Britain's most infamous gangs: The 'families' that ruled the UK's underworld | Daily Star
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Britain's most infamous gangs: The 'families' that ruled the UK's underworld
FROM the Krays in 1960s London to mobsters who impose iron grips on inner cities today, gangs have always played a bloody role in underworld culture.
GUNNED DOWN: Letisha Shakespeare and Cheryl Shaw were caught in deadly crossfire [NEWSTEAM INTERNATIONAL]
Here NADINE LINGE looks at some of Britain’s most infamous criminal ‘families’.
BURGER BAR BOYS
Where? Birmingham
Who are they?
Hardly anyone had heard of the Burger Bar Boys until the murders of innocent teenagers Letisha Shakespeare and Charlene Ellis in 2003.
Twins Charlene and Sophia Ellis, 18, and their cousins Letisha Shakespeare and Cheryl Shaw, both 17, were caught in crossfire as they left a New Year’s Day party at the Uni7 hairdressing salon in Aston.
As they stood outside, the killers, members of the Burger Bar Boys, drove by and fired a sub-machine gun, hitting both girls several times.
Charlene and only child Letisha were killed, the blameless victims of a bitter gangland feud.
Until then, the bloody turf war for the city drugs trade between the Burger Bar Boys and Johnson Crew had been relatively unknown to all but those most affected by them.
NEW YEAR'S DAY: The girls were shot leaving a New Year's Day party [NEWSTEAM INTERNATIONAL]
“Faced with poverty in inner-city Birmingham and the threat of the far right, young people banded together in groups which soon turned to petty crime and robbery”
The gangs formed after the Handsworth riots in 1985. Two people died, more than 35 were injured and shops were looted during the unrest, blamed on racial tension, police arrests and rising unemployment.
Faced with poverty in inner-city Birmingham and the threat of the far right, young people banded together in groups which soon turned to petty crime and robbery.
By the late 1980s, the Johnson Crew, named after their Johnsons Café hang-out, controlled the drugs market and nightclub security across a huge swathe of the city.
At some point there was a fall-out between members, the cause attributed at various times to jealousy over a woman, a botched drugs deal and even a row over who won a computer game.
It led to the creation of the Burger Bar Boys, which took its name from a Soho Road fast-food joint.
LINE UP: Marcus Ellis, 24, Michael Gregory, 23, Nathan Martin, 26, Rodrigo Simms, 20, were all found guilty [PA]
PEACEMAKERS: Dylan Duffus, Simeon Moore and Matthias Thompson who have collectively, helped to form social enterprise One Mile Away [DAVID SILLTOE]
The Johnson Crew were based in Aston and the Burger Bar Boys operated in neighbouring Handsworth. The two postcodes where the gangs ruled the roost, B6 and B21, were only a mile apart.
As their power grew, so did their rivalry, and by 2000 there were regular shootings over drugs.
Ashi Walker, a senior member of the Johnson Crew, was shot dead.
Then another highly-placed member, Christopher Clarke, was stabbed to death.
The case against the main suspect, Yohanne Martin, 24, a Burger Bar Boy, was dropped because witnesses were too scared to give evidence.
The Johnsons went after Martin and in August 2002, he was shot six times as he sat in a car in West Bromwich, dying instantly.
Martin’s brother, Nathan, was among the gang behind the reprisal shootings at the Uni7 salon.
While the killings of Letisha and Charlene shocked the nation, they marked a watershed in how police tackled gangs.
In the 2005 trial of the four men accused of murder, anonymous witnesses were allowed to give evidence for the first time.
Charlene’s half-brother Marcus Ellis, 24, Michael Gregory, 22, Nathan Martin, 26 and Rodrigo Simms, 20, were jailed for life at Leicester Crown Court.
But things have improved in recent years.
In 2010, Matthias “Shabba” Thompson, 33, affiliated to the Johnsons, decided to make a change.
In September 2010, he contacted a film-maker called Penny Woolcock, who he had met five years earlier when she was researching a hip-hop musical called 1 Day.
He knew she had built up trust with the Burger Bar Boys and thought she might be able to help him start a conversation between the two sides.
Through Penny, he approached Dylan Duffus, the star of 1 Day and affiliated to the Burgers.
Over a year, they began to break down mistrust between the two gangs in front of the camera.
By the end of the film they describe each other as “brothers from another mother”.
When filming ended Shabba and Dylan, along with Johnsons elder Simeon “Zimbio” Moore, set up an organisation to continue their work.
Penny’s film One Mile Away was shown on Channel 4 earlier this year. Violent crime has fallen by 50% in the B6 postcode area and 30% in B21.
BOY: Liverpool schoolboy Rhys Jones was shot and killed at the age of 11 [ENTERPRISE]
THE CROXTETH CREW
Where: Liverpool
Who are they?
Street gangs in Liverpool have been in existence since the mid-19th Century but the light was firmly shone on these groups with the death of schoolboy Rhys Jones in 2007.
Tragic Rhys was caught in the crossfire as he crossed a pub car park where 16-year-old Sean Mercer, a member of the 31-strong Croxteth Crew, was lying in wait for an opposing gang member.
