Royston Henry Shaw (11 March 1936 – 14 July 2012), also known as Roy “Pretty Boy” Shaw, Roy “Mean Machine” Shaw and Roy West, real estate investor, author and businessman from the East End of London who was formerly a criminal and Category A prisoner. During the 1970s–1980s, Shaw was active in the criminal underworld of London and was frequently associated with the Kray twins. Shaw is best remembered today for his career as a fighter on the unlicensed boxing scene, becoming an arch-rival with Lenny McLean.
THE FORMER GUV’NOR HAS PASSED AWAY BUT HIS MEMORY LIVES ON HERE AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL
Picture By: Jules Annan Picture Shows:Andy Jones with Roy “Pretty Boy ” Shaw’s boxing trunks and the Belt presented to Roy when he was the undisputed unlicensed British Heavyweight boxing champion between 1975 and 1981 . Roy sadly passed away 14th July 2012 . These items and other Roy Shaw material are on display at the Crime Through Time Collection at Littledean Jail Date 21st July 2012
HAVING HAD THE GREAT HONOUR TO HAVE MET AND KNOWN ROY FOR MORE THAN 30 YEARS AND HAVING ATTENDED A GREAT MANY EVENTS WITH HIM DURING THIS TIME , HE WAS CERTAINLY A VERY TOUGH AND CHARISMATIC PERSON … TO SAY THE LEAST.
UNDOUBTEDLY ONE OF THE TOUGHEST MEN I HAVE EVER MET …. TRUE GENT AND OLD SCHOOL ALTHOUGH AS MANY OF HIS CLOSE FRIENDS AND ACQUAINTANCES WOULD WELL KNOW… ONE YOU WOULD NOT WISH TO ANTAGONISE, UPSET OR CROSS .
HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL WE HAVE LONG FEATURED A NUMBER OF PERSONAL EXHIBIT ITEMS THAT ONCE BELONGED TO ROY SHAW AND USED BY HIM THROUGHOUT HIS UNLICENSED BOXING CAREER ..
THESE ITEMS WERE KINDLY GIFTED AND PRESENTED TO MYSELF DURING AN INVITED PRIVATE VISIT TO HIS HOME BACK IN THE YEAR 2000 .
THESE INCLUDE HIS UNDISPUTED , UNOFFICIAL, UNLICENSED BRITISH HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BELT , HIS BOXING TRUNKS, TRAINING GLOVES , ORIGINAL FIGHT POSTERS ETC….. HE ALSO CONTRIBUTED A NUMBER OF PERSONALLY SIGNED PHOTO’S TO BE INCLUDED IN AND AMONGST THIS PERMANENT EXHIBITION AREA HERE AT THE JAIL…
BELOW: ROY SHAW GIFING AND PRESENTING HIS UNOFFICIAL BRITISH HEAVYWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP BELT ( DATED 1975-1981 ) AND BOXING SHORTS TO ANDY JONES OF THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION… AT ROY’S HOME BACK IN THE YEAR 2000
“LONG WILL HE REMAIN IMMORTALISED HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL” … SAYS ANDY JONES, CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION OWNER
BELOW ARE A COUPLE MORE VIDEO FILM CLIPS RELATING TO ROY SHAW ….ALSO BELOW THESE A FEW MORE GALLERY IMAGES OF ROY SHAW AND SOME OF THE ITEMS ON DISPLAY HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL …. INCLUDING ORIGINAL FIGHT POSTERS ETC……
Picture By: Jules Annan
Picture Shows:Andy Jones with Roy “Pretty Boy ” Shaw’s boxing trunks and the Belt presented to Roy when he was the undisputed unlicensed British Heavyweight boxing champion between 1975 and 1981 . Roy sadly passed away 14th July 2012 . These items and other Roy Shaw material are on display at the Crime Through Time Collection at Littledean Jail
Date 21st July 2012
Ref: *World Rights Only*
*Unbylined uses will incur an additional discretionary fee!*
DARK TOURISM HERE IN THE UK – WHERE GOOD AND EVIL COLLIDE & WHERE FANTASY MEETS REALITY .
TRUE CRIME , MURDERABILIA, WITCHCRAFT, SATANISM AND THE OCCULT …. IT’S ALL HERE AND MUCH MORE ON DISPLAY AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , LITTLEDEAN JAIL, FOREST OF DEAN , GLOUCESTERSHIRE , UK .
ABOVE: Original painting by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman of John Wayne Gacy on display at Littledean Jail .
