Freddie Foreman is the third British old school 'celebrity gangster' to die in space of two months

SELF-confessed killer Freddie Foreman is the third British "celebrity" gangland figure to die in the space of two months.

Foreman (above in screen grab from ITV interview) died aged 94 on Saturday, October 10, 2026, after a short illness. He had been living in a care home.

Notorious Glasgow former gangster Paul Ferris died aged 62 on Tuesday, October 6, and Eddie Richardson died aged 90 on August 14.

All three had become so-called celebrity gangsters after turning their backs on crime and writing books about their criminal exploits.

Hardman Foreman was a minder in the 1950s for London gang boss Billy Hill, known as the "King of the Underworld" and then later a hitman for the notorious Kray Twins.

He was also close to the Great Train robbers from an early age.

Foreman married late wife Maureen (née Puttnam), in 1951, before they separated.

They had three children, former Eastenders actor Jamie, Gregory and Danielle, who were privately educated.

In 1968 he was found not guilty at the Old Bailey of December 1966 killing Frank “Mad Axeman” Mitchell.

In November 1975 he was found not guilty at the same court of the murder of Tommy “Ginger” Marks, shot dead outside a Bethnal Green nightclub owned by the Krays in  January 1965.

He was already in prison after receiving in March 1969 at the same court a ten-year sentence for being an accessory to the murder of Jack “the Hat” McVitie, who had been stabbed to death by Reggie Kray at a party in Stoke Newington in 1967, by disposing of his body.

Foreman was released after six years, relocating to the US on a fake passport to sell slot machines in Pennsylvania.

But, he returned to the UK to take part in the 1983 £6 million Security Express cash heist on Easter Monday.

He went on the run to Spain with Ronnie Knight, then husband of Barbara Windsor, who handled money from the robbery.

In 1989 he was arrested on the Costa del Sol and extradited to the UK to be later sentenced to nine years for handling stolen money in connection with the robbery.

Foreman's celebrity gangster status was born after he was released from Maidstone prison in 1995.

In September 1996 his autobiography Respect was published in which he admitted to the murders of both Mitchell and Marks.

Despite admissions to heinous crimes his passing has been mourned by many describing him as a legend of the British underworld.

Actor and film producer Terry Stone posted today on X today a picture of Foreman with son Jamie with the post: "RIP Freddie Foreman. So many people (seem) to be passing this month. Here with his son Jamie Foreman at the Premiere of Charles Bronson’s film Bronson. Love this picture. It always puts a smile on my face seeing a Father and Son hanging out and having fun."

Glasgow former gangland enforcer Paul Ferris (above in screen grab from Scotland Tonight interview) died at the age of 62 after a short illness on Tuesday night at the city's Queen Elizabeth University Hospital.

He was also cleared of murder, that of crime boss Arthur Thompson's son, Arthur Thompson Jnr, in 1992.

In 1998 he was jailed for seven years for gun-running.

His first book, The Ferris Conspiracy, was published in 2001.

It was later made into a 2013 film, The Wee Man, featuring Line of Duty star Martin Compston as Ferris.

Although his books detailed violence, stabbings, extortion, and gun-running, he always maintained he was innocent of the murder.

In mid August ex-gangster and Kray twins rival Eddie Richardson died aged 90.

He headed the notorious south-London based Richardson Gang, with his late brother Charlie and has been shot at, dished out violent beatings, and accused of torturing rivals.

He spent 23 years of his life "fighting the system" in prison after two major convictions, before turning his back on crime and taking up art.

It was due to the Richardson's three-year feud with the east London Kray twins that George Cornell was famously shot dead in the head by Ronnie Kray, in front of customers of the Blind Beggar pub in Whitechapel, on March 9, 1966.

Richardson's gang was also called the Torture Gang, due to claims of pulling out teeth with pliers, nailing victims to floors and electrocuting body parts, including testicles, during "kangaroo trials" to get information from rivals.

It included his brother Charlie, who died aged 78 in 2012, and others such as henchman and chief torturer "Mad" Frankie Fraser.

Both firms were rivals, but stayed apart until the Krays tried to muscle in on the Richardson's pornography activities in Soho. By December 1965 the two gangs clashed at the Astor Club, in Mayfair, when Cornell called Ronnie Kray a "fat poof".

The feud escalated in March 1966 when Richard Hart, a Krays' associate, was shot dead during a fight involving the Richardson Gang at Mr Smith's club in Catford, which the latter were acting as security for as "protection".

Eddie was also shot during the brawl and arrested with several of his gang. The arrest of the senior Richardson gang members, gave the Krays the confidence to strike, claims Eddie.

The following night Cornell was shot dead by Ronnie Kray in the Blind Beggar.

Ronnie Kray was arrested but later released after no one who saw the murder would testify. Justice caught up with Ronnie after Reggie murdered Jack "The Hat" McVitie at a Stoke Newington party in 1967 by repeatedly stabbing him in front of guests.

After his arrest, the Kray empire began to crumble and both twins were arrested and convicted of each of their murders as witnesses got the confidence to testify.

In 1968 both Ronnie and Reggie were jailed for life for murder and neither was released before their deaths in March 1995 and October 2000 respectively.

Despite shooting a man in a pub of customers who were all too scared to give statements, Eddie Richardson (below in an image from Funeralguide.co.uk) dismissed Ronnie and brother Reggie as "no real threat," to him.

Richardson claimed in his 2019 book No Handcuffs: The Final Word On My War With The Krays, written with Douglas Thompson, that they only struck then because he and Fraser were in custody and Charlie was in South Africa involved in "business".

Describing earlier events, including Fraser attacking a Kray associate in the head with a hatchet, and refusing to allow the twins to set up a blue cinema in Soho, Richardson wrote: "All the twins did was talk big down their mum's in Bethnal Green.

"Gert and Daisy were real mummy's boys. The thought of taking on Frank and me upset them. The twins weren't going to poke their snouts in the West End with Frankie Fraser and me walking around.

"We had complete control of the film clubs, the blue racket. Bulls*** and myth has overtaken the Krays. For me at the time they were just a couple of lads wanting to muscle in on my manor.

"They regarded us as competition, but they weren't a concern for me."

Asked why the Kray twins went on to become more well known than his gang, Richardson scoffed: "They sought out publicity.

"They wanted to be known as gangsters. When we were in prison with them they were reading gangster comics, but they would never take on me or Charlie in there as they knew they would come off worse off."

He also said they "lacked the brains" to be considered true rivals and ended up like "lost lambs" while in jail. He said: "there was nothing legendary about them on the inside'.

"They wanted to be like the Godfather, but didn't have the brains for major business." No handcuff was his second autobiography after The Last Word: My Life as a Gangland Boss in 2005.

He was released after 12 years, but it was while in prison he discovered a love of art and turned his back on crime and helped deter youths from crime.

He now regrets getting involved in the drugs trade and dismissed some of the more violent allegations about the activities of his gang.

Richardson became an after dinner speaker and artist.

He spoke openly about his time as a "firm enforcer," protection rackets, and operating illegal fruit machines, and did not admit to any serious crimes he was not prosecuted for.

He previously said: "I was not even with Charlie when the torture stuff was supposed to have gone on. But it was all exaggerated anyway. Frankie Fraser used to trade on that stuff about pulling teeth out with pliers, but I don't think it happened."