abducted, raped, tortured and killed by Brady and Hindley.ĭiscovering a stash of letters after Ann's death, son Terry said: “They are not the kind of letters you would expect from criminals like the Krays. In a letter to a penpal, Brady wrote: “Ronnie Kray and I did the cooking at Durham A Level Security Wing, in the 1960s after three riots there.” Here, Ronnie is said to have struck up a sick friendship with Ian Brady, the notorious Moors murderer who killed five children with Myra Hindley in the 1960s. The brothers were kept apart in prison, with Reggie first sent to HMP Parkhurst on the Isle of Wight and Ronnie locked up at HMP Durham, where he spent spells in solitary confinement for fighting with guards. In March 1969, the Krays were sentenced to life imprisonment over the two murders, with a non-parole period of 30 years - the longest sentences ever passed at the Old Bailey for murder. Instead, Ronnie held McVitie in a bearhug and Reggie stabbed him to death with a carving knife – pulling out his liver, which later had to be flushed down the toilet. McVitie was a minor member of the Kray gang who had failed to fulfil a £1,500 contract paid to him in advance to kill a rival.Īs punishment, he was lured to a basement flat in Stoke Newington, on the pretence of a party.Īfter he entered, Reggie pointed a handgun at his head and pulled the trigger twice, but the gun failed to discharge. While Ronnie was regarded as the more 'psychotic' brother, Reggie was no gentleman either - reportedly having a sure-fire way to break a jaw in one hit.ĭubbed the 'cigarette punch', it would see him offer his victim a fag before striking as they opened their mouth, leaving them writhing in pain.
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Running their crime syndicate from Bethnal Green, the Kray twins' violent reputation helped them keep a tight grip on power.
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'Cigarette punch' and gut-wrenching murder
THE LEGEND TOM HARDY RON SERIAL
It set the thugs on a path to violence that saw them clash with London's sadistic gang lords, before befriending serial killers as they faced a life behind bars.įrom claims of an incestuous relationship to Reggie's baffling friendship with EastEnders star Shane Ritchie, here we look back at the wild life of the notorious gangsters. Speaking to The Mirror this week, their cousin also revealed the shocking tale of their upbringing, including their "awful" dad who abused their mum and threatened to maul her with acid if she ever left. Yet the Kray twins' self-styled legend is also one of celebrity pals, sex scandals and a turbulent home life.Ī new Britbox documentary, Secrets of the Krays, has lifted the lid on Reggie and Ronnie's rise to fame, charting the beginnings of their criminal empire through to their eventual arrest and imprisonment in 1969. The were the kings of the East End underworld, ruling with an iron - and often bloody - fist.