All of Gacy’s known murders were committed inside his Norwood Park, Illinois home. His victims would typically be lured to this address by force or deception, and all but one victim were murdered by either asphyxiation or strangulation with a tourniquet (his first victim was stabbed to death). Gacy buried 26 of his victims in the crawl space of his home. Three further victims were buried elsewhere on his property, while the bodies of his last four known victims were discarded in the Des Plaines River.
Gacy became known as the “Killer Clown” due to his charitable services at fundraising events, parades, and children’s parties where he would dress as “Pogo the Clown”, a character he devised himself.
BELOW : Various exhibit items to include one of Gacy’s “Pogo The Clown ” suits , handwritten and signed correspondence , a hand painting and various other memorabilia, all of which is on display here at The Crime Through Time Collection , Littledean Jail , Forest of Dean , Gloucestershire, UK .
ABOVE AND BELOW : One of John Wayne Gacy’s original worn clown suits. There are two other known Gacy clown suits on display at The National Museum of Crime , Washington DC , USA .
BELOW: picture of 2 other Gacy clown suits, on display at The National Museum of Crime, Washington DC ….. Previously owned ( not sure if he still owns them ) by Jonathan Davis, lead singer of American Heavy Metal Band “Korn .”
ABOVE: John Wayne Gacy pictured in jail, so say, shortly before his execution by lethal injection
SEEMINGLY OF TIMELESS MEDIA INTEREST …. BRITAIN’S MOST INFAMOUS AND NOTORIOUS 1960’S LONDON GANGSTERS …. RONALD AND REGINALD KRAY …..BETTER KNOWN AS THE KRAY TWINS .
HERE BELOW IS AN ARTICLE FEATURING THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL ,THAT APPEARED BOTH ONLINE AND IN PRINT WITHIN THE DAILY MIRROR ON PAGE 33 -7 MAY 2015 .
ABOVE AND BELOW : Original oil paintings of The Krays by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman . Also depicts two of their murder victims Jack “The Hat ” McVitie who was killed by Reg Kray at Evering Rd, Stoke Newington and George Cornell who murdered by Ron Kray at The Blind Beggar Pub , Whitechapel Rd
HERE BELOW IS A BRIEF TRAILER OF THE KRAY TWINS FILM ENTITLED “LEGEND” STARRING TOM HARDY PLAYING THE ROLE OF BOTH RON AND REG KRAY SOME OF THE MANY GENUINE KRAY MEMORABILIA ITEMS ON DISPLAY AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL… THESE INCLUDE ONE OF RONNIE KRAY’S SUITS SEEN HERE WITH HIS FORMER WIFE KATE KRAY’S WEDDING DRESS , KINDLY DONATED BY KATE HERSELF MANY YEARS AGO
BELOW IS SOME MORE BRIEF HISTORICAL INSIGHT FOOTAGE INTO THE KRAY’S
EXTRACTS FROM VARIOUS OTHER NATIONAL NEWSPAPERS FEATURING SOME OF THE KRAY TWINS MEMORABILIA ON DISPLAY AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL IN THE PAST.
BELOW IS A BRIEF GALLERY OF KRAY TWINS ITEMS INCLUDING 2 ORIGINAL PAINTINGS FROM BOTH RON AND REG, WHILST IN JAIL AT HMP PARKHURST , ISLE oF WIGHT , PAINTED BY THEM IN 1971 THAT WERE SOLD TOGETHER FOR £4800 + FEES, ETC AT CHISWICK AUCTIONS , LONDON IN MARCH 2008 .
AFTER GOING AROUND VARIOUS OTHER AUCTION HOUSES SINCE THEN, THEY HAVE NOW ARRIVED HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL ACQUIRED FROM A PRIVATE COLLECTOR AND ARE NOW ON DISPLAY TO THE PUBLIC ALONG WITH VARIOUS OTHER KRAY TWINS ITEMS .
BELOW IS THE PRESALE REPORT ON THE PAINTINGS AS SEEN IN THE DAILY MAIL ON THE 9 MARCH 2008
Yours for £2,000, oil paintings by the Kray Twins (currently owned by a ex-convict who won them in a card game)
Gangsters with an artistic streak: Reggie (left) and Ronnie Kray in the 1960s
One famously shot dead a fellow gangster in an East End pub for a verbal sleight. The other knifed to death another gangland member at a party But it appears Ronnie and Reggie Kray also had a more sensitive side as landscape painters. These oil canvasses by the infamous twins, painted after they were both jailed for 30 years, are to be auctioned in London this week.The one of a white cottage next to a road was painted by Ronnie. His brother’s is an image of a river running through a green valley with an ominously dark sky in the background. Both twins began painting after their 1968 trial at the Old Bailey, often creating the same scene in picture after picture. A spokesman for Chiswick Auctions in West London, where the paintings are being sold, said: ‘The same themes are repeated over and over again in their work, with very little variation. We expect these two to go for between £800 and £1,500 each.’ Both pictures are being sold by a former inmate who won them from the twins during card games in jail.The auction house spokesman said: ‘The seller has given us some interesting insights into the Krays’ minds.