Mercer, hooded and riding a bike, held out a gun and fired three shots meant for rival gangsters, one of which hit Rhys and pierced his back.
The Everton-mad lad died in the arms of his mum outside the Fir Tree pub in Croxteth.
Witnesses were too scared to come forward and it took until December the following year for Mercer to be convicted of the murder and ordered to serve a minimum of 22 years.
BABY: "Baby-faced" Sean Mercer, 18, of Croxteth, who was convicted of the murder of Rhys Jones [ENTERPRISE]
But Rhys was just an innocent victim in the fierce and bloody gang war etween the Croxteth Crew and rivals the Strand Gang, aka Nogga Dogz, based in neighbouring Norris Green.
Before Rhys’s needless death on his way back from football practice,there had been battles between the two sides so intense that 17 shootings took place in three years.
Most opposing members went to school together and grew up just a few streets apart.
But they swore loyalty to their own estate, hated anyone they saw as rivals and feuded over drug dealing patches.
One local MP described the situation as “like Chicago in the 1920s”.
Despite the spate of shootings, there were only two fatalities.
Danny McDonald, the leader of the 41-strong Croxteth Crew, was shot in the
Royal Oak pub on New Year’s Day 2003, sparking the bloody feud.
The Croxteth Crew had to wait three years before taking revenge.
RIDE: Rhys Jones rides his bike shortly before his tragic murder [PA]
SHOCK: The crime shocked the city of Liverpool and the entire country [GETTY]
It came when members gunned down Liam “Smigger” Smith, 19, the leader of lawless Norris Green youths, in 2006 as he left Altcourse prison where he had
been visiting a pal.
Three teenagers were convicted of his murder, another of manslaughter. The feud raged on between the rival groups, and Rhys was murdered a day before the first anniversary of Smith’s death.
But while MPs and police vowed to crack down on the city’s gangs, the war still goes on.
Joe Thompson, a member of the Strand gang and suspect in the killing of a senior Croxteth Crew figure, was gunned down last year.
Most of the Croxteth Crew are now behind bars but the next generation, who dub themselves “Crocky Young Guns”, are emerging to take their place.
Seven were jailed this year for a total of 113 years for carrying out a terror campaign of punishment shootings and fire-bombings.
GRIEF: The youngster's death caused a huge outpouring of grief across Merseyside [GETTY]
SECURITY: The trial of Sean Mercer was a high-profile event and required massive levels of security [GETTY]
THE PECKHAM BOYS
Where: South-east London
Who are they?
Up to 200 gangs are thought to be operating in London but the Peckham Boys have become among the most known and feared.
They have been around for more than 50 years, with generations of the same families involved.
With a mixed-race membership and a command structure like the Mafia, elders provide guns and knives and control teams of younger thugs who bring in stolen cash and valuables.
Two members of the gang were responsible for the horrific death of Damilola Taylor in 2000 in a filthy stairwell in the North Peckham estate.
Dami, whose parents brought him from Nigeria in the hope of building a better life, was walking back from an after-school computer club when Ricky Preddie, 13 and his brother Danny, 12 pounced.
They used a broken bottle to “juke” or stab the 10-year-old. A shard severed an artery and he bled to death.
STABBING: The knifing of Damilola Taylor remains one of Britain's most infamous crimes [GETTY]
It is thought he was targeted because Danny wanted his jacket.
Five days later the Preddies were arrested but a series of a errors meant they were only jailed in 2006.
Danny was released in September 2011 after five years.
Ricky was granted early release three times since 2010, but breached parole.
Last month he appeared at court over driving offences and appeared to mock his victim, holding a misspelled sign which read: “Real justice for Damiola Taylor.”
KILLER: Ricky Preddie one of the two brothers convicted over the killing of Damilola Taylor [PA]
TARGET: It is thought the brothers targeted Damilola for his jacket [GETTY]
Where: Manchester
Who are they?
Desmond “Dessie” Noonan was born in Whalley Range, Manchester, in 1959.
Along with brother Dominic, he became a bouncer at Manchester bars and clubs, including the Hacienda.
He then started to put his own men on the doors and, by the late 1980s, it was thought he controlled 80% of nightlife security in the city.
In 1992, Dessie, was charged with the murder of Tony Johnson, head of the Cheetham Hill Gang, and shooting another man. He was cleared after several witnesses failed to appear at court.
When they had trouble with another gang, Noonan got a shotgun and a machete and went to a pub where they drank. He said: “One of the gang lads’ dogs was about, so we chopped its head off.
“We carried it inside and put it on the pool table and told them to stay away from the Hacienda, otherwise the next time it would be a human head. They never came back.”
BOUNCER: The Noonans were one of Britain's most vicious gangs [PH]
ENFORCER: Gangland enforcer Desmond Noonan [CAVENDISH]
Dessie and Dominik come from a family of 16, with every one of the 14 children, boys and girls, christened with a name beginning with D after their original home city Dublin.
