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. Early life Francis Davidson Fraser was born on Cornwall Road in Waterloo, , 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,[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Waterloo, London
Waterloo () is a district in Central London, and part of the Waterloo and South Bank (ward), Waterloo and South Bank ward of the London Borough of Lambeth. It is situated east of Charing Cross. The area is part of a List of business improvement districts in London, business improvement district which includes The Cut, London, The Cut and the Old Vic and Young Vic theatres. It includes some sections of the London Borough of Southwark. Marsh The area was marshland towards the northern tip of the ancient parish of Lambeth (parish), Lambeth. It was known as ''Lambeth Marshe'', but was drained in the 18th century and is remembered in the Lower Marsh street name. Notable places Waterloo is connected to the Strand, London, Strand area on the north bank of the River Thames by Waterloo Bridge. The first bridge on the site was opened in 1817 and the current bridge was opened in 1945. The bridge was named to commemorate the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Waterloo Road, London, Waterloo Roa ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Cane Hill Hospital
Cane Hill Hospital was a psychiatric hospital in Coulsdon in the London Borough of Croydon. The hospital motto was ''"Aversos compono animos"'' (I bring relief to troubled minds). The hospital was built in the 1880s, but from the 1960s its use was starting to decline and it eventually closed completely in the 2000s. The former site is owned by GLA Land and Property. History Founding and renaming The hospital has its origins as the third Surrey County Pauper Lunatic Asylum, designed by Charles Henry Howell, which was built in two stages between 1882 and 1888. The design which involved a 'radiating pavilion' layout was original, with an estimated building cost of £150,000. Upon opening Cane Hill Asylum had capacity for 1,124 patients (644 women and 480 men) making it the largest of its kind in the UK. The London County Council took over administration of the hospital in 1889 and expanded the hospital to a capacity of 2,000 beds the same year. The new administration rename ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Catford
Catford is a district in south east London, England, and the administrative centre of the London Borough of Lewisham. It is southwest of Lewisham itself, mostly in the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South Ward (electoral subdivision), wards. The population of Catford, including Bellingham, London, Bellingham, was 44,905 in 2011. Catford covers most of SE postcode area, SE6 postcode district. The area is identified in the London Plan as one of 35 major centres in Greater London. History Toponymy The origin of the name is unknown. Speculation suggests it may derive from the place where cattle Ford (crossing), crossed the river River Ravensbourne, Ravensbourne in Anglo-Saxon times or from wild cats using the river crossing. Governance Catford is covered by the Rushey Green (ward), Rushey Green and Catford South wards in the London Borough of Lewisham. It also makes up a large part of the Lewisham East (UK Parliament constituency), Lewisham East constituency. Bu ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Daily Express
The ''Daily Express'' is a national daily United Kingdom middle-market newspaper printed in Tabloid (newspaper format), tabloid format. Published in London, it is the flagship of Express Newspapers, owned by publisher Reach plc. It was first published as a broadsheet in 1900 by Sir Arthur Pearson, 1st Baronet, Sir Arthur Pearson. Its sister paper, the ''Sunday Express'', was launched in 1918. In June 2022, it had an average daily circulation of 201,608. Under the ownership of Max Aitken, Lord Beaverbrook, the ''Express'' rose to become the newspaper with the largest circulation in the world, going from 2 million in the 1930s to 4 million in the 1940s. It was acquired by Richard Desmond's company Northern & Shell in 2000. Hugh Whittow was the editor from February 2011 until he retired in March 2018. In February 2018 Trinity Mirror acquired the ''Daily Express'', and other publishing assets of Northern & Shell, in a deal worth £126.7 million. To coincide with the purchase ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Front Organization
A front organization is any entity set up by and controlled by another organization, such as intelligence agencies, organized crime groups, terrorist organizations, secret societies, banned organizations, religious or political groups, advocacy groups, or corporations. Front organizations can act for the parent group without the actions being attributed to the parent group, thereby allowing them to hide certain activities from the authorities or the public. Front organizations that appear to be independent voluntary associations or charitable organizations are called front groups. In the business world, front organizations such as front companies or shell corporations are used to shield the parent company from legal liability. In international relations, a puppet state is a state which acts as a front (or surrogate) for another state. Intelligence agencies Intelligence agencies use front organizations to provide "cover", plausible occupations and means of income, for their ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Slot Machine
A slot machine, fruit machine (British English), poker machine or pokie (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. A slot machine's standard layout features a screen displaying three or more reels that "spin" when the game is activated. Some modern slot machines still include a lever as a skeuomorphic design trait to trigger play. However, the mechanical operations of early machines have been superseded by random number generators, and most are now operated using buttons and touchscreens. Slot machines include one or more currency detectors that validate the form of payment, whether coin, banknote, voucher, or token. The machine pays out according to the pattern of symbols displayed when the reels stop "spinning". Slot machines are the most popular gambling method in casinos and contribute about 70% of the average U.S. casino's income. Digital technology has resulted in variations in the original slo ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Great Train Robbery (1963)
