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Original Gangsters with Sean Bean S01E04
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Short filmTranscript
00:00During the 1960s, two brothers dominated London's underworld.
00:12Wikey-wikey, mellon-mine.
00:16The Krays.
00:18But who was the criminal mastermind, even Ronnie and Regifield?
00:24The man they called the godfather of Britain.
00:28We all know that's not true, don't we?
00:58Charismatic, glamorous, violent and unhinged.
01:06The Kray Twins' exploits are the stuff of legend.
01:10They're the archetype of the London gangster.
01:14And it seems like almost everybody has a story about them.
01:18But while Reggie and Ronnie might be the most famous, they weren't the first.
01:23There was a criminal far more successful that showed them how he was done.
01:28And that man's name was Billy Hill.
01:32But what's confusing you is just the nature of my game.
01:44We've been creating myths around villains for centuries.
02:00Because those of us who live in a non-criminal environment often secretly fantasize about what it would be like to be a gangster.
02:09What would it be like to rob a bank?
02:11It gives us a buzz, but it also gives us a buzz when they get caught.
02:21But in reality, they don't actually all get caught.
02:27Successful criminals, nobody knows who they are.
02:31When the altruists come out about how big the money was he earned.
02:36He was the ultimate governor out of all of them.
02:40And even the Krays said it themselves.
02:42I always wanted to be like Billy Hill.
02:44I wanted to emulate Billy Hill.
02:46Billy Hill basically was a functioning psychopath
02:51who was able to extort, bribe, coerce people to do his bidding
02:59and hurt and killed a lot of people along the way.
03:04A psychopath who carved up London with violence and fear
03:08who would become the capital's criminal kingpin.
03:16Born William Charles Hill on the 13th of December 1911.
03:23His story starts in the Seven Dials area of London's West End.
03:27Then a slum with incredibly poor living conditions.
03:33Seven Dials was known as Thieves' Kitchen for very good reason.
03:37You couldn't turn a corner
03:38without someone either threatening you or trying to rob you.
03:42His father was a thief and his mother was a fence.
03:46He had a sister who was a member of the Elephant Gang
03:48who were the top shoplifters at the time.
03:51I guess you'd call them a criminal family.
03:53They had to be to survive.
03:55There were always visitors to the house
03:57who were involved in crime
03:58so criminal activity was normal to him.
04:03You have a choice as to whether you get stuck in and engage with it
04:06or you try and be something really, really different
04:09and that's a bigger challenge in many ways
04:12to pull yourself out and be different to the norm that's been created.
04:17Very early on, Billy found he had a certain penchant for burglary.
04:24He became a very competent thief.
04:28I think he found his craft.
04:30I think, like you or I might enjoy our jobs,
04:33he found something that he knew he was good at
04:35and for him, it was a very rational choice to do what he did.
04:39He was bound to be a criminal and he very quickly got good at it.
04:47There's rumours Billy committed his first stabbing at age 14.
04:52Official records show that at 60,
04:54he was convicted of burglary
04:57and sent to Boastle on a three-year sentence.
04:59Those same records describe an escape Billy made
05:07with another inmate
05:09during which they assaulted a housemaid.
05:14They were caught
05:16and he was brutally punished for it
05:18by being given 12 strokes of the birch.
05:22In later life,
05:32they describe the impact of that incident,
05:35saying,
05:36the birch tears you to pieces.
05:40But once you've had it,
05:42you feel you've really overcome something.
05:46You're tougher.
05:48And from then on,
05:50I knew that nothing on God's earth could stop me.
06:00He started to make connections in Boastle
06:02with other up-and-coming young criminals
06:04and he applied this networking ability
06:07to his career as a criminal
06:09when he came out of Boastle as well.
06:11And Billy quite quickly,
06:12by the time he was in his late teens,
06:14became the leader of this network,
06:16the main player in this network.
06:18Really, more than anything to me,
06:20he's a storyteller.
06:21He was able to create stories
06:23in the areas that he lived
06:25that created a rumour,
06:26that created myth,
06:27that created fear.
06:29He was aware of image.
06:31He would use a knife
06:33and he would carve a V on people's faces.
06:36That was his trademark.
06:37And the word went out
06:39that this was what this young man
06:41was willing to do.
06:42He becomes known for smashing grabs.
06:46His gang committed so many
06:49that the newspapers started calling it
06:51a crime wave.
06:54But a far bigger event
06:56would soon steal the headlines.
06:58By the time World War II comes around,
07:09Billy Hill has established himself
07:11as being a competent thief.
07:13There were shortages of everything.
07:15Clothing, building materials,
07:17food, cloth.
07:19And anything that you could steal,
07:22there was a market for.
07:24For criminals like Billy Hill,
07:26this was an opportunity.