Dream house in the country: Ronnie Kray’s
‘He says Reggie always, always painted with a dark sky. This might reflect his state of mind and the dark thoughts he had. He was known for his moods and being aloof. Ronnie, on the other hand, always painted a white cottage because that was his idea of a dream house, a place in the country.
Ronnie’s paintings are more aspirational, whereas Reggie’s tend to reflect his sombre state of mind.’The images were painted in oils on to card. They are both eight-and-a-half inches by 11-and-a-half inches.
A similar painting by Ronnie sold at an auction in Lincolnshire in 2005 for £2,200, twice the expected fee.
The spokesman added: ‘The seller told us paintings were used in games of cards as currency. If they were by Joe Bloggs, they wouldn’t be worth £5.’
The Krays ran a brutal gang known as The Firm in London’s East End during the late Fifties and Sixties. Revelling in their image of sharp suits and flashy cars, they began to believe the law could not touch them.
That bravado allowed Ronnie to walk into the Blind Beggar pub in Whitechapel and shoot dead George Cornell in front of customers for calling him a ‘fat poof’.
A year later, in 1967, Reggie stabbed Jack ‘The Hat’ McVitie to death in a flat in North London. But Scotland Yard closed the net and the twins were given life sentences and told they must serve at least 30 years. Ronnie died of a heart attack in 1995 after collapsing in his cell in Broadmoor. Reggie died in jail in 2000.
Moody: Reggie Kray painting
MORE EXTRACTS OF MEDIA COVERAGE OF THE CRIME THROUGH TIME’S KRAY TWINS EXHIBITION
BELOW ARE MORE EXHIBIT ITEMS
Picture By:Jules Annan
Picture Shows:Original paintings by both Ronnie and Reggie Kray painted in 1971 whilst both were imprisoned in HMP Parkhusrt, Isle of Wight . Previously sold at Chiswick Auctions, London back in 2008 and now on display at the Crime Through Time Collection, Littledean Jail, Gloucestershire
Date ;10/06/2014
Picture By:Jules Annan
Picture Shows:Original paintings by both Ronnie and Reggie Kray painted in 1971 whilst both were imprisoned in HMP Parkhusrt, Isle of Wight . Previously sold at Chiswick Auctions, London back in 2008 and now on display at the Crime Through Time Collection, Littledean Jail, Gloucestershire
Date ;10/06/2014
Picture By:Jules Annan
Picture Shows:Original painting by Ronnie Kray painted in 1971 whilst imprisoned in HMP Parkhusrt, Isle of Wight . Previously sold at Chiswick Auctions, London for £4, 800 plus fees and VAT back in 2008 and now on display at the Crime Through Time Collection, Littledean Jail, Gloucestershire
Date ;10/06/2014
Picture By:Jules Annan
Picture Shows:Rear of original painting by Ronnie Kray painted in 1971 whilst imprisoned in HMP Parkhusrt, Isle of Wight . Previously sold at Chiswick Auctions, London for £4, 800 plus fees and VAT back in 2008 and now on display at the Crime Through Time Collection, Littledean Jail, Gloucestershire
Date ;10/06/2014
Picture By:Jules Annan
Picture Shows:Original painting by Reggie Kray painted in 1971 whilst imprisoned in HMP Parkhusrt, Isle of Wight . Previously sold at Chiswick Auctions, London back in 2008 and now on display at the Crime Through Time Collection, Littledean Jail, Gloucestershire
Date ;10/06/2014
Picture By:Jules Annan
Picture Shows:Rear of original painting by Reggie Kray painted in 1971 whilst imprisoned in HMP Parkhusrt, Isle of Wight . Previously sold at Chiswick Auctions, London back in 2008 and now on display at the Crime Through Time Collection, Littledean Jail, Gloucestershire
Date ;10/06/2014
Picture By:Jules Annan