Dominic, has more than 40 convictions for armed robbery, assaulting police, attacks on prison officers, deception, firearms and fraud.
Dessie and Dominic filmed a documentary shortly before Dessie’s death in 2005, when the 46-year-old dad-of-two was fatally stabbed near his home.
The police believed Dessie was responsible for 25 murders during a 20-year reign of terror.
During the show, he denied the figure 25, but held up seven fingers when asked how many he had killed, implying the true number was 27.
Where? Glasgow
Who are they? The Thompson Family had a grip on Glasgow from the 1950s.
The “Godfather” of the group, Arthur Thompson, began his criminal empire as a council estate money lender and those who failed to pay their debts were crucified to doors and furniture.
Arthur was a leading underworld figure in Scotland but he was also friendly with the Krays, as well as “Mad” Frankie Fraser.
In an interview, Fraser once said: “Down south, we viewed Glasgow as the Wild West. The violence was on a much, much higher level.
“So the person in charge would have to have been something very special, and Arthur was certainly that.”
In 1966 he escaped death when a bomb exploded in his car. His mother-in-law was killed.
Later he drove his Jaguar at the van of the two men he suspected of planting it, killing the pair.
RULED: Arthur Thompson Glasgow with an iron fist [GETTY]
He was charged with manslaughter but no witnesses came forward.
By the 1980s, the family had moved into the drugs trade, with eldest son Arthur Jr, aka Fat Boy, operating out of Blackhill in Glasgow.
The money poured in, and they built a luxury fortress home called The Ponderosa.
In 1985, Fat Boy was jailed for 11 years after a huge heroin bust and the Thompsons found themselves targeted by gangs who wanted a piece of the action.
In 1991 Fat Boy was gunned down while on weekend leave from prison.
Arthur died of a heart attack in 1993.
Where: East London
Who are they?
Boxing twins Ronald and Reginald Kray led a criminal gang that ruled the East End of London by fear in the 1950s and 60s.
They headed an underworld empire of protection rackets, violence and murder.
Ronnie and Reggie Kray were identical twins, born and raised in the East End of London. Older brother Charlie was born seven years earlier.
In the 1950s they set up an East End protection racket and in 1960 moved into the West End to open a gambling club, Esmerelda’s Barn, in Knightsbridge.
With Charlie providing the business brainpower behind the operations, the twins became the public face of The Firm.
Obsessed with celebrities, they entertained actors, pop stars and sportsmen and anyone else with a claim to fame in the club.
FEAR: The Krays ruled the East End of London by fear and violence [EXPRESS LIBRARY]
They were not well known to the public until July 1964, when a newspaper ran a story that Scotland Yard had been investigating a homosexual relationship between a prominent peer and a leading thug in the London underworld.
They were not named, but it soon became clear that they were bisexual Ronnie Kray and Lord “Bob” Boothby, a media personality and former Conservative.
Boothby denied any impropriety, explaining away a photograph of them together as Ronnie’s wish to be pictured with a celebrity.
Over the next four years the Krays imposed a reign of violence in the London underworld, before being arrested for murdering two other gangsters.
Ronnie shot George Cornell in the Blind Beggar public house in Whitechapel in 1966 for calling him a “fat poof”.
Cornell was a member of the rival Richardson gang, whose speciality was reputed to be pinning victims to the floor with six-inch nails and removing their toes with bolt cutters.
“Mad” Frankie Fraser was a member of the Richardsons and specialised in pulling out victims’ teeth with pliers.
GANGSTERS: The Krays are arguably Britain's most famous gangsters [NORTH NEWS]
In 1967, the Krays lured minor associate Jack “The Hat” McVitie to a basement fl at in Stoke Newington, north London, where Reggie tried to shoot him.
The gun failed to go off, so while Ronnie held McVitie in a bear hug, Reggie was handed a carving knife with which he stabbed McVitie repeatedly in the face, stomach and neck.
Scotland Yard had been on the trail of the Krays for years, and in 1968 they were arrested by Detective Superintendent “Nipper” Read and charged with murder.
They appeared at the Old Bailey in 1969, along with members of their gang, including Charlie, who got seven years for other crimes.
The twins were jailed for life with a recommendation that they serve 30 years.
They started serving their sentences in various jails, until Ronnie was committed to Broadmoor as criminally insane.
In 1990 a film, The Krays, starring Martin and Gary Kemp, earned £255,000 for the twins and Charlie.
Over the years a campaign for the twins’ release built up.
Their supporters claimed that they were guilty only of crimes against other criminals, and that the streets of the East End had been safe for women and children in their time.
Ronnie, who was thought to suffer from paranoid schizophrenia, died of a heart attack aged 62 in Broadmoor in 1995. Charlie cried on Reggie’s shoulder at Ronnie’s funeral.
In June 1997 Charlie was found guilty of masterminding a £39m cocaine plot and jailed for 12 years.
In August 2000, at 67 years of age, Reggie was released from Norfolk’s Wayland Prison on compassionate grounds as he was suffering from inoperable bladder cancer.
He died in his sleep on October 1 2000.