The Great Train Robbery was the robbery of £2.61 million (worth about £ million in ) from a Royal Mail train travelling from Glasgow to London on the West Coast Main Line in the early hours of 8 August 1963 at Bridego Railway Bridge, Ledburn, near Mentmore in Buckinghamshire, England. After tampering with the lineside signals to bring the train to a halt, a gang of 15, led by Bruce Reynolds, attacked the train. Other gang members included Gordon Goody, Buster Edwards, Charlie Wilson, Roy James, John Daly, Jimmy White, Ronnie Biggs, Tommy Wisbey, Jim Hussey, Bob Welch and Roger Cordrey, as well as three men known only as numbers "1", "2" and "3"; two were later identified as Harry Smith and Danny Pembroke. A 16th man, an unnamed retired train driver, was also present. With careful planning based on inside information from an individual known as "The Ulsterman", whose real identity has never been established, the robbers escaped with over £2.61 million. The bulk of the s ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Kray Twins
Ronald Kray (24 October 193320 March 1995) and Reginald Kray (24 October 19331 October 2000) were English gangsters or organised crime figures and identical twin brothers from Haggerston who were prominent from the late 1950s until their arrest in 1968. Their gang, known as the Firm, was based in Bethnal Green, where the Kray twins lived. They were involved in murder, armed robbery, arson, protection rackets, gambling and assaults. At their peak in the 1960s, they gained a certain measure of celebrity status by mixing with prominent members of London society, being photographed by David Bailey and interviewed on television. The Krays were arrested on 8 May 1968 and convicted in 1969 as a result of the efforts of detectives led by Detective Superintendent Leonard "Nipper" Read. Each was sentenced to life imprisonment. Ronnie, upon being certified insane, was committed to Broadmoor Hospital in 1979 and remained there until his death on 17 March 1995 from a heart attack; Reg ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Richardson Gang
The Richardson Gang was an English crime gang based in South London, England in the 1960s. Also known as the "Torture Gang", they had a reputation as some of London's most sadistic gangsters. Their alleged specialties included pulling teeth out using pliers, cutting off toes using bolt cutters and nailing victims to floors using 6-inch nails. Prominent members Charlie and Eddie Richardson Charles William "Charlie" Richardson (18 January 1934 – 19 September 2012) was born in Brentford, Middlesex to Eileen Elizabeth Mary (née Allen) and Charles Frederick Richardson, who had married the previous year in Camberwell, South London. The family soon moved back to Camberwell, where younger brother, Edward G. "Eddie" Richardson, was born on 21 January 1936, followed by youngest sibling, Elaine (born 1940). Charlie and Eddie turned to a life of crime after their father deserted the family. George Cornell An important member of the Richardson gang was George Cornell. Cornell was heavi ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Law Society Gazette
''The Law Society Gazette'' (also known as the ''Gazette'' or the ''Law Gazette'') is a British weekly legal magazine for solicitors in England and Wales published by the Law Society of England and Wales. While it is available to buy and on subscription, it is provided to all solicitors with a current England and Wales practising certificate (as well as trainee solicitors). This makes its position different from other British legal periodicals such as The Lawyer, Legal Week, Solicitors Journal, New Law Journal, Legal Business, In-House Lawyer and European Lawyer. In consequence the Gazette has by far the highest audited circulation of any legal journal in the United Kingdom (latest ABC-audited numbers are a circulation of 81,178 for June 2019). It is also the largest-circulation legal magazine in Europe. The lawgazette.co.uk website has 21,097 daily unique browsers and the Gazette Daily Update gets emailed to 182,195 recipients every weekday around lunchtime. Format and cha ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Jack Spot
Jack "Spot" Comer (born Jacob Colmore ; 12 April 191212 March 1996) was a Jewish gangster who rose to rule London's underworld. Early life Born Jacob Colmore in Mile End, London, Comer was the youngest of four children. His father was a Jewish tailor's machinist who, to escape anti-Semitic pogroms, had emigrated to London with his wife, whose maiden name was Lifschinska, from Łódź, Poland, around 1900. It was a bad time for Jewish immigrants and refugees who arrived in Britain during this period: antisemitism was both in the streets and the corridors of power. This antagonistic environment was, in part, organised by the British Brothers' League. To assimilate more into English society, the family changed their name from Comacho to Colmore, and later to Comer. Comer grew up in a Jewish ghetto street in Fieldgate Mansions, Whitechapel, along the west side of Myrdle Street, across from the Irish in terraced houses along the east side. At the age of seven, Comer joined his firs ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |
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Broadmoor Hospital
Broadmoor Hospital is a high-security psychiatric hospital in Crowthorne, Berkshire, England. It is the oldest of England's three high-security psychiatric hospitals, the other two being Ashworth Hospital near Liverpool and Rampton Secure Hospital in Nottinghamshire. The hospital's catchment area consists of four National Health Service regions: London, Eastern, South East and South West. It is managed by the West London NHS Trust. History The hospital was first known as the Broadmoor Criminal Lunatic Asylum. Completed in 1863, it was built to a design by Sir Joshua Jebb, an officer of the Corps of Royal Engineers, and covered within its secure perimeter. The first patient was a female admitted for infanticide on 27 May 1863. Notes described her as being 'feeble minded'. It has been suggested by an analysis of her records that she most likely had congenital syphilis. The first male patients arrived on 27 February 1864. The original building plan of five blocks (f ... [...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]   |