Picture Shows:Sale receipt for original painting by Ronnie Kray painted in 1971 whilst imprisoned in HMP Parkhusrt, Isle of Wight . Previously sold at Chiswick Auctions, London back in 2008 and now on display at the Crime Through Time Collection, Littledean Jail, Gloucestershire
Date ;10/06/2014
Picture By: Jules Annan
Picture Shows:Andy Jones of the Crime Through Time Collection at Littledean Jail with child-like pastel drawing of two boxers painted by Reggie Kray circa 1980’s as part of the Kray Twins and The Firm Exhibition
Date 01st June 2012
Ref: *World Rights Only*
*Unbylined uses will incur an additional discretionary fee!*
Picture By: Jules Annan
Picture Shows:Andy Jones of the Crime Through Time Collection at Littledean Jail with child-like pastel drawing of two boxers painted by Reggie Kray circa 1980’s as part of the Kray Twins and The Firm Exhibition
Date 01st June 2012
Ref: *World Rights Only*
*Unbylined uses will incur an additional discretionary fee!*
Picture By: Jules Annan
Picture Shows:Cowboy crayon drawings by Reggie Kray which are part of the Kray Twins and The Firm Exhibition here at the Jail
Date 01st June 2012
Ref: *World Rights Only*
*Unbylined uses will incur an additional discretionary fee!*
Picture By: Jules Annan
Picture Shows:Cowboy crayon drawings by Reggie Kray which are part of the Kray Twins and The Firm Exhibition here at the Jail
Date 01st June 2012
Ref: *World Rights Only*
*Unbylined uses will incur an additional discretionary fee!*
Picture By: Jules Annan
Picture Shows:Andy Jones of the Crime Through Time Collection at Littledean Jail with cowboy crayon drawings by Reggie Kray which are part of the Kray Twins and The Firm Exhibition here at the Jail
Date 01st June 2012
Ref: *World Rights Only*
*Unbylined uses will incur an additional discretionary fee!*
Picture By: Jules Annan
Picture Shows: HMP Parkhurst Isle of Wight prison letter dated 02nd November 1983 sent to family friend Lawrie O’Leary by Reggie Kray which are part of the Kray Twins and The Firm Exhibition here at the Jail
Date 01st June 2012
Ref: *World Rights Only*
*Unbylined uses will incur an additional discretionary fee!*
Picture By: Jules Annan
Picture Shows: HMP Parkhurst Isle of Wight prison letter dated 02nd November 1983 sent to family friend Lawrie O’Leary by Reggie Kray which are part of the Kray Twins and The Firm Exhibition here at the Jail
Date 01st June 2012
Ref: *World Rights Only*
*Unbylined uses will incur an additional discretionary fee!*
ABOVE IS RONNIE KRAY’S ORIGINAL PROVISIONAL DRIVING LICENCE FROM BACK IN 1959 WHEN HE WOULD HAVE BEEN 26 YEARS OLD, REGISTERED TO HIM AT THE KRAY FAMILY’S HOME ADDRESS AT THE TIME , 178 VALLANCE ROAD , LONDON .
IN ITSELF A NOSTALGIC PIECE OF PRE-ARREST KRAY TWINS MEMORABILIA …. NOW HERE ON PERMANENT DISPLAY ALONGSIDE THE KRAY TWINS EXHIBITION HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL .
THE ONLY KRAY TWINS EXHIBITION OF ITS KIND OPEN TO THE PUBLIC .
REGGIE KRAYS SO SAY (THOUGH CERTAINLY FAKE …. BUYERS BEWARE ) ORIGINAL ARTIST PAINT BOX , PAINTS AND BRUSHES LAST USED BY HIM AT HMP WAYLAND SHORTLY BEFORE HIS DEATH FROM CANCER ON 01ST OCTOBER 2000
COME VISIT AND SEE FOR YOURSELVES THE UK’S ONLY KRAY TWINS EXHIBITION ON PUBLIC DISPLAY FEATURING SOME OF THEIR PERSONAL BELONGINGS, HANDWRITTEN AND SIGNED LETTERS , TOOLS OF THE TRADE, ARTWORK, MEMORABILIA AND OTHER RELATED FIRM ITEMS .
ALL IN ALL AN INTRIGUING PERSONAL INSIGHT INTO BOTH PRE ARREST DAYS AND THEIR SUBSEQUENT LIFE BEHIND BARS
ALSO VARIOUS OTHER GANGLAND MEMORABILIA …..ITS ALL HERE AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL .
