An un-nerving (for me) story!

 

I was just reading that the 60's Gangland Boss, Eddie Richardson, who masterminded 'The Torture Gang', has recently died. Richardson's gang and The Kray twins were underworld rivals. He always referred to Ronnie and Reggie Kray as a bunch of amateurs. You can just imagine what sort of person Richardson was.

His death reminded me of a personal experience.

Back in 1966 I was living and working in London. I was in the Antiques business, and (at the time) I was living in Lillie Road, Fulham. I had a small apartment on the ground floor of a pleasant terraced house, my rooms were just inside the entrance door, on the right.

One night, whilst fast-asleep, the door to the apartment was thrown open, and I was torn from my slumber by two burley Policemen, and a viciously barking dog. I was petrified!

They dragged me over to beneath a lightbulb, and compared my face to that of a photo that another Policeman was holding.

"No, that's not 'im" said the man, and they allowed me to sit down.

"Not who?" I asked.

"We'd been given information that Frank Mitchell (above) had been seen entering this property" he explained. 

The name of Frank 'the mad axeman' Mitchell was all over the news at that time. He was an extremely dangerous criminal, and had recently been 'sprung' from Dartmoor Prison by the Kray twins. They had found a flat for him, but he'd disappeared. The whole of The Metropolitan Police Force were out looking for him, and thanks to some idiot, I had inadvertently become a part of their search.

OK, I understood that they needed to do their job, but I looked nothing like Mitchell. They 'almost' apologised, gathered together all the other Police throughout the house, and departed to harass someone else.

I believe that the Krays eventually found Mitchell themselves and had him killed. It was rumoured at the time that his body was dumped in the Channel.

I, on the other hand, somehow managed to survive!