Page 198 - Once a copper 10 03 2020

About 1.30 a.m. the Lambrianous were told to bring McVitie to the flat. As soon as he walked
in Reggie put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger, but it did not fire. McVitie thought
this was some kind of a joke, but when the gun was pointed at him a second time and again
failed to go off he began to struggle desperately and to try to escape through a window.
The window was broken as McVitie fought to escape. As he was dragged back Ronnie
goaded him: 'Come on Jack, stand up and take it like a man.'

Poor McVitie, by now convinced he was a dead man, could only reply, 'But I don't want to
die like a man.' Ronnie then grabbed him from behind in a bearhug and Reggie, who had
been given a large knife, plunged it deep into his face and stomach. When Jack finally
collapsed on the floor Reggie stood astride him and drove the knife into McVitie's neck,
twisting it as he did so.
Afterwards the body was placed in the candlewick bedspread I had heard about and,
along with the blood-covered carpet, taken to South London where Charlie Kray later
arranged for its disposal. This was finally undertaken by Freddie Foreman, a publican friend of
the Krays. He also agreed to clean up the car in which they had made their frantic ride to
Hopwood's home.
So at last I knew the full grisly details of McVitie's death, which would turn most people's
stomachs. Even so, apparently, Reggie was later to admit: 'I did not regret it at the time, and
I don't regret it now. I have never felt a moment's remorse.'
Although Read knew for certain that Ronnie Kray had murdered George
Cornell in the Blind Beggar pub no one had been prepared to testify against
the twins out of fear. Upon finding out the twins intended to cajole him,
'Scotch Jack' Dickson also turned in everything he knew about Cornell's
murder. Although not a witness to the actual murder he was an accessory,
having driven Ronnie Kray and Ian Barrie to the pub. The police still needed
an actual witness to the murder. They then managed to track down the
barmaid who was working in the pub at the time of the murder, gave her a
secret identity and she testified to seeing Ronnie kill Cornell.

Frank Mitchell's escape and disappearance was much harder to obtain
evidence for, since the majority of those arrested were not involved with his
planned escape and disappearance. Read decided to proceed with the
case and have a separate trial for Mitchell once the twins had been
convicted.

The twins' defence under their counsel John Platts-Mills, QC consisted of flat
denials of all charges and discrediting witnesses by pointing out their criminal
past. Justice Melford Stevenson said: "In my view, society has earned a rest
from your activities." It was the longest murder hearing in history of British
criminal justice. during which Justice Melford Stevenson stated of the
sentences "which I recommend should not be less than thirty years."

In March 1969, both were sentenced to life imprisonment, with a non-parole
period of 30 years for the murders of Cornell and McVitie, the longest
sentences ever passed at the Old Bailey (Central Criminal Court, London) for Page198