GANGSTER brothers Eddie and Charlie Richardson nailed their victims to the floor and cut off toes with bolt cutters.
The brothers controlled a feared crime gang that clashed with a rival firm led by the notorious Kray twins.
Getty – ContributorCharlie and Eddie at the scrap metal business in the 1960s[/caption]
ReutersCharlie Richardson at the funeral of former East End hard man Lenny McClean[/caption]
Ray Collins – The SunEddie Richardson later became associated with art and charity work in South London[/caption]
Eddie and Charlie, the sons of a London prizefighter, used a scrap metal business in Camberwell as a front for their feared crime machine.
The brothers employed Frankie Fraser, a dangerous and volatile individual, as an enforcer.
The Richardsons became associated with bizarre kangaroo courts when individuals said to have crossed them were sentenced.
Fraser often administered the grotesque punishments, when victims were tortured and mutilated. Teeth were said to have pulled out by Fraser, toes cut off and some men nailed to the floor.
But it was the Richardson gang’s feud with the East End Kray firm which later led to their downfall.
In 1966 the two firms were involved in a mass brawl at Mr Smith’s club in Catford, when Kray associate Dickie Hart was shot dead.
When Ronnie Kray heard that Richardson gang member George Cornell was drinking in the Blind Beggar, he walked into the pub and shot him dead.
On the morning of the 1966 World Cup final, police closed in on the Richardson firm.
Sebag Shaw, prosecuting, told the jury: “This case is not about dishonesty and fraud, it is about violence and threats of violence, not … casual acts of violence committed in sudden anger or
alarm but vicious and brutal violence systematically inflicted deliberately and cold-bloodedly and with utter and callous ruthlessness.”
One victim, Lucien Harris, claimed to have had hot scampi thrust in his eye. Mr Harris said he was then subject to the so called black box, when electric shocks were delivered to his genitals.
Charlie Richardson was jailed for 25 years and his brother Eddie was jailed for 15 .
Sending the men down, Sir Frederick Lawton said: “One is ashamed to live in a society with men like you … It must be made clear to all those who set themselves up as gang members that they will be struck down by the law as you will be struck down.”
Charlie Richardson was eventually released after serving 18 years in prison. He was picked up in Rolls Royce and driven to a private party where he enjoyed Champagne and lobster.
In the 1990s Charlie launched a successful business career. He died in 2012 aged 78.
In 1989 Eddie was sentenced to a further 25 years for conspiring to import drugs. He was released in 2001.
In 2015 The Sun revealed how Eddie, then 78, was nominated for the Freedom of the Borough of Southwark after raising funds to fight Motor Neurone Disease, supporting the Multiple Sclerosis Society and helping disadvantaged kids.
Eddie attended the 2017 funeral of Great Train Robber Tommy Wisbey, when he is said to have clashed with old rival Freddie Foreman. The two men are said to have pushed each other inside the church.
Fraser worked as an enforcer for the Richardson firm
GettyThe Richardson firm took on the Krays for control of London’s underworld in the 1960s[/caption]
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