07:28Huge fortunes could be made
07:31by providing people
07:32with what they couldn't get
07:34from their ration books.
07:36In a place like Seven Dials,
07:38and most of London for that matter,
07:40there'd always been a black market.
07:42But when the Second World War came,
07:44it exploded.
07:45A criminal like Billy Hill
07:47could go and buy
07:48700 boxes of cigarettes
07:51or often they'd be stolen
07:53and then he could sell them
07:54immediately on a street corner.
07:56Everything had a price
07:58and most things were worth
07:59much more than they were
08:00during peacetime.
08:01Billy's rights to prominence
08:04would put him on the radar
08:05of every major player in the game.
08:08And there was one London gangster
08:10in particular
08:11who had him in his sights.
08:14Jack Comer,
08:16a.k.a. Jack Spot.
08:19He was running scams
08:21at rice courses.
08:23He had gambling clubs.
08:24He was into protection.
08:26By the end of the Second World War,
08:29Spot had a bit of a foothold
08:31but not as much as he wanted.
08:33And at that point,
08:34he gets together with Billy Hill.
08:36The one place
08:37that it all came together?
08:40Soho.
08:41Well, it's Saturday night
08:42and I just got paid.
08:44Pull it by my money,
08:45don't try to save.
08:46The West End of London
08:48was the great honeypot.
08:50Now I'm feeling fine
08:51I'm gonna rock it up
08:52I'm gonna rip it up
08:55There were young men
08:56from all over the free world
08:58coming into London
08:59in preparation for D-Day
09:01and they had money to spend.
09:03They were spending money on drink.
09:05They were spending their money on food.
09:07They were spending their money on sex.
09:09So it was a boom time for Soho.
09:11The relationship between Billy Hill
09:14and Jack Spot
09:15was very important to both of them.
09:18They even went on holidays
09:19with their wives
09:20to the south of France.
09:21They came together
09:23as quite a formidable group.
09:28Billy's looking for an opportunity
09:30to actually be involved in crime
09:32without actually doing it himself
09:34and putting himself
09:35at risk of imprisonment.
09:38By 1948
09:40Hill
09:41had spent almost half
09:42of his 37 years in prison.
09:44The Criminal Justice Act
09:46threatened repeat offenders
09:48with preventative detention.
09:50So his next arrest
09:52would have meant a 14-year stretch.
09:56He'd been in and out of prison
09:57quite a number of times
09:58since his early teens
10:00and he wasn't gonna do it anymore.
10:02As Billy would say himself
10:04I made my mind up
10:06that I had seen
10:07the last of the inside of the nick
10:09and I meant it.
10:11But at the same time
10:12he was quietly putting
10:14the finishing touches
10:15to one of the biggest heists
10:17in British criminal history.
10:29In the early hours
10:30of May the 21st 1952
10:32one of the biggest unsolved crimes
10:36in Europe
10:37would take place
10:38near Oxford Street.
10:40The East Castle Street Robbery.
10:45Billy Hill was quite creative
10:47and he invented genres of crimes
10:49like the post office van robbery.
10:52Someone would get away
11:01with over £236,000
11:04worth over 7.3 million today.
11:09No one was ever arrested
11:11no one was convicted
11:12and none of the money was returned.
11:14Seventy-three years later
11:17after numerous investigations
11:20the crime remains unsolved.
11:25His girlfriend at the time
11:27Jim was one of the getaway drivers
11:29who had a very straightforward
11:32down-to-earth monitor
11:33she understood Billy Hill
11:35and I think
11:36she kept him intact.
11:41I'm Justin Hill
11:42the biological son of Billy Hill.
11:45I first met Billy and Jip
11:48in the children's home.
11:49They used to come and visit me.
11:51They opened the door
11:53and Jip was there
11:55and Billy behind
11:57and she knelt
11:58and opened up her arms
11:59and I run into them.
12:03Around about
12:04three and a half
12:06Billy and Jip got full care and control.
12:09That's when
12:11I could fill a family unit.
12:15She was
12:17Billy's ace card.
12:18There's a story of Billy and Jip
12:21at New Scotland Yard
12:23being interrogated
12:24for three days, three nights
12:26and by the end
12:28the police said
12:29let them go
12:30especially her
12:31even if she had
12:32Big Ben in her pocket
12:33she wouldn't tell you the time.
12:34But while Billy and Jip
12:36were busy being
12:37the West End's power couple
12:38two sharply dressed twin brothers
12:40were stepping onto the scene
12:42who would change the city forever.
