List of British gangsters

This is a list of some organized crime figures within the underworld of the United Kingdom.

Name	Life	Years active	Organization	Comments	References
Roy Francis Adkins	1947–1990	1970s-1980s		One-time partner of Dutch drug czar Klass Bruinsma, he was allegedly head of the drugs division of the Bruinsma organisation during the 1980s.	[1]
Colin Gunn	1967 -	1980s - Today	Bestwood Cartel	Two brothers, Colin and Dave Gunn, controlled Nottinghamshire and East Midlands underground world of drug supply, violence and guns.	[2][3][4]
Christopher Brayford	b. 1965	1985-2003	Clerkenwell crime syndicate	Head of the Clerkenwell crime syndicate until an investigation by MI5 and the Inland Revenue resulted in his imprisonment in 2003.	[5][6]
Jack "Spot" Comer	1912–1996	1930s-1950s		Controlled London's East End bookmaking rackets until the 1950s.	[7]
Tommy Comerford	1933–2003	1990s-2003		Liverpool underworld figure and drug trafficker. One of the first British mobsters to establish an international drug trafficking network in Great Britain	[8]
George Cornell	1928–1966	1960s-1966	Richardson Gang	Enforcer who worked for Charlie and Eddie Richardson during the 1960s. A childhood friend of the Kray Twins, he was used the a go-between by the Richardson's until his murder by Ronnie Kray at The Blind Beggar pub in 1966.	[9]
Freddie Foreman	b. 1932	1948–1990	Kray Twins	A freelance enforcer for the Kray twins during the 1960s, Foreman was involved in the gangland slayings of Jack "The Hat" McVitie and Ginger Marks.	[10][11]
"Mad Frankie" Fraser	1923-2014	1939–1967	Billy Hill, Richardson Gang	Longtime bodyguard of Billy Hill and later enforcer for Charlie and Eddie Richardson. Involved in the 1956 attack on Jack Spot and wife Rita with Bobby Warren and a gang of half a dozen men. Also involved in Great Train Robbery.	[12]
Billy Hill	1911–1984	1920s-1970s		Longtime underworld figure in the London underworld. A partner of Jack Spot during the 1940s, he also organized the Eastcastle St. postal van robbery in 1952 and a £40,000 bullion heist in 1954.	[13]
Ronnie and Reggie Kray	1933-1995 (Ronnie) 1933-2000 (Reggie)	1952–1968		Controlled organized crime in London's East End during the 1950s and 60s. Responsible for the murders of George Cornell and Jack "The Hat" McVitie.	[14]
Thomas "Tam" McGraw	1952–2007	1960s-2000s		Scottish mobster involved in extortion, narcotics and drug trafficking in Glasgow from the 1970s until his death in 2007. Was a gangland figure identified during the Glasgow Ice Cream Wars.	[15]
Jack "the Hat" McVite	d. 1967	1950s-1967	Kray Twins	Drug trafficker and sometimes associate of the Kray twins. Lured to an underworld party, he was murdered by Reggie Kray following the failed gangland hit on suspected informant Leslie Payne.	[16]
Messina Brothers		1930s-1950s		Maltese-born Sicilian mobsters who controlled prostitution and white slavery.	[17]
Desmond Noonan	b. 1959–2005	1980s-2000s	Noonan crime firm	A senior member of the Noonan "crime firm" in Manchester, he became its leader following his release from prison in 2003. He and his brother Dominic were responsible for at least 25 unsolved murders during their 20-year reign in Manchester's underworld.	[18]
Dominic Noonan	1966	1980s-2000s	Noonan crime firm	Head of the Noonan "crime firm" during the 1980s and 90s. The Noonans were the subject of director Donal MacIntyre's 2006 documentary A Very British Gangster.	[19]
Kenneth Noye	b. 1947	1980s-1990s		Involved in the Brink's-Mat robbery in 1983 and subsequently stabbed police officer John Fordham to death.[20] Though acquitted for Fordham's death, Noye was convicted of the 1996 murder of Stephen Cameron.	[21]
Charlie and Eddie Richardson	1934-2012 (Charlie) b. 1936 (Eddie)	1950s-1967	Richardson Gang	Brothers who co-led the Richardson Gang in South London during the 1960s. Rivals of the Kray Twins,[22] they were eventually imprisoned after being implicated in the murder of a South African businessman in 1967.	[23]
Charles "Darby" Sabini		1920s-1940s	Sabini Gang	Known as 'king of the racecourse gangs', his Clerkenwell-based organization controlled racecourses in London and throughout the south of England for much of the interwar years.	[24][25]

