Inside the Firm - The Untold Story of The Krays' Reign of Terror Read Online Free Page A

They, and the two young boys, would not have been in the room if anything like that had been predetermined. None of the details of that night point to any kind of conspiracy.
    In my own way, I liked Jack The Hat. He wasn’t a bad fella. He was a generous man and he had a very good sense of humour. He was flamboyant, loved to be the centre of attention and enjoyed having women around him. He was a total rebel, and he was fearless.
    But overall, I never regretted what I did. I’m not for one minute saying murder was the answer to anything, but Jack was the one who made threats in the first place. The twins had not been threatening him in any way. And if he was prepared to take them on, he was also aware of the consequences if he came unstuck.
    Let’s not whitewash it. Jack McVitie was a man of violence. A lot of what has been written has painted a picture of him as mild, meek and helpless, a hard-done-by, innocent man. The girl he lived with got up at the Old Bailey, gave evidence against us, spat at the dock and talked about ‘my poor Jack’. He had no respect for her, just as he had no respect for anybody else.
    Reggie didn’t do society such a bad turn. Jack The Hat was a known heavy man. He was six feet two and as hard as nails. He’d done a lot of imprisonment in his time. He’d been through the school and he’d hurt a few people along the way.
    His stock-in-trade was crime, and he made money out of it. He was an active robber, he cared little for anyone and he was capable of anything. He was known to carry and use a gun. He would use a knife, and had no scruples about whether it was on a man or a woman. He would cause trouble and he would challenge people. He was on drink and pills and he was unpredictable. Where there wasa good time, he wanted to be. If there was a row, he’d be in the thick of it. He’d be the first one over the counter. Even having a social drink, he could suddenly turn vicious for no reason.
    He didn’t have a care in the world. He didn’t give a monkey for anything, but he should have done. That was his downfall. He became his own worst enemy. The twins only ever tried to help him: they put lots of work his way. But he started making errors, and he brought the trouble on himself.
    He’d get into drunken moods and produce a gun, threatening to shoot the twins, which he was more than capable of doing. He’d mug the twins off – bad-mouth them – in front of other people. He’d pick up phones in pubs and pretend to be threatening them. He’d insult women who were with members of the firm. He’d go into clubs which the firm was protecting and cause violent scenes. I’ve seen him have a gunfight in the Regency: he issued threats there, he brandished a shotgun and he slammed an axe into the door, all on separate occasions. He burst into other clubs with guns. He shot out a bar in a pub because they wouldn’t serve him. Usually the next morning he’d be sorry, but at night he’d had the bottle again and he’d be back. I mean that. Back.
    All of these things were building up against him. Jack had been warned by myself and other members of the firm about his behaviour, but had paid no attention. How far could the twins let it go? He was persistently challenging their power, constantly trying to undermine their authority, and they could not allow it to happen. Men of their standing could not be seen to have someone like McVitie carrying on like that, particularly in the East End. Had I been in Reggie’s shoes, I would certainly have done the same thing. And the tragedy of it all is that so many suffered for something which the victim himself decided to cause.

CHAPTER TWO
THE SEEDS OF CRIME
    L ooking back at my childhood in the East End, I don’t believe it’s any wonder that a lot of us turned to crime. We went to rough and ready schools where all that mattered was who the best fighter was. We were always getting caned and whacked. When I was in my early teens, a youth employment