12:45This lovely little lady
12:51came and opened the door
12:52you know like your mum
12:53she said
12:54well you must be Maureen
12:55come in
12:56would you like a cup of tea
12:58yes please
12:59I've made a lovely cake
13:01anyway I sat down
13:02and while she was making the tea
13:04I've looked up
13:05and all around this kitchen
13:07was hangers
13:08with pure white starched iron shirts
13:11she did it for my sons
13:15I drank my tea
13:19and I ate my lovely cake
13:21when I heard a door go
13:23and I heard Mum
13:25and she went
13:27oh that's Reggie
13:28in came this guy
13:35quite serious
13:36startled to see me
13:38I was a stranger
13:40and he went
13:41oh who are you
13:42I said well
13:44I'm the hairdresser
13:45and she said
13:46where's Ronnie
13:47the door goes
13:48click
13:49Mum
13:50I looked at him
13:52I thought
13:53if I wasn't here
13:55with their mother
13:56and I met him
13:57out
13:58I'd be frightened
14:00I'd be frightened
14:02of the look
14:03he gave me
14:04to find me there
14:07those eyes were terrifying
14:09and I've never met anybody
14:11that could intimidate you
14:13with just that one look
14:15we're still talking about the Crays today
14:20because
14:21they were
14:23in the eyes
14:24of the public
14:25an interesting
14:26exciting gang
14:28to look at
14:29if you was in their presence
14:31you didn't know
14:32you was in the presence of killers
14:33you know I have to tell you
14:35the word on the street
14:36amongst other people
14:37is
14:37they killed many more people
14:39than you know
14:40than what is out there
14:41the Cray twins
14:43would have heard
14:44of the East Castle Street
14:45robbery
14:46and how it made fortunes
14:47for those involved
14:49nobody took them very seriously
14:50back then
14:51they started to get a reputation
14:53for being hard nuts
14:54not a lot of people know
14:55that they were both
14:56professional boxers
14:57from a young age
14:58and they were
15:00at a boxing ring
15:01called Repton
15:05Reggie showed real promise
15:07he never lost
15:08a fight
15:09as a professional boxer
15:10the problem
15:11though
15:12was that
15:13Ronnie was often
15:14getting into fights
15:15outside
15:16of the boxing ring
15:20the first thing
15:21I'll say to him is
15:22you
15:23respect me
15:24respect my trainers
15:25if you feel
15:26you can't do that
15:27don't come to my club
15:28Reggie could have gone on
15:30and won titles
15:31I think the destruction
15:32from his brothers
15:32really took that away from him
15:34once you put guns
15:35in their hands
15:36that was it
15:37now
15:37they were away
15:38that's how they were
15:40identical twins
15:43are not always close
15:44but with Ronnie and Reggie
15:45we do see
15:46a very intense
15:47and close relationship
15:48it appears that
15:50they don't really see
15:51themselves as separate
15:52that they see themselves
15:53as one entity
15:54they're kind of functioning
15:55together doing the same thing
15:56and if one veers off
15:58the other one tends to follow
15:59as East Londoners
16:01they would have known
16:02the name Billy Hill
16:03everyone did
16:05to the craze
16:08Billy Hill was someone
16:09to look up to
16:09well dressed
16:11very smart
16:12lived
16:14a rather glossy lifestyle
16:16they wanted to be like
16:18Billy Hill
16:18but everybody wanted to be
16:19like Billy Hill
16:20you have to look at
16:22the East End
16:23where there's so much poverty
16:24where people are not
16:25getting a lot of opportunities
16:27to see other role models
16:29this is what I aspire to
16:31this is the way out
16:37following the success
16:38of the East Castle Street
16:39robbery
16:40Billy Hill thought it was
16:41really too easy
16:42two years later
16:441954
16:45he organises
16:46a robbery
16:47of a KLM van
16:48with gold bullion in it
16:49which was over 40,000 pounds
16:52in those days
16:53so it was a lot of money
16:54no one was ever convicted
16:57none of the gold
16:58was ever returned
16:59so again
17:00this is an example
17:01of someone
17:02who clearly
17:03has got
17:04criminal intelligence
17:06Bobby McHugh
17:07was important
17:08to Billy Hill
17:09he was a friend
17:10and Billy Hill's driver
17:11as well
17:12100 years old
17:13now Bobby
17:14a friend of mine
17:15was owed some money
17:16by a woman
17:17who had a club
17:18just off Piccadilly
17:20drinking club
17:21he asked me to say
17:22would I go and tell her
17:23to pay him
17:24and he said
17:25I'll come with you
17:26there was a hush
17:28obviously
17:29that you who Billy was
17:30and suddenly
17:31her dog came over
17:32and Billy went
17:33get out of the way
17:34get the dog
17:36he said
17:37make sure you pay that money
17:38you know who I am
