Freddie Foreman: The Kray Twins' Enforcer Remembered

Freddie Foreman, a feared enforcer for the infamous Kray Twins and a man linked to multiple murders, has died at the age of 94. His death in a care home has prompted a wave of tributes on social media, with many hailing him as a "lovable rogue" and a "legend," sparking debate about the public's perception of violent criminals.

Foreman, nicknamed 'Brown Bread' Fred—Cockney rhyming slang for dead—was a central figure in London's underworld for decades. He rose from petty theft and violence to become a notorious armed robber and gangland enforcer. At one Old Bailey trial, he was accused of ripping out the heart of a victim after he and an associate shot the man dead at point-blank range. Despite being acquitted of murder four times, his criminal celebrity grew throughout his life.

His death has seen a resurgence of misguided eulogies, with some suggesting that had Foreman and his ilk still controlled the underworld, society would be safer. This perception aligns with the image Foreman himself cultivated—that of a villain, yes, but one who was admired as well as feared, firm yet fair. His 1990s memoir, "Respect – The Managing Director of British Crime," was launched at a star-studded event, further cementing his public persona.

Foreman's criminal career was extensive and brutal. He is most notably linked to the 1960s murders of Frank 'Mad Axeman' Mitchell and Jack 'the Hat' McVitie. Mitchell, a volatile convict sprung from Dartmoor by the Krays, was lured into a van on Christmas Eve 1966 by Foreman and an accomplice, then shot 15 times. Foreman later claimed this was revenge for his brother's shooting. While acquitted of Mitchell's murder, details emerged of Foreman's alleged confession to dismembering the body and dumping it in the Channel, a stark contrast to the initial belief it was encased in a motorway pillar. He also admitted in his memoir to shooting Ginger Marks, a used car dealer, outside a Kray-owned nightclub in 1965, though his body was never found.

Foreman was already serving a ten-year sentence for disposing of McVitie's body, who had been fatally stabbed by Reggie Kray in 1967. The Krays had hired McVitie to kill a former associate, Leslie Payne. When the Krays were eventually brought to justice for the murders of McVitie and George Cornell, Foreman was convicted for his role in concealing McVitie's remains. Despite this, Foreman often disavowed the 'godfather' status attributed to him, preferring to be seen as 'one of the chaps.'

He denied involvement in the 1963 Great Train Robbery but claimed to have been sounded out as a participant. He did, however, claim to have organized Ronnie Biggs's escape from Wandsworth prison two years later.

Born in Battersea in 1932, Foreman grew up surrounded by bare-knuckle fights and was sent to a boxing gym. He started in petty crime as a 'spiv' and by the early 1950s led his own gang. He also collaborated with an all-women shoplifting ring known as the Forty Thieves. Proceeds from his criminal activities, including post office robberies, were invested in cash-based businesses like gyms, pubs, and betting shops.

Foreman's life was marked by periods of evading law enforcement. After a botched raid involving the death of a customs officer, he fled to the US, only to be lured back for the 1983 Security Express robbery, Britain's largest cash heist at the time, where he and five armed men escaped with £7 million. During this raid, a guard was blindfolded, doused with petrol, and threatened with immolation. Foreman later stated with pride that no one required hospitalization, though he was arrested six years later in Spain and extradited to Britain, where he received a nine-year sentence for handling stolen money.

While Foreman's criminal enterprises allowed him to educate his sons in fee-paying schools, his personal life was marked by separation from his wife, Maureen, who died in 2015. Reports from three years prior indicated he was penniless and estranged from his family. His final years were spent in a nursing home, where a framed photograph of the Kray Twins reportedly remained on his bedside table.