Freddie Foreman - The Krays Weren't Proper Criminals

Despite their fame & notoriety Freddie Foreman reveals that The Krays actually did very little crime..."they couldn't even drive!" The work was handed out and they took a cut...while terrifying shopkeepers into paying protection money.

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Early Life

Born at 22 Sheepcote Lane, Battersea in March 1932 to Herbert Albert Foreman, an Irishman. 22 Sheepcote Lane was a terraced two-up and two-down house, sharing a bedroom with four of his brothers, situated nearby The Flag pub. Foreman was involved in violence from a young age. He was known for his involvement with audacious criminal plans, one of which was the murder of Frank 'The Mad Axeman' Mitchell – a British criminal previously befriended by Ronnie Kray when they served a sentence together at Wandsworth prison.

Criminal activity

Foreman was involved in the Shoreditch Security Express robbery of 1983, which at the time was the largest cash robbery in the UK. For his part in it, he received nine years in prison. At the time of the Kray's arrest, he was thirty-six, and licensee of The Prince Of Wales, Lant Street in Southwark

Foreman also confessed to the murders of Frank "Mad Axeman" Mitchell, and of Tommy "Ginger" Marks in the 1960s in revenge for the shooting of his brother (shot in the legs). He had been acquitted of the murders at an Old Bailey trial in the 1960s where he was listed as living at Red Post Hill, Dulwich, London. He additionally claimed to have intimidated witnesses to the killing of George Cornell in the Blind Beggar Pub in Whitechapel by Ronnie Kray and to having been a hitman for the Kray twins.

Arrest and conviction

He was tried on two separate occasions for murder, and found not guilty, and has convictions for handling the proceeds of an armed robbery and separately for disposing of a body, that of Jack "the Hat" McVitie. Foreman also admitted to the murders of Frank "Mad Axeman" Mitchell, and of Tommy "Ginger" Marks during the 1960s in his autobiography, Respect, in revenge for the shooting of his brother who had been shot in the legs. He had been acquitted of these murders at an Old Bailey trial in the 1960s. Foreman moved to Spain after he left prison.

Later life

He is the father of actor Jamie Foreman, Gregory Foreman and Danielle Foreman. In 2018, a biopic documentary "Fred" was released. Foreman’s team approached Salon after seeing its work on underworld documentary “The Guv’nor,” and subsequent movie “My Name is Lenny.” Rather than glamorizing Foreman’s life of crime, “Fred” is a somber and intimate look at the notorious villain towards the end of his life. “Fred” was written, and is directed by, Salon’s Paul Van Carter.

In 2019 Gangster No 1 - The Freddie Foreman Story was released, a documentary casting Foreman as The Godfather" of Britain's criminal underworld.