17:39and when he went out
17:40he picked the dog up
17:41and said
17:42I didn't mean it
17:43I didn't mean it
17:44that was Billy
17:45one day
17:48we were
17:49sitting
17:50playing snap
17:51and
17:52I declared
17:53that I won
17:54so Billy turned around
17:56and said
17:57no I've won
17:58so
17:59me being
18:00a snotty-nosed
18:01kid
18:02got up
18:03and kicked him
18:04in the shins
18:05well
18:06I have never seen
18:07a face turn
18:08so quick
18:09I turned
18:10I run
18:11I got halfway up the stairs
18:13and all of a sudden
18:14I felt
18:15his hand
18:16on top of my head
18:17and he shook my head
18:18from side to side
18:20next I knew
18:22was Jip
18:23getting
18:24in the middle
18:25and he
18:26switched like that
18:28back to normal
18:29so we see someone
18:32who lies
18:33they are manipulative
18:34they are cunning
18:35that's the Machiavellianism
18:37he's glib
18:38he's charming
18:39he's superficial
18:40he's grandiose
18:41he's able to lure people to him
18:43to get them to do his bidding
18:45that's the psychopathy
18:47the narcissism
18:49he's controlling the story
18:50everything he says
18:52is a story
18:53it's what he wants you to see of him
18:56so that he can control the narrative
18:58Billy Hill by this time had become very friendly with a journalist called Duncan Webb
19:04and Duncan Webb was a top journalist for the Sunday people
19:08Sunday newspapers in those papers had a huge circulation
19:13over 4 million people bought the Sunday people
19:16not only did Duncan Webb become his public relations man
19:20but he also provided alibis for Billy Hill
19:24so he could avoid being arrested
19:26and used him unashamedly as a public relations machine almost for him as a criminal
19:33there was a series of articles written by Duncan Webb
19:37in collaboration with Billy Hill
19:39about Billy
19:40about what a criminal mastermind he was
19:43and that was then turned into a book
19:45Boss of Britain's Underworld
19:47Ghost Written by Duncan Webb
19:49this was the first ever professional criminal doing an autobiography
19:55so it's a pretty important moment
19:57when you look at all the true crime books that have been produced since
20:00many of them written by criminals or through ghost writers
20:03and this book not only got published
20:05but Billy Hill had a massive launch party for his autobiography
20:10he had lords there
20:12he had celebrities like Diana Dawes
20:15this was like almost society approving of Billy Hill
20:19and they were all quite fascinated
20:21because he didn't come marching in with a gun
20:23or punch someone in the face
20:25he was good at having a chat
20:27he could relate to anybody
20:29well a lot of people thought he looked like Humphrey Bogart
20:32he was good at PR
20:34he was carefully photographed wearing a trench coat and a trilby hat
20:37he was everybody's idea of what a gangster should look like
20:41all of it is a play into his world
20:44he's someone that has been very very clever at constructing
20:50a narrative that he wants other people to believe of him
20:55but in the criminal world notoriety came at the cost
21:01fame made Billy a marked man
21:04and it would nearly prove fatal
21:08Jack Spot was very jealous of Billy Hill
21:10he broke Duncan Webb's arm in a fit of temper
21:14and he got his own ghostwriter
21:16a book came out full of hype
21:19Jack Spot a man of a thousand cuts
21:22the festering grievance between Hill and Spot
21:27who had one time been very close
21:29was now quite out in the open
21:32and something was going to give
21:36Spot hired a group of young men
21:39provided them with guns
21:41and they were going to shoot Billy Hill
21:43word got out that this is what was going to happen
21:46these young men were captured
21:49the guns were taken from them
21:51Billy Hill decided Spot will be attacked
21:54but not killed
21:57Billy Hill was very keen on not killing him
22:00got to remember this time that capital punishment was still there
22:04if you killed someone you were going to get harmed
22:07one night Jack Spot and his wife Rita were attacked
22:11it was Frank Fraser that did it
22:13Fraser used the shillelagh
22:16a traditional Irish implement
22:18and this particular shillelagh
22:21had been given to Billy Hill by Jack Spot
22:25when they were on much friendlier terms
22:27so it was a highly symbolic weapon for Fraser to use
22:30and when Spot was on the ground
22:32Fraser then took out his razor
22:34and slashed his face many times
22:38my name is Jack Spot
22:41they cut my ear
22:44you see on the floor
22:46which I picked up later and put in my pocket
22:48they cut me from here
22:50down here
22:51stared me
22:53Billy Hill
22:55he destroyed me
