The Krays, one of London’s most popular and feared gangsters in the 1960s, gained a massive amount of money. Where is it now? What happened to the Krays’ money? You must have watched several movies around gangsters, and you must have watched a film on the Krays as well.
The film is the ‘Legend’ starring Tom Hardy as the Kray twins, and there are several other films on them. Krays, the Kray twins were businessmen and gangsters as well.
They owned several clubs, and that is where their money lay. These clubs, though, were not bought clean-handed. Sometimes these clubs were also taken through protection rackets, arson, hijacking, and other criminal acts.
After their imprisonment, the nightclubs they owned were owned by many different people, and now we’ll see who owns them and what their condition is right now.
What happened to the Krays money?
So what is the condition of the clubs that the Kray twins owned?
- The Regal: The first property they bought to carry out their criminal activities, such as protection rackets, was in 1954, a run-down snooker club called The Regal on Eric Street in Mile End. The site now serves as an older people’s home.
- The Double R club: Named after the twins Double R, Ronnie and Reggie was the twins’ second property. The club was located on 145 Bow Road in Bow, on the corner of KitKat Terrace just opposite The Black Swan. It was a glamorous club with a cabaret stage, a gymnasium and a full-size boxing ring on one floor. The club was later demolished and is now an enterprise car hire.
- Esmeralda’s Barn: In 1960, when Ronnie was imprisoned for eighteen months, Peter Rachman sold a nightclub to Reggie to save himself from the threat of further extortion. This club was the Esmeralda’s Barn. This club was located in Wilton Place, Knightsbridge, London. Esmeralda’s Barn was owned by the Krays until 1963, after which it was closed.
Who were the Krays?
Born in 1933, Ronald Kray, known as Ronnie, was 10 minutes younger than Reginald Kray Known as Reggie. Their father was Irish, and their mother was Romani.
Due to the influence of maternal grandpa, Ronnie and Reggie took up boxing which they did very well. Later due to some violence they caused, which had some circumstances, They turned crime into their full-time job.
After this, they bought a club and started several protection rackets. Later, they worked for Jay Murray and were involved in several robberies, arson, hijacking and protection rackets. Through these actions, the Kray twins acquired several clubs and other properties.
In 1960 Ronnie was put behind bars for eighteen months. Soon, the Kray twins were recognised as both criminals and celebrities. They had many real stars visiting their clubs often.
Ronnie was a paranoid schizophrenia patient. In 1966, after a few shootouts in clubs in London, Ronnie shot George Cornell dead in a public area. The people were so scared of them that they did not cooperate with the police and the case remained unsolved.
Detective Chief Superintendent Leonard ‘Nipper’ Read was given the task to prove the crimes of the Kray twins and put them behind bars. He did his part and collected all the evidence needed. This was a long process and had many twists and turns.
But in the end, Ronnie and Reggie were convicted for the murder of George Cornell and Mcvitie. A life imprisonment sentence was passed. This was the most extended hearing in Britain’s criminal justice system.
Who were Krays’ rivals?
The most famous rivals to the Kray twins were the Richardsons. The Richardson brothers Charlie and Eddie and several other people formed the ‘Torcher gang’.
The type of torcher done to people was quite brutal such as nailing people to the grounds and pulling teeth out with pliers. This gang was located in South London and had quite a reputation. One of their members was George Cornell.
Now George Cornel is an important name in the lives of the Kray twins. The shootout involved the Torcher gang and Richard Hart, a mate of the Krays who was shot dead. Somehow, George Cornell was not present; he did get saved in this incident, but not for long.
Later, after meeting with his injured mates went to the Blind Beggar pub, a pub one mile away from the Krays’ residence. Ronnie got the news of Cornell’s whereabouts and ran to the pub.
Ronnie gave for murdering George Cornell because he called Ronnie a ‘fat poof’. Yes, that’s true. The last words George Cornell ever uttered were,” Look who’s here”.
Who was the ‘Mad Axeman’?
Frank Mitchell, also known as the ‘mad axeman’, became friends with Ronnie in Wandsworth prison. Mitchell was unhappy with how the authorities had worked with his case, and he wanted them to review his case for parole.
The Kray twins helped him escape the Dartmoor Prison. Ronnie’s idea was to bring Mitchell’s case to light, gain some publicity and force authorities to review Mitchell’s case.
Frank Mitchell was known as ‘Mad axeman’ as he once held a couple of hostage with an axe in hand, and the media started referring to him as ‘mad axeman’.
Conclusion
Krays were one of the most feared gangsters in London once, and they lived a life not less than a celebrity. They started as boxers but ended up being criminals after some dispute with the authorities.
They first bought a snooker club to go ahead with their criminal activities, and the number of clubs kept increasing. The clubs that the Krays owned are no longer clubs.
One is an older people’s home, another is car hire, and another got demolished long ago. The Krays had an intense rivalry with the Torcher gang of South London.
The murder of the Torcher gang member George Cornell leads to the Kray twins’ arrest. However, collecting the evidence against the Kray brothers wasn’t an easy job, but Nipper Read did succeed in putting the brothers behind bars.
