Francis Davidson Fraser, known as “Mad” Frankie Fraser, was the scourge of prison governors and warders up and down Britain during the periods when he served a total of more than 40 years’ imprisonment. But by the time of his death at the age of 90 from complications following leg surgery, Fraser had become something of a minor celebrity. People shook his hand in the street, others kissed him or asked for his autograph and taxi drivers honked their horns.
Born near Waterloo station, central London, he was the fifth child of a poor family. His mother was of Norwegian-Irish stock and his father was half Native American. Both Frank and his sister, Eva, whom he adored, inherited their father’s features and his jet-black hair. The pair were the only ones of the children to embrace a life of crime.
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