22:57what a bastard
22:59a psychopath will feel nothing
23:02about removing you out of the equation
23:05you were standing in their way of having their needs met
23:08it's about domination
23:09it's about control
23:10it's about taking over
23:11you know
23:12and when you're on that kind of train
23:13of course there's no way back anyway
23:15so you really have to push forward
23:17and anyone who stands in your way
23:18they are surplus to requirements
23:21Jack Spot was out and the crews were moving in
23:25except this time
23:27Billy didn't see an enemy
23:29he saw an opportunity
23:31as he embarked on one of the greatest cons ever pulled in British history
23:42The Cray twins were called up
23:44as all the other 18 year olds were
23:46to serve national service
23:47and they didn't last long
23:49but it was an important time for the Crays
23:51because it's then that they established their anti-authoritarianism
23:54anti-authoritarian lifestyle
23:56and they came into contact with deserters
23:58they came into contact with black marketeers
24:00they came into contact with some heavy duty gangsters
24:03and Billy Hill was part of that world
24:06When the Cray twins met him
24:08they immediately idolised him
24:11Billy Hill's initial response was really
24:13can I use these guys
24:14because that's what gangsters do
24:16he tested them out
24:17by phoning them late one night
24:19and saying
24:20I need you to come to my home
24:22now
24:24The Crays got some guns together
24:26they went to his home
24:27and said where's the trouble
24:28nothing later
24:29so I was just testing you
24:30and he gave them 500 pounds
24:32What Billy Hill did that day
24:36set the Crays off in motion
24:38and was probably the moment
24:40where they decided they wanted to go up the ladder
24:42Billy Hill saw a lot of potential in them
24:46and knew that they were the next follow on thing
24:50The Crays started their own clubs
24:52they had the billiard hall first of all
24:54but it was from the billiard hall
24:55that they were able to start getting involved in bits and pieces of protection
24:58During the 50s protection rackets became a very big source of income for criminals
25:05were worried your shop might get burnt to the ground by a thug
25:09but if you pay us we'll make sure those thugs don't
25:11well of course the thug was the one who would do the burning
25:14They managed to acquire the double R club
25:18that was really the beginning of when they started to infiltrate into the club life
25:22Reg always wanted to be a club owner
25:24they'd be a slightly criminal club owner
25:26but nonetheless a club owner
25:30It was their first chance to create a club atmosphere
25:34that brought the West End to the East End
25:37and that is something that made them idols in a lot of East Enders lives
25:43It was a step away from their East End lifestyle
25:47they got to dress up as if they were rich and they loved that
25:52Most clubs are very respectable you know
25:54and I don't think there's any trouble at all in them
25:57except occasionally
25:58you know and sometimes they have to be slow out
26:01Jack Spot's demise paved way for the Crays
26:05that's when Billy tried to guide and advise
26:11By the mid-1950s Billy was looking around for the next stage in his life
26:16He had plenty of money
26:18he could have retired easily at this point
26:20but there's always room for more money
26:22Billy Hill was a gambler
26:24he understood gambling
26:25but he didn't like the racetrack gangs
26:27he wasn't interested in them
26:28he was interested in making money
26:30Billy Hill's ability to mix with aristocrats
26:34worked out very well for him at one stage in London
26:37because he was frequenting casinos and gambling clubs
26:41particularly the Claremont which was a very famous one
26:44run by John Aspinall
26:46a notoriously rich, artful character
26:50who was known as Britain's number one gambler
26:53Billy Hill not only went to these clubs
26:56but in the Claremont he decided he could see a classic opportunity
27:01One of the most outrageous scams ever perpetrated on London's high society
27:08has to be what happened at the Claremont Club
27:11what would come to be known as the Big Edge
27:17Now he was a traveller, he liked to travel
27:19from Monte Carlo, Nice, North Africa
27:22wherever he went, he would talk to people
27:26and he picked up on one of his trips
27:29from some Culsican organised crime figures
27:32a scam which he would turn into
27:35probably the biggest card scam that we've seen
27:38See the French were using it for years
27:41but nobody knew about it
27:42they came in and showed us how to do it
27:45The Big Edge
27:47But how did they do it?
