Ronald Kray, known as Ronnie, was born in east London on October 24, 1933, ten minutes after his identical twin, Reggie. In the 1950s and 1960s the brothers ran a group of associates known as The Firm, which operated clubs and gambling in the East End and the West End of London and collected money by intimidation. In March 1969 Ronnie Kray was convicted at the Central Criminal Court, the Old Bailey, of the murders of George Cornell, who died in 1966, and Jack McVitie, who died in 1967, and his twin was convicted with him of McVitie's murder. Each was sentenced to life imprisonment, with a recommendation that he serve at least 30 years. At the time these were the longest sentences passed at that court.
Ronnie Kray never returned to freedom. In 1979 he was certified "insane" and moved to a high-security psychiatric hospital, where he remained until he collapsed in March 1995. He died two days later, at the age of 61. His brother Reggie was released on compassionate grounds in August 2000 and died about eight weeks afterward.
The twins were born in Hoxton and grew up in Bethnal Green, in the east London district where the brothers' reputation was made. Reggie was the elder twin by ten minutes.
As teenagers the brothers boxed, and they had their first professional fights at 17. In 1952, aged 18, they were called up for national service. They refused to complete it and disobeyed orders, and they were held at the Tower of London and then in military custody. After a court-martial and further detention they were dishonorably discharged in 1954. That ended any career in the ring.
The brothers took over a billiard hall in Mile End, which became the base for a group they called The Firm. Its early business was scams and extortion. In the 1960s the twins moved into the West End, where they ran gambling operations and nightclubs and used intimidation to run protection rackets in both the East and West End. Their clubs drew celebrities, and the brothers built contacts in politics, the aristocracy and the Metropolitan Police.
In February 1965, during an earlier and separate case against the brothers, the House of Lords heard a question on whether the Government meant to keep the Kray brothers in custody without trial for an indefinite period. A Home Office minister, Lord Stonham, replied that a magistrates' court had committed the men for trial at the Central Criminal Court, and that under the Administration of Justice Act 1964 the trial had to begin by February 28 unless the court ordered otherwise. He added that the matter was not the responsibility of a Home Office minister.
George Cornell died in 1966 in Whitechapel, in the East End. Ronnie Kray was convicted of his murder. Witnesses had been unwilling to give evidence while the twins were at liberty, and they came forward once the brothers were in custody. The charge of murdering Cornell was heard at the Old Bailey together with the charge relating to Jack McVitie.
Jack McVitie was born in Battersea on April 19, 1932. He died in October 1967, aged 35, in Stoke Newington, in north London.
At the trial in 1969 Ronnie and Reggie Kray were both found guilty of his murder. Three other men were also found guilty of murder in the same case, and three more were found to be accessories to it.
Scotland Yard caught up with the group in 1968. Police arrested Ronnie and Reggie Kray along with 15 other members of the gang. The prosecution that followed brought together the deaths of 1966 and 1967 with allegations of arson, protection rackets and assaults.
The trial ran into the early part of 1969 and was the longest and most expensive murder trial the Old Bailey had then heard. The presiding judge was Mr. Justice Melford Stevenson. The defense denied every charge and attacked the credibility of prosecution witnesses by pointing to their own criminal records. The verdicts were unanimous.
On March 4, 1969, the jury convicted Ronnie Kray of the murders of George Cornell and Jack McVitie, and Reggie Kray of the murder of Jack McVitie. Passing sentence, the judge imposed life imprisonment on each brother and recommended that they be detained for a minimum of 30 years. The sentences were the longest ever passed at the Old Bailey up to that point.
The law at the time shaped the outcome. Until capital punishment was abolished in 1965, a conviction for murder carried either the death penalty or life imprisonment.
After the trial Ronnie Kray served his life sentence in custody. In 1972 he painted a work titled Crucifixion, which the London Museum now holds. In 1979 he was certified "insane" and was moved to a high-security psychiatric hospital. He was diagnosed with "paranoid schizophrenia." He stayed there for about 16 years.
Ronnie Kray collapsed in March 1995 and was taken to hospital. He died two days later in Slough, aged 61. He had never been released, and at his death he was serving a life sentence for murder. Reggie Kray, serving the same sentence, was released on compassionate grounds in August 2000 and died about eight weeks later, aged 66.
The Central Criminal Court, known as the Old Bailey, is where the most serious offenses in London are tried, and it was there that the Krays were tried in 1969. Capital punishment for murder had ended in 1965, so a conviction in 1969 meant life imprisonment. A judge could add a recommendation on the minimum period to be served, as Mr. Justice Melford Stevenson did when he named 30 years, the longest term the court had then passed.
Both brothers denied all charges at trial. Their defense rested on attacking the credibility of prosecution witnesses, and the jury's unanimous verdicts rejected that case. One news account credits Ronnie Kray with the Cornell murder alone, and his brother with McVitie's. The wider allegations heard at trial, including arson, protection rackets and assaults, were not the basis of the murder convictions.
October 24, 1933: Ronald Kray born in east London, ten minutes after his twin brother.
1952: Called up for national service with his brother; both refuse to complete it.
1954: Both dishonorably discharged.
February 1965: In an earlier, separate case, the House of Lords is told that the brothers have been committed for trial at the Central Criminal Court.
1966: George Cornell dies in Whitechapel; Ronnie Kray is later convicted of his murder.
October 1967: Jack McVitie dies in Stoke Newington.
1968: Ronnie and Reggie Kray arrested with 15 other gang members.
Early 1969: Trial begins at the Old Bailey.
March 4, 1969: Ronnie convicted of the murders of Cornell and McVitie, Reggie of McVitie's; sentenced to life imprisonment with a recommended minimum of 30 years.
1972: Paints Crucifixion.
1979: Certified "insane"; moved to a high-security psychiatric hospital.
March 1995: Collapses; dies two days later in Slough, aged 61.
August 2000: Reggie Kray released on compassionate grounds; dies about eight weeks later.