HERE BELOW IS A BRIEF PICTORIAL INSIGHT INTO SOME OF THE ITEMS ON DISPLAY …………
YES THIS REALLY IS RON KRAY’S PERSONAL KNUCKLE DUSTER KINDLY GIFTED TO ANDY JONES – THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION AFTER A PERSONAL VISIT TO REGGIE KRAY WHILST HE WAS INCARCERATED AT HMP. MAIDSTONE …WHICH HE WANTED ANDY TO DISPLAY ALONG WITH VARIOUS OTHER PERSONAL ITEMS ACQUIRED FROM OTHER INNER CIRCLE FRIENDS, ACQUAINTANCES AND EVEN FROM VARIOUS FORMER METROPOLITAN POLICE OFFICERS …….. .FOR AND ON REGGIES AND RONNIES BEHALF..
.
ORIGINAL RONNIE KRAY ARTWORK PAINTED BY HIMSELF WHILST AT BROADMOOR MENTAL ASYLUM . HERE ON DISPLAY ALONG WITH MANY OTHER ARTWORK ,DRAWINGS AND PAINTINGS BY BOTH RONNIE AND REGGIE
ABOVE: Original oil painting of “The Richardsons, Charlie and Eddie ” by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman. Also known as the sadistic “Torture Gang “, they were fierce South London rivals of the Kray twins.
Charlie Richardson: Shrewd and ruthless leading figure of London’s 1960s criminal scene
ABOVE : Original oil painting by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman of The Richardsons, here on display at Littledean Jail
ABOVE : Original oil painting by Gloucestershire artist Paul Bridgman of The Richardson’s East London Gangland rivals The Kray Twins here on display at Littledean Jail
BELOW IS PICTURE OF ANDY JONES FROM THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION WITH LONDON UNDERWORLD CRIME BOSS AND LONG STANDING ACQUAINTANCE – CHARLIE RICHARDSON AT ONE OF THE PAST EVENTS TOGETHER
CHARLIE HAD KINDLY INTRODUCED ANDY TO A NUMBER OF FELLOW ASSOCIATES WHO IN TURN HAVE PERSONALLY CONTRIBUTED VARIOUS ITEMS TO THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION NOW ON DISPLAY AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL
Charlie Richardson was among the shrewdest of the serious crime figures who populated London’s post war underworld. “He was a genius, not like a professor who might know about art and paintings, but as a money maker,” Frank Fraser said of him.
He was born in Camberwell, south-east London in 1934; his brother Eddie was born in 1936, the youngest sibling Alan in 1940. Charlie and Eddie were brought up in a traditional south London working-class family, and like their east London counterparts, the Kray twins, they endured a wartime childhood, enjoyed the vibrant street life of working-class London and developed as talented young boxers and prominent street fighters.
According to folklore, the Richardsons were the south London nemesis of the Krays. However, unlike the twins, Charlie and Eddie had a penchant for hard work, and made good money from the post-war scrap metal trade, plundering the remnants of abandoned wartime airfields.
With a merchant seaman father who was often missing from home, the teenage Charlie exhibited an entrepreneurial zeal. He moved into a number of areas, including wholesale chemists and mineral mining, as well as extortion and, notably, long firm fraud. This involved an apparently legitimate wholesaling business being set up, initially paying for goods on time. When their credit limit was reached, they sold up and disappeared.
Richardson surrounded himself with long firm specialists, men described to me by Eddie Richardson as “plausible rogues”, and a number were sent to Milan to place orders with manufacturers for stockings on behalf of a company called Central Supplies. On arrival in London the stockings were sold by mail order, but with money and goods leaking from the business, and with the Italians pressing, Central Supplies burnt down. Richardson then set up a new company, LR Gray, based in Mitre St in the City. A number of Richardson associates were beaten for stealing from the long firms, before LR Grey also “had a fire”.
Charlie Richardson had first encountered the Kray twins in Shepton Mallet military prison, where all were awaiting a dishonorable discharge from National Service. The honeypot of the West End brought them back into contact, and though the east London firm claimed to be preparing for warfare, there is little to suggest the Richardson firm took them seriously. The Richardsons could boast among their associates some of London’s most feared men, including one of the “Chainsaw Robbers” Jimmy Moody, as well as George Cornell, an East Ender who had clashed with the youthful Krays, and Frank Fraser, whose affiliation to the Richardsons was described by Mickey Bloom, an associate of the Nash Brothers, as “like China getting the atom bomb.”