27:52The Big Edge involved putting cards through a kind of mangle
27:57which would give them a certain wrinkle
27:59and people who were properly trained
28:01could see the wrinkle
28:03and decide what kind of card it was
28:05and decide how to play their particular hand
28:08The way that we were doing it
28:10was just by bending the cards
28:12and Billy was in the middle of it
28:15he was organising it
28:16and they were fleecing gamblers
28:18left, right and centre
28:20they made millions
28:24It was reported at the time
28:25that the 18th Earl of Derby
28:27lost over 1.7 million in today's money
28:31in one night
28:35It was like robbing Fort Knox
28:36and the Bank of England at the same time
28:39just a lot easier
28:41said Bobby McHugh
28:45While Billy was flying under the radar in the West End
28:48over in the East
28:50things were getting out of hand
28:51Running into one another
28:56Outside a cafe in Paris
29:00The Crea twins were becoming known
29:02for their willingness to fight anyone who challenged them
29:05They were violent guys
29:06I could tell you many
29:08few stories
29:09Ronnie stood up
29:10cocked a gun
29:11stuck it in one of the Dixon's mouth
29:13knocked his teeth out
29:14stabbed him about four times in the neck
29:16One little story I will tell you
29:18there was a fella who would sell stolen goods
29:20jewellery, clothing, shoes or whatever
29:22but obviously that interfered with Ronnie and Reggie's business
29:25they shot him three times
29:27they didn't kill him
29:28they dragged him down the road
29:29slowed him down the boiler
29:30into the boiler on this big shovel
29:32he went in there
29:33that's the end of him
29:34they burned him alive
29:36you say you've been with many others
29:39Ronnie was the maniac
29:40he had a bit of trouble with amongst his family in Brick Lane
29:43he pulled out his sword
29:45his sword was enormous
29:46about seven foot long
29:47they were smashing the door down with his sword
29:50Ronnie really went into him
29:52he put boiling water over him
29:54got a saw out of the car
29:56got this guy on the corner of the road on the curb
29:59and started sawing his leg off
30:02that's been he said they were nice boys
30:04they weren't nice
30:05they were
30:06they were quiet but
30:07they were all right
30:08since the death of you and
30:10in 1956
30:11Ronnie and his brother in fact
30:20beat up a lad called Terry Martin
30:22and it was a substantial beating
30:24including bayonets stabbing
30:26and Ronnie would go on to be convicted
30:28of grievous bodily harm with intent
30:30it's whilst he's in prison
30:32serving this three year sentence
30:34that he was examined by the doctors
30:36and he is diagnosed as schizophrenic
30:39Ronnie was diagnosed with schizophrenia
30:41and in particular paranoid schizophrenia
30:43which is a really serious diagnosis
30:46and he would have been really struggling
30:48with a lot of really serious symptoms
30:51particularly obviously being paranoid
30:53can you believe what people are saying
30:55he would have arguably been experiencing
30:57some kind of hallucinations as well
30:59potentially voices
31:01today people who get the right help
31:03can function perfectly normally within society
31:06unfortunately Ronnie at the time
31:08didn't get the help that he needed
31:12like some of the other criminals we've looked at
31:15the Krays were very good at
31:18exploiting their media image
31:20they didn't look typical of
31:24an East End gangster
31:26suit, tie, pocket square
31:28hair gel black
31:30the whole bit
31:31the Kray twins had celebrities
31:34in their pockets
31:35so it's no surprise
31:36that the media were also there
31:38the British media were
31:40putting these people on the front pages
31:42as people to be reckoned with
31:43and almost people to be admired
31:46they have wide interests
31:48in the theatre and in entertainment
31:50and they're well known for their
31:52fundraising work for charity
31:54for some years they've been concerned
31:55of the running of a number of
31:57West End and East End clubs
31:59they had a finger in every part
32:01they could pick up a phone
32:03and phone
32:04Lord Boothby
32:06now Boothby of course was
32:08a conservative peer
32:09senior member of the
32:11Tory party
32:12Ronnie was homosexual
32:14homosexuality
32:16was illegal at that time
32:18but
32:19there were
32:20homosexual orgies going on
32:22and it was just an open secret
32:28that these two were engaged
32:29in these activities
32:30Lord Boothby denied it
32:32he said there's no
32:33inappropriate relationship
32:34but actually reality was
32:36they were in bed together
32:37literally and metaphorically
32:38I must tell you this little story
32:41when they became friends
32:43Boothby
32:44he said would you like to have dinner
32:46at the House of Lords
32:48that wouldn't impress Ronnie Cray
32:50it'd just be the food
32:52he said
32:53yeah if you want to take me
32:54he said
32:55okay
32:56and he went to the House of Lords
32:57for
32:58dinner
32:59and Boothby
33:00he said
33:01they do wonderful cocktails
33:03here Ronnie
33:04he said
33:05hmm
33:06I might like to try
33:07one of those cocktails
33:09I've heard about them
33:10what sort of cocktail do you want
33:12he said
33:13um
33:14a prawn cocktail
33:15Ronny Cray's association
