He put three kids through boarding school, lived in a mansion and travelled all over the world - all off the back of his criminal activities. But incredibly, gangster Freddie Foreman claims that today's gang members are immoral
FREDDIE Foreman was one of the most feared gangsters in 1960s London, his brutal reputation earning him the nickname ";brown bread" - or dead, in Cockney rhyming slang.
But ask him what he thinks of himself today and his reply is "caring and loving".
But back in the 1960s, Foreman was known as the Godfather of London, a ruthless criminal who was a key figure in the Krays' gang, The Firm .
The Krays' reign - the subject of the 2015 Tom Hardy film Legend - saw the bloodthirsty pair involved in armed robbery, protection rackets and assaults.
At their height they mixed with politicians and celebrities but they were finally snared over the murders of fellow gangsters Jack 'The Hat' McVitie and George Cornell.
Firm member Freddie - now 86 - has been linked to countless murders and bouts of violence, and served a total of 16 years in prison for his underworld activities.
Now he’s reflecting on that time in the film Fred, which traces Foreman’s life from his impoverished wartime childhood through his longstanding criminal career.
Part memoir, part documentary, it doesn’t shy away from discussing his more callous exploits and explores his relationship with the Krays – something he now describes as his "biggest regret."
"They were the curse of my life," he says. "Up until meeting those two I had no problems whatsoever."
Today it’s hard to reconcile the old man who sits across from me with someone who was once one of London’s most feared hard men.
Born into poverty in Battersea, London, Foreman’s criminal career started early.
"I tried the straight way – I worked in scaffolding firms and on the markets," he says now. "I know what it's like to get up at three in the morning - it didn't agree with me."
By his twenties he had started selling stolen goods, keeping them in a lock-up garage in South London.
The enterprise was run with the help of Buster Edwards and Tommy Wisbey, who would later go on to be involved in the Great Train Robbery of 1963.
In time the spoils of crime were enough to finance a business empire – a string of betting shops, a casino and a nightclub.
Foreman and wife Maureen had a lifestyle that was streets away from his childhood, living in a five-bedroom house and enjoying luxury holidays.
Their children Jamie - who went on to be an actor starring in EastEnders - Gregory and Daniella were educated at boarding school.
"We had a good life - the best education, best clothes, cars and holidays abroad. I was proud of what I achieved," he says.
"The worst crime a man could commit is to bring his family up in poverty."
That refrain is of course no justification for the casual violence that, in time, went along with his shady dealings.
"I had to be strong. You can't run a casino and be a wimp; you had to deal with all types of characters who thought they'd been cheated out of money," he says.
His ability to mete out rough justice - and his shrewd business brain - brought him to the attention of the Krays.
He was introduced to them in the early 60s through their elder brother Charlie.
"Charlie was a great friend of mine," Freddie recalls. "He kept saying, you must come round to meet the twins. I wasn't over eager - they had a bit of a reputation."
When he finally met them at the family home in Bethnal Green he found them "punching and fighting" in the backyard.
Whatever his misgivings, the trio became friends. "They had nice sides to them – they could be very generous with money. Though Ronnie was the nutty one, I found him more genuine," Foreman says now.
"Reggie would sit on the fence and he would go either way. I never really trusted him."
For a large part of the 60s the Krays and their associates - The Firm as it was known - ruled the streets of East London.
But Foreman’s lucrative association with the twins ended when all three were imprisoned in relation to the murder of fellow gangster Jack "the hat" McVitie in 1969.
Reggie killed McVitie in a dispute over money, and Foreman, while initially charged with murder, was ultimately convicted for his part in disposing of the body and sentenced to ten years.
On the day of his sentencing for his role in McVitie’s death he was also charged with another murder, that of fellow Kray henchman Frank Mitchell, another career criminal who the Krays had helped to escape from Dartmoor prison only to have him killed months later in the back of a van in which Foreman was present.
In the event he was acquitted, and while in his 1996 autobiography Respect he admitted to shooting Mitchell the territory remains uncomfortable for him to this day: in the film, questioned by the director about Mitchell’s death he tries to move the conversation on.
He does it again when asked about it today. "It’s opening old sores and old wounds," he says.
What he will say was that being sentenced for the murder of McVitie on the same day as learning that he had been charged with Mitchell’s murder was the worst day of his life.
"My wife was saying 'It's not too bad, Fred, you can do 10 years, you’re not doing life.' Then I had to break the news to her that they'd just charged me with Frank’s murder."
Foreman may have got away with that one, but Maureen became a prison widow once more when Foreman was sentenced to nine years for his part in the 1983 Shoreditch Security Express robbery, that saw almost £6m stolen from the company's headquarters.
He wrote Respect, partially because he needed the money from its publication.
"I've served 16 years in prison: 16 Christmases, birthdays. I lost everything. Obviously I needed a bit of cash, so I went for it.
While the tone of Respect was, if not boastful then certainly defiant, reflecting on his
past this time round has proved more troublesome than he anticipated.
"I don't want to glamourise or crime, far from it. I've got seven grandsons and two granddaughters, I’ve got great-granddaughters and I hope they never fall foul of the law."
Modern criminality leaves him baffled. "I can't stand what's happening with the younger generation now with the knives.
"They're all killing each other for no reason whatsoever, aren't they? I can't put my finger on what they're trying to achieve."
Is there less of a moral code now? "Maybe you’ve touched on something there - if anyone broke into anyone's house they were found out and severely battered and they didn't do it again," he says.
"And that applied to all of us - you don't steal off your own. You'd be more of a giver, give them something rather than steal it off them. Maybe they’ve got no respect for anybody anymore."
It’s a funny word to use about men whose names today are still synonymous with crimes such as armed robbery and murder.
Foreman has outlived all his criminal contemporaries: Ronnie Kray was 61 when he died of a heart attack at Broadmoor Hospital in 1995.
Reggie was released from prison on compassionate grounds in August 2000 after he was diagnosed with cancer, and died in Freddie’s arms in October the same year.
And Freddie's wife Maureen died three years ago, although the couple had separated by then. "We never got divorced. She stood by me all the time I was away in prison, visiting me all up and down the country.
"She was there when times were good but the family had to suffer with me when they weren’t so good too. People often forget that."
The money is gone too: these days Foreman lives in assisted housing.
"I'm a bit of a night owl; I like to stay up late and get up late. I try to keep as active as I can, and I've got loads of friends still."
Still, apart from meeting the Krays, he says he has no regrets about his past. "When I go to bed at night, the main thing I hope is that I wake up the next morning."
Fred is available on Digital 28th May and DVD on 4th June.