Fraser summed up the firm’s attitude to the Krays: “Using racing terms, there would be no race… The Richardsons were miles in front, brain power, everything.” In their dotage Charlie and Eddie expressed contempt for the Kray firm, and although skirmishes and casualties were not unknown while the Krays, in particular Ronnie, fantasised over Chicago-style gang wars, the Richardons diversified into long firms, gaming machines, pornography, scrap metal yards, a perlite mine in South Africa, control over car parking at Heathrow, and more.
Charlie had become increasingly fascinated by South Africa, in particular the opportunities in the country’s mineral industry. He became embroiled with the South African security services, who dangled the carrot of mining licences in front of him in exchange for Charlie arranging to have the telephones tapped of Amnesty International and Harold Wilson.
In 1966, in a shooting at Mr Smiths Club in Catford, an associate of the Krays was killed and five men were wounded. Eddie Richardson and Frank Fraser were arrested, Fraser for murder. The following night Ronnie Kray murdered George Cornell.
Richardson’s penchant for attacking fellow fraudsters who he suspected of stealing from his long firms resulted in the infamous “torture trial” in 1967, which featured allegations of the use of pliers to remove teeth and fingernails, and the attachment of electrodes to genitals. Alleged victims of the Richardsons were granted immunity from prosecution if they “turned Queen’s Evidence”, and a distinct lack of physical evidence did not deter the judge, Mr Justice Lawton. Eddie was sentenced to 10 years with another five for the Mr Smith incident, and Frank Fraser received five years for affray and 10 years for some deviant dental practices at the Richardsons’ Peckham scrapyard. Charlie received 25 years: “I was charged with a bit of long firm fraud and five counts of grievous bodily harm. Nobody was dead, maimed or even bloody scarred.”
The sentencing policy was undoubtably savage, and whether this was due to a fear of American-style “organised crime” or was linked to Richardson’s relationship with the South African Secret Service remains, over 40 years later, difficult to unpack. Files have been sunk deep into the long grass of British officialdom. Charlie Richardson was arrested on 30 July 1966; in 1980 he escaped from an open prison and remained free for just under a year. In 1984 he was finally released.
Charlie Richardson was the epitome of the tough working class self-made man who cut corners, and while violence was at the core of his success, his relationship with corrupt police officers was probably more significant. He did not play at being a gangster, and in his prime he was the real deal, shrewd and manipulative and quick to dole out violence to fellow underworld residents. But he was also well-read, articulate, extremely funny, and addicted to business. One of his last ventures was a scheme to take some control over the “true crime” genre, and to the end he loved doing deals, with film-makers, writers and a range of disparate individuals. However, along with his wife Veronica and his familyy, mining was his passion.
Nobody could swear quite like Charlie Richardson, and he reserved his most heartfelt oaths for the ex-business associates and members of the Establishment who, he insisted to his death (of complications from peritonitis), had conspired to deprive him of his liberty for 18 years.
BELOW DOUBLE PAGE ARTICLE PREVIOUSLY FEATURED IN THE SUNDAY PEOPLE NEWSPAPER IN 2016……
BRITAIN’S OLDEST FORMER GANGSTER REVEALS ALL…. AGED 93 AS EXPECTED THIS STORY , FORTHCOMING BOOK AND INEVITABLE FORTHCOMING DOCUMENTARY AND POTENTIAL FILM WILL GO GLOBAL IN 2017…. FOR SURE
BELOW : BERTS “BATTLES” ROSSI’S AUTOBIOGRAPHY NOW ON SALE THROUGH VARIOUS OUTLETS INCLUDING AMAZON ….
BRITAIN’S REAL LIFE EQUIVALENT TO AMERICA’S GANGLAND BOSS ” AL CAPONE” WHO WAS ACTIVE DURING THE 1950’S AND BEYOND.
KNOWN TO MANY AS THE “GENERAL OF CLERKENWELL” , LONDON , ALSO TRUSTED FRIEND AND MENTOR TO THE KRAY TWINS … “BERT “BATTLE” ROSSI ”
HE WAS CLOSE FAMILY FRIEND AND ASSOCIATE TO THE ITALIAN MAFIA ORGANISATION … THE GAMBINO CRIME FAMILY , WHO ARE OF COURSE WELL KNOWN AND FEARED THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, EVEN TODAY….