33:19with Lord Boothby
33:20provided a safety net
33:22if you like
33:23for the Crays
33:24the following year
33:25when the Crays were again arrested
33:26the prosecution
33:27collapsed
33:28because Boothby was in
33:29their House of Lords
33:30making big noises
33:31in support of the Crays
33:32to say
33:33these guys are being picked on
33:34the police are acting
33:35inappropriately
33:36and these people should be
33:37out of custody
33:38and out on the streets
33:39from the point of view
33:40of the country
33:41they ought to be released
33:43tomorrow
33:44because there is no question
33:46of the rights and wrongs
33:47of this matter
33:48from 1964 onwards
33:50it effectively gave
33:51the Crays a free hand
33:52to operate in the East End
33:54and of course
33:55this is the beginning
33:56of their most violent period
33:57the brothers had considerable clout
33:59not only in the underworld
34:01but also in the media
34:02and in parliament
34:03they must have felt invincible
34:05but maybe that would be their downfall
34:071966 is when everything started going downhill
34:22for the Cray twins
34:24a few years earlier
34:26Ronnie Cray
34:27was described
34:28by George Canal
34:29supposedly
34:30as a big fat puff
34:31now this of course
34:33had not gone down too well
34:34with Ronnie Cray
34:35he hadn't dealt with it
34:36at the time
34:37and he thought
34:38it's now time
34:39for him to go and settle
34:40the matter
34:41one night
34:43he was just drinking
34:44in the lion pub
34:45a pub that they often went to
34:47and decided mid pint
34:49that he was going to walk across
34:51to the blind beggar
34:52where he knew George Cornell was
34:54he comes in the side door
34:56from the side street
34:57and he turns left at the bar
35:00Cornell said in a rather sarcastic way
35:02well look who's just walked in
35:05he didn't say one word
35:08he walked in
35:09and he shot him straight through the head
35:11there
35:12and he fell on the floor
35:15and they all told me
35:16the song that was being played on the time
35:18was the sun ain't gonna shine anymore
35:20they'll be here
35:25it was a prime example
35:27not only of their brutality
35:29but also of their recklessness
35:33and they hot-footed it to where else
35:35but Morocco
35:36where Billy Hill was
35:37Billy Hill first went to Morocco
35:39in the late 40s early 50s
35:42and got involved in smuggling
35:44he'd spotted something
35:45an opportunity
35:46and it was cheap cigarettes
35:48and he'd started to import
35:50cigarettes illegally of course
35:52from Morocco to the UK
35:54and it was a very lucrative business
35:56for Billy Hill
35:57and it kept him away from London
35:59and away from the police
36:01he took the brothers
36:03to Morocco
36:04he gave him a good holiday
36:06and it was a lesson
36:08it was educational
36:10but the lesson wasn't taken to heart
36:12and soon the Krays were back unleashing terror
36:15on the streets of London once more
36:17their next victim
36:18Jack the Hat McVitie
36:21Jack the Hat was a harmless person
36:24he wasn't a violent man
36:26he was a thief
36:27he was a pest
36:28but what they did
36:29was completely over the top
36:31The Krays and the bulk of the firm
36:36were drinking in the pub
36:37called the Carpenters Arms
36:38I believe Mum was there
36:39I believe Dad may have even been there
36:41Ronnie, he was quite erratic
36:43his mental health was mostly out of control
36:47throughout that time period
36:48and he decided that was the night
36:50that Jack the Hat was going to get his comeuppance
36:54now they had a flat just round the corner
36:56and they decided what they were going to do
36:58was to try and set up what looked like a bit of a party
37:01and a couple of the other members of the firm
37:03were told to go out and get Jack the Hat
37:05tell him that there's a party round the corner
37:08Jack the Hat was found, he was drunk
37:10he willingly went to the flat
37:13there's only when he got to the bottom of the stairs
37:15he realised it's a trick
37:17he's approached by Reggie
37:19being of course urged on by his brother
37:21go on, go and kill him, go and kill him
37:23and Reggie is really in a poor state apparently
37:26produced his gun, pulled the trigger
37:29but it didn't go off
37:30so Jack McVitie had his opportunity to escape
37:33he ran and smashed the window
37:35and tried to get out
37:37as he tried
37:39he was pulled back in
37:40when he walks out the kitchen with a big knife
37:42he says to Reggie
37:43and says go to work
37:44get rid of him
37:47he stabs McVitie first in the head and the neck
37:50and then the torso
37:54it was just a blood barb
37:56one person would even say
37:58it even looked like his head decapitated from his body
38:01to this day the body has never been found
38:13by very publicly committing the killings of Jack the Hat
38:16and George Cornell
38:18the Cree twins were almost telling the police
38:21come and get me
38:22their volatility was too much
38:25they basically self combusted with the two murders that they committed
38:29it became impossible for the police to ignore them
38:33and eventually they decided enough's enough
38:35and they appointed a man called Lennon Reed
38:37Nipper Reed famously in 1967
38:39who had one job only
38:40clear you're in trade
38:41the only job you've got to do
