Reginald Kray, known as Reggie, was convicted at the Central Criminal Court in London in March 1969 of the murder of Jack McVitie, who died in Stoke Newington on October 29, 1967. On a separate count he was convicted of being an accessory after the fact to the murder of George Cornell, who died in Whitechapel on March 9, 1966. For the McVitie murder he received a sentence of life imprisonment, and the judge recommended that he serve at least 30 years.
He was tried with his co-defendant Ronald Kray and a group of other men who had worked with them in a London gang known as the Firm. It was the longest and most expensive murder trial the Old Bailey had held up to that time. A second trial the same year, on a charge of murdering Frank Mitchell, ended with a verdict of not guilty of murder. He was released in 2000 and died weeks later, that same year.
Reggie Kray was born on October 24, 1933, in Hoxton, in east London. He boxed as a boy at a local club, as many East End boys did, and had his first professional fight at 17. His boxing ended in 1952, when he was called up for national service. He and Ronald Kray refused to complete it and were held in military custody. After a court-martial both were dishonorably discharged in 1954.
Back in the East End they took over a billiard hall in Mile End. It became the base for the Firm, which ran extortion and other schemes. In the 1960s the gang moved into the West End, where it ran gambling and nightclubs. The clubs drew actors and singers, the brothers made contacts in politics, the aristocracy and the Metropolitan Police, and a society photographer took their portrait. Later books and films treated them as courteous gangsters in tune with the style of the decade.
George Cornell, also recorded as George Myers, died in Whitechapel on March 9, 1966. Two of Reggie Kray's co-defendants were tried on the count of murder and convicted, and each was sentenced to life imprisonment. Reggie Kray was named on a separate count, count 2, as an accessory after the fact to the Cornell murder. He was convicted on that count.
Frank Mitchell died in London on December 23, 1966. Reggie Kray and others were charged with his murder, and they were tried at the Central Criminal Court in April 1969. The verdict on the murder charge was not guilty. Mitchell's death forms no part of Reggie Kray's convictions for murder.
Jack McVitie was 35 when he died on October 29, 1967, in Stoke Newington, in north London. Reginald Kray, Ronald Kray, Christopher Lambrianou, Anthony Lambrianou, Ronald Bender and a sixth man were named together on count 3 of the indictment, which charged them with his murder. Further defendants were charged on count 4 as accessories after the fact to the McVitie murder.
Reggie Kray was arrested in May 1968 together with Ronald Kray and a number of other members of the Firm. They were taken to Bow Street Court under tight security, and he was charged with the murder of Jack McVitie. The prosecution case covered the murders of Jack McVitie and George Cornell, with other offenses. The charges went to trial on a voluntary bill of indictment.
The trial took place at the Central Criminal Court before Mr. Justice Melford Stevenson and a jury. It opened on January 7, 1969, and lasted forty days.
The indictment set out four counts. Count 1 charged Ronald Kray and John Barrie with the murder of George Cornell; both were convicted on it. Count 2 charged Reginald Kray with being an accessory after the fact to the Cornell murder. Count 3 charged Ronald Kray, Reginald Kray, Christopher Lambrianou, Anthony Lambrianou, Ronald Bender and a sixth man with the murder of Jack McVitie. Count 4 charged four men with being accessories after the fact to that murder. Albert Donaghue pleaded guilty to count 4. The defense to the charges against the principal defendants was a denial of all of them, together with attacks on the credibility of the prosecution witnesses by pointing to their criminal pasts. One defendant, who had run a defense of duress, was acquitted on count 3.
The jury's verdicts, returned on March 4, 1969, were unanimous. Reginald Kray was convicted on count 2 and on count 3. The Court of Appeal summarized the result as follows: apart from the guilty plea and the acquittal, "the remainder were convicted as charged." The two Lambrianou defendants and Ronald Bender were convicted on count 3, and the remaining men on count 4 were convicted as accessories after the fact.
On the murder count, Reggie Kray was sentenced to life imprisonment. The judge recommended that he serve a minimum of 30 years, the same recommendation made for his co-defendant Ronald Kray. It was the longest sentence the Old Bailey had passed for murder up to that time.
Murder carried a mandatory life sentence because Parliament had abolished the death penalty for it in 1965. Between 1957 and 1965 murder had existed in two degrees, one of which carried the death penalty.
Ronald and Reginald Kray applied to the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) against their convictions. The court, composed of Lord Justice Widgery, Lord Justice Fenton Atkinson and Mr. Justice James, gave judgment on July 22, 1969. The applicants argued that the judge had been wrong to refuse separate trials for the Cornell and McVitie counts. Their counsel said that joining the two sets of counts in a single indictment was contrary to Rule 3 of the first schedule to the Indictments Act 1915, because two murders could not form a "series". In the alternative they argued that the judge should have exercised his discretion to sever the counts. A further ground concerned the conduct of a co-defendant's defense at trial. The court did not accept either of the joinder arguments, and the applications were rejected.
Reggie Kray served more than three decades of the life sentence. He was released in 2000, and he died a few weeks later, in the same year.
In 1969 a life sentence for murder carried no fixed term. The trial judge could state a view on the minimum period to be served, as Mr. Justice Melford Stevenson did, but the decision on how long a life prisoner would actually stay in custody belonged to the Home Secretary. In 1995 the Minister of State at the Home Office explained to the House of Commons that the role grew out of the abolition of the death penalty for murder, that the minimum term, or tariff, reflected retribution and deterrence, and that the Home Secretary set it on the advice of the judiciary. Release on license required a Parole Board recommendation and consultation with the Lord Chief Justice and the trial judge, where available. In exceptional circumstances the Home Secretary could instead release a life prisoner on compassionate grounds.
The Criminal Appeal Act 1968 had recently created the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division), the court that heard the application in July 1969. Under the modern scheme of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, Schedule 21, murder has several starting points for the minimum term, including 30 years for particularly high seriousness and 15 years for an adult.
The Mitchell charge was never proved: the verdict on the murder charge was not guilty. Reggie Kray's conviction in the Cornell matter was for being an accessory after the fact, not for murder.
At the McVitie trial the defense denied all charges. The jury rejected that defense, and the Court of Appeal rejected the arguments about the form of the indictment.
October 24, 1933: Reginald Kray born in Hoxton, London.
1952: Called up for national service; refuses to complete it.
1954: Dishonorably discharged after a court-martial.
March 9, 1966: George Cornell dies in Whitechapel.
December 23, 1966: Frank Mitchell dies in London.
October 29, 1967: Jack McVitie dies in Stoke Newington.
May 1968: Arrest; brought before Bow Street Court.
January 7, 1969: Trial begins at the Central Criminal Court (day 1).
March 4, 1969: Unanimous verdicts; life imprisonment with a recommended minimum of 30 years.
April 1969: Separate trial on the charge of murdering Frank Mitchell; not guilty of murder.
July 22, 1969: Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) gives judgment on the applications.
2000: Released; dies a few weeks later.