ABOVE : A RECENT MEET UP BETWEEN BERT ROSSI AND ANDY JONES OF THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , LITTLEDEAN JAIL , WHEREBY BERT PRESENTS ANDY WITH HIS OWN PERSONAL PAUL LAKE LIMITED EDITION PRINT SIGNED BY RON AND REG KRAY . THIS FOR DISPLAY AT THE JAIL WITH A FORTHCOMING BRIEF EXHIBITION ON HIMSELF ….. THIS TO COINCIDE WITH THE RELEASE OF HIS FORTHCOMING BOOK ….. WATCH THIS SPACE FOR FURTHER DETAILS …… BELOW IS THE SIGNED PRINT ON DISPLAY AT THE JAIL
COMING SOON …. THE UNTOLD STORY OF BERT ROSSI ,WHO IS TODAY , AT THE GRAND OLD AGE OF 92 , THE UK’S OLDEST LIVING GANGSTER
FOR ALL THOSE WHO ARE UNFAMILIAR WITH THE NAME …. MORE INTIMATE DETAILS OF HIS INCREDIBLE LIFE AND TIMES ARE TO BE PUBLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME OVER THE NEXT FEW MONTHS …..
A BRIEF MEMO FROM BERT ….. FOR ALL THOSE INTERESTED IN THE LIFE AND TIMES OF BERT “BATTLE” ROSSI …. AND FOR THE RECORD …. BERT AT THE GRAND OLD AGE OF 92 HAS INFORMED ME THAT HE HAS NOW ENTERED THE DIGITAL SOCIAL NETWORK ERA AND IS HIMSELF NOW ACTIVLY INVOLVED AND IN CONTROL OF HIS OWN FACEBBOK PAGE HE PERSONALLY READS ALL THE COMMENTS AND AGAIN PERSONALLY INFORMS HIS FAMILY AS TO WHAT TO REPLY FOR AND ON HIS BEHALF … FOR HIS FACEBOOK PAGE (SEE HERE) .
PLEASE DO NOTE HE IS NOT ACTIVELY ON THIS SITE 24/7 AS HE HAS MUCH MORE IMPORTANT COMMITMENTS ELSEWHERE ….. INCLUDING HIS SOON TO BE RELEASED BOOK ENTITLED “THE GENERAL OF CLERKENWELL” , WHICH IS HOPEFULLY DUE TO BE RELEASED IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS 2015, ALONG WITH A DOCUMENTARY WITH TITLE ” BOMP” …. FOR WHICH VARIOUS TASTERS ARE NOW AVAILABLE BOTH ON OUR SITE HERE AND ON YOUTUBE . ALL AS HAS BEEN PERSONALLY AUTHORISED BY BERT HIMSELF.
INCONJUNCTION WITH THE FORTHCOMING BOOK LAUNCH AND DOCUMENTARY …. THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL WILL BE STAGING A BRIEF ,BUT PERMANENT EXHIBITION ON THE LIFE AND TIMES OF BERT “BATTLE” ROSSI , IN AND AMONGST OTHER UK AND AMERICAN GANGLAND FIGURES …… WHICH WILL BE OPEN TO THE PUBLIC FOR THE 2016 TOURISM SEASON .
THERE HAS BEEN AND CONTINUES TO BE AN EVER INCREASING MEDIA INTEREST IN BERT’S STORY … PARTICULARLY AS HE IS THE OLDEST LIVING FORMER GANGLAND BOSS ….. MOST RECENTLY FEATURED IN THE ONLINE NATIONAL CRIME SYNDICATION MAGAZINE BLOG ( SEE HERE )
HERE BELOW IS A RECENT (AUGUST 2015 ) , VERY BRIEF INSIGHT VIDEO INTERVIEW WITH THE NOW 92 YEAR OLD FORMER LONDON MAFIA BOSS AND MENTOR TO THE KRAY TWINS
HERE BELOW ARE A FEW VINTAGE IMAGES OF BERT ROSSI WITH VARIOUS FACES FROM THE PAST
BERT ROSSI AGED 92
BERT ROSSI
BERT ROSSI
On a recent visit to the Bookies
Alex Steene-Jersey Joe Walcott
Bert and Big Albert Dimes
Bert Rossi ,billy Hill , Ruby Sparks and Frank Fraser
Bert with picture
Bert , Albert and Lord and lady Docker
Bert , Billy Hill and Lady Docker
Krays boxing -pose -1953
Willie Pep
Bert “Battle ” Rossi aged 92 , July 2015
Andy Jones of the Crime Through Time Collection with Bert “Battle” Rossi at a recent get together
BELOW IS AN ICONIC POSTER SIGNED BY JOHN McALEESE AS JOHN MAC PICTURED HERE ON THE FRONT BALCONY AT THE TIME OF THE FINAL ASSAULT ON THE IRANIAN EMBASSY 5 MAY 1980
“WHO DARES WINS” …. WITH OUR ALWAYS HEROIC AND NO HOLDS BARRED SAS (SPECIAL AIR SERVICE) HERE AT THE CRIME THROUGH TIME COLLECTION , LITTLEDEAN JAIL., FOREST OF DEAN, GLOUCESTERSHIRE,UK. AND NOT FORGETTING OF COURSE THE SBS (SPECIAL BOAT SERVICE) , UK SPECIAL FORCES , BRITISH POLICE AND OTHER EMERGENCY SERVICES , ETC .IT’S ALL COVERED AND TOUCHED UPON HERE AT THE JAIL.