38:42is get the craze
38:45and effectively one by one
38:46there was this domino effect
38:48of people starting to talk
38:50and eventually Nipper had sufficient evidence
38:52to prosecute for the murder of McVitie
38:55and the shooting of course
38:57of George Cornell
38:58the 34 year old
39:00ex-boxer brothers
39:01Reginald and Ronald
39:03came here with flying squad officers
39:05at 6 o'clock this morning
39:07they were in bed
39:08when the officers called
39:09to their home
39:10in shortage
39:12the Cree twins later years
39:14were spent in prison
39:16while the empire they'd built
39:18unraveled
39:19a successful criminal is someone
39:26who's made a good living
39:29never come to the attention of the police
39:31and people don't know they're criminals
39:33if you go to prison
39:35doesn't sound very successful to me
39:38by the time they'd gone to prison
39:42Billy Hill was in retirement
39:44in Tangier
39:45but also had a home in Marbella
39:46he was one of the first of the British crims
39:49to go down there
39:50so he was successful
39:52he got out with his money
39:54he got out with his sanity
39:56and he could live the life
39:58before he met Jip
40:01Billy was in and out of prison
40:04the day he met Jip
40:05he never done a day's time
40:09while battling ill health brought on
40:11by a lifetime of smoking
40:13Billy Hill would die at his home
40:15in Bayswater
40:16on the 1st of January 1984
40:18aged 72
40:20Billy took an overdose
40:25of sleeping tablets
40:27so basically
40:28he was bossed till the end
40:30of his own destiny
40:32Billy made a hundred times more
40:34than both and put together
40:36Frankie Fraser used to say
40:38he died the richest man
40:39in the graveyard
40:40his death certificate said
40:43he worked in demolition
40:45in prison meanwhile
40:48Ronnie's mental health
40:50deteriorated rapidly
40:52he clashed repeatedly
40:54with prison staff
40:55and other inmates
40:56and ended up getting
40:57even more isolated
40:58within the system
40:59at the beginning
41:01when he first went there
41:02I went with Mrs. Cray
41:03a lot of times
41:04and he behaved
41:05and he was good
41:06he said
41:07when I come home
41:08I'm going to Suffolk
41:10he's buying a house
41:11with Reggie
41:12the two of them are living together
41:13and then I'm going to travel
41:15which he does say
41:16in that interview
41:17doesn't he?
41:18well I'd like to go abroad
41:19for a short while
41:20and then I'd like to be left alone
41:22Reggie on the other hand
41:25although the steadier
41:26and more stable of the two
41:28remained imprisoned
41:29for over 30 years
41:31Ronnie died in 1995
41:34Reggie was allowed out
41:36to attend the funeral
41:38where he was joined
41:39by hundreds of well-wishers
41:40and supporters
41:41Reggie died from terminal cancer
41:43aged 66
41:45on the 1st of October 2000
41:47he was buried
41:49beside Ronnie
41:51the Cray twins legacy
41:53is a strange combination
41:55of myth and fact
41:57they're remembered as
41:58both notorious criminals
42:00and also as enigmatic figures
42:03who captivated the public imagination
42:06and symbolised the rebellion
42:08of the working classes
42:09against the establishment
42:12in the end
42:13they made more money
42:14off their books
42:15and exploiting their name
42:16while they were behind bars
42:17than they ever did
42:18from any of the crimes
42:19that they committed
42:21there's a lot of people
42:22who saw them as
42:24working-class heroes
42:26when they eventually died
42:27in 1995 and 2000
42:30the streets of London
42:32littered with people
42:33watching the cortege
42:34and the limousines
42:35that followed their coffins
42:37to their greys
42:38still people
42:39apparently saying
42:40on the street
42:41they were good lads really
42:42but actually the reality was
42:44they were dangerous
42:45violent individuals
42:47the greys tried to give
42:49the impression
42:50they were robbing hoods
42:51you know
42:52taking from the rich
42:53giving to the poor
42:54it was absolute nonsense
42:56they didn't care
42:58who they intimidated
42:59or robbed
43:00as long as they got
43:01what they wanted
43:02Billy Hill's legacy
43:05was a bit more complex
43:07he was a good man
43:09I mean you can't judge someone
43:12on their upbringing
43:14it was inevitable
43:15he was going to do
43:16what he was going to do
43:17put that aside
43:19he was a gentleman
43:21old school
43:22in some ways
43:24he was a kind of trailblazer
43:26in organised crime
43:27he combined intelligence
43:29charm
43:30and ruthlessness
43:32to dominate Britain's underworld
43:34he was much smarter
43:37more calculating
43:38than his pupils
43:40which made him
43:41much more dangerous
43:42and maybe that's why
43:44when he is talked about
43:45although
43:46might not be as much
43:47as the creys
43:48he's just the godfather
43:50of the city
43:53come down
43:54off your throne
43:56and leave your body alone
43:59somebody must change
44:04you are the reason
44:06i've been waiting so long
44:10somebody holds the key
44:14well I'm a million
44:17i just think
44:18I've been
44:19got the time
44:21well
44:24maybe i have the answer
44:26you don't even have the time
44:28maybe i have the answer
44:29you just think
44:31got the time
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