References

1. Campbell, Duncan (21 November 1991). "Shot gang boss wanted robber dead". The Guardian. The man who ordered the killing of the Great Train Robber Charlie Wilson was himself shot dead in an Amsterdam bar, a London inquest was told yesterday. Roy Francis Adkins, a 42-year-old Londoner, was killed in the Nightwatch bar of the American Hotel in Amsterdam on September 28, last year.
2. Mansey, Kate (2010-03-14). "Gangster's girlfriend living in fear of hitman sent by HIM". mirror. Retrieved 2016-11-24.
3. "Brief history of Gunn Crime". LeftLion. Retrieved 2016-11-24.
4. Doward, Jamie; Fellstrom, Carl (2007-08-05). "Brutal ganglord who fell victim to his own drugs". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2016-11-24.
5. Johnston, Philip (10 March 2007). "Daily Telegraph, 10 March 2007, retrieved 5 September 2008". The Daily Telegraph. London. Retrieved 30 April 2010.
6. TERRY ADAMS: THE LAST BRITISH GANGSTER AND THE 'GOODFELLAS' TAPES - Rex Williamson-Travis, Courtnews.co.uk
7. Villains' Paradise: A History of Britain's Post-War Underworld: From the spivs to the Krays (John Murray 2006) ISBN 0-7195-6344-5. (Pegasus 2006) ISBN 1-933648-17-1.
8. "ic Liverpool - Police to seize drug baron's money". Archived from the original on 4 July 2004. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
9. Cornell shot by Ronnie Kray; retrieved 23 September 2007.
10. Bennetto, Jason (2000-05-25). "Gangster Foreman is held over Kray killings after confessions on television -". The Independent. London. Archived from the original on October 28, 2010. Retrieved 2010-07-18.
11. "Kray Aide will not be charged over Killings". The Independent. London.
12. Duncan Campbell. "'Mad' Frankie Fraser: original hardman who loved to cause panic". the Guardian. Retrieved 20 December 2014.
13. Hiscock, John. Gangsters in a class of their own ..., The Daily Telegraph, 21 February 2009; accessed 9 December 2014.
14. "Reggie Kray: Notorious gangster". BBC News. 2000-08-26. Retrieved 2014-08-20.
15. Britain's top 10 richest (known) drug barons
16. 1969: Kray twins guilty of McVitie murder (BBC archived news 1969)
17. Devito, Carlo (2005) Encyclopedia of International Organized Crime. New York: Facts On File, Inc. ISBN 0-8160-4848-7
18. "Gangland leader 'bled to death", BBC News, 19 April 2005
19. "The Gay Gangster". Irish Abroad. 3 July 2008. Retrieved 26 October 2013.
20. "Noye: From street vendor to Mr Big", BBC News, 14 April 2000
21. "", BBC News, 7 April 2000
22. Armstrong, Jeremy; Myall, Steve (19 September 2012). "Hard as nails: Kray Twins gangster rival Charlie Richardson dies". The Mirror. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
23. Fryer, Jane (2 April 2012). "Eddie Richardson – 'Ronnie and Reggie Kray were both gay and both brainless'". The Daily Mail. Retrieved 30 November 2012.
24. John Lea. "traditional organized crime in Britain". Retrieved 20 December 2014.
25. "BBC NEWS - UK - Italian gangster detained in WWII". Retrieved 20 December 2014.