MORE ITEMS BEING ADDED TO THE COLLECTION ON AN ONGOING BASIS , MAKING THIS A PERMANENT AND UNIQUE ADDITION TO THE DIVERSE COLLECTIONS HERE ON DISPLAY .
BELOW IS THE ORIGINAL METROPOLITAN POLICE FORENSIC EXHIBIT IDENTIFICATION TAG (FORM 420) THAT WAS ATTACHED TO THE WEAPON FIRED BY SAS TROOPER- JOHN McALEESE DURING THE IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE ON THE 5TH MAY 1980. PERSONALLY SIGNED BY BOTH HIM AND THE INVESTIGATING OFFICERS WHO WERE HANDED ALL THE USED WEAPONS AFTER THE SUCCESSFUL OPERATION . NOW ON DISPLAY AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL AS PART OF THE “SAS -WHO DARES WINS” EXHIBITION
Original various SAS Counter Revolutionary Warfare(CRW) black-kits and Bravo Two Zero desert warfare kit as on display at Littledean Jail’s …. SAS WHO DARES WINS COUNTER REVOLUTIONARY WARFARE (CRW) EXHIBITION
HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL IN AND AMONGST OUR MANY DIVERSE TRUE CRIME AND OTHER INEXTRICABLY LINKED COLLECTIONS , MEMORABILIA AND EPHEMERA, WE ALSO PROVIDE AN INTRIGUING INSIGHT AND BRIEF EXHIBITION TOUCHING UPON THE HEROICS OF THE BRITISH ARMY’S SAS, INCLUDES THE 1980’S IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE, SAS BLACK ASSAULT KITS, WEAPONRY, AUTHENTIC SAS SIGNED ITEMS , COMMEMORATIVE AND PRESENTATION PIECES,SAS ACTION MAN FIGURES ……….. TO NAME BUT A FEW ITEMS HERE ON DISPLAY .
AN EVER GROWING SAS EXHIBITION WELL WORTH A VISIT,.SO IF IN THE AREA PLEASE DO COME AND SEE IT…..
BELOW ARE A FEW IMAGES OF SOME OF THE HEROIC FORMER SAS COMMANDERS, SOLDIERS ETC THAT WE FEATURE HERE ON DISPLAY IN OUR BRIEF SAS EXHIBITION HERE AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL ALONG WITH A PICTORIAL INSIGHT INTO JUST A FEW OF THE EVER INCREASING ARRAY OF SAS MEMORABILIA AND EPHEMERA HERE ON DISPLAY AT LITTLEDEAN JAIL
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Original various SAS Counter Revolutionary Warfare(CRW) black-kits and Bravo Two Zero desert warfare kit as on display at Littledean Jail’s …. SAS WHO DARES WINS COUNTER TERRORISM EXHIBITION
BELOW ARE A FEW MORE IMAGES OF VARIOUS ADDITIONAL SAS COUNTER REVOULTIONARY WARFARE (CRW) – BLACK-KIT ITEMS NOW HERE ON DISPLAY ALONG WITH AN EVER INCREASING ARRAY OF ORIGINAL SAS USED EQUIPMENT AND OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST.
HOPEFULLY OF HISTORICAL REFERENCE PURPOSES TOO FOR VARIOUS FORUMS RELATING TO THE SAS , OPERATION NIMROD – IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE (1980)
HERE BELOW IS SOME SCARCE ORIGINAL DOCUMENTARY FOOTAGE FROM THE 1980 IRANIAN EMBASSY SIEGE .
WE ARE OBVIOUSLY KEEN TO WORK WITH OR ALONGSIDE ANY RELEVANT SAS RELATED FORUMS AND INVITE ANY CONTACTS FOR FUTURE PRIVATE ACQUISITIONS FOR DISPLAY HERE IN THE FUTURE .
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Gangsters with an artistic streak: Reggie (left) and Ronnie Kray in the 1960s
