Scotland Yard detective Leonard ‘Nipper’ Read who famously put the notorious Kray twins behind bars dies aged 95
- Read who was a Detective Superintendent in the Met Police died this morning
- A statement by the Met police released after Read’s death called him a legend
- East End mobsters the Krays were arrested in May 1968 by team led by Read
The detective Len ‘Nipper’ Read who put the Kray twins away has died at the age of 95.
Read was a Detective Superintendent in the Metropolitan Police and is widely credited for arresting Ronnie and Reggie Kray.
He passed away this morning.
In a statement, the Metropolitan Police Heritage Centre said: ‘We are sad to announce that Leonard ‘Nipper’ Read QPM died this morning aged 95.
‘A Met legend, he is best known for his part in bringing the Kray Twins to justice and his autobiographies hold places of honour in our collections.’
Detective Supt Leonard ‘Nipper’ Read seen outside Tintagel House H.Q. during his involvement in the Kray Case.
East End mobsters the Kray twins were arrested in May 1968 by a team led by Read. They were subsequently convicted of murder the following year and jailed for life.
The Kray twins were Britain’s ruled their crime empire in London’s East End with an iron fist.
They also owned a string of nightclubs and counted a raft of celebrities, who they were regularly photographed with, among their friends.
Judy Garland, Diana Dors and Barbara Windsor attended the clubs owned by the twins.
The murders of George Cornell and Jack ‘the Hat’ McVitie set in motion the downfall of the Krays.
London gangsters the Kray twins, Reggie (1933 – 2000, left) and Ronnie (1933 – 1995) after spending 36 hours helping the police with their inquiry into the murder of George Cornell, 6th August 1966. They were found guilty of murder in 1969 after a trial at the Old Bailey
Ronnie killed George Cornell in 1966 after shooting him point blank in the forehead.
McVitie was stabbed to death by Reggie a year later after failing to carry out an assassination on a former Kray associate who the brothers feared would turn informant.
Ronnie was an inmate at Broadmoor Hospital and died from a heart attack on March 17, 1995.
Reggie was released from prison on compassionate grounds, eight weeks before his death from bladder cancer, in 2000.
Read was played by Christopher Ecclestone in the 2015 film Legend.
Tom Hardy was cast as Reggie and Ronnie Kray.
Picture shows former Detective Chief Superintendent Leonard ‘Nipper’ Read, who was the original officer in charge of the Babes in the Wood murder case leaving the Old Bailey