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Authors: Bernard O'Mahoney
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of ours.’ I knew we might have to do him ourselves. Chris went to our house to fetch a Smith and Wesson .38 police special.
By now Reggie had let go of Jack who was sitting on the sofa asking ‘What have I done?’ Reggie told him ‘You know what you’ve done.’ The gun came out again. Again it just clicked. ‘They gave me a duff ’un,’ said Reggie.
The next thing I saw was Reggie with a carving knife; it was happening so fast. Jack was in a bear hug and someone was shouting, ‘Do him, Reg, go on, Reg, do him.’ I saw the first stab go in and turned away. I walked out of the room. I couldn’t believe it was really happening. He got it three times with the knife but he must have been dead with the first one. The scene went quiet. I walked back into the room and I didn’t want to look but I had to. Then I saw the blood. I saw Reggie pointing the knife into Jack’s neck as if he was trying to find his jugular vein. The knife blade was arched and then it went straight through.
I’ve seen some bad things in my time, men stabbed, near death, but this was worse. And I will never forget the smell.
Death smells like something singeing, like hair and blood burning, a smell that never leaves you. When it was over, Reggie stood there for a second just looking. The knife was twisted to bits. Jack was on the floor in the middle of the room. His hat was a foot from him, crumpled up. Chris wandered back in with the gun we no longer needed. Suddenly everybody seemed to snap out of it. The two boys and the Mills brothers were running out of the room. Reggie Kray turned to me and said: ‘Get rid of that, Tony.’ And with that, he and his brother and Ronnie Hart had gone.
Jack had been warned by myself and other members of the firm about his behaviour but had paid no attention. How far could the twins let it go when he was persistently challenging their power, constantly trying to undermine their authority?
They could not allow it to happen. Men of their standing could not be seen to have someone like McVitie carrying on like that, particularly in the East End. Had I been in Reggie’s shoes I would certainly have done the same thing and the tragedy of it all is that so many suffered for something which the victim himself had decided to cause.
Tony, clearly a leading member of the Kray firm, had decided he and his brother were going to murder McVitie if the Krays failed to do so. McVitie had done the Lambrianous no wrong, but as Tony said, McVitie knew they had lured him to a particularly unpleasant ‘meeting’ with the Krays and not a party as promised, and for that McVitie would not forgive them. Dramatic stuff, if true, but it isn’t – it’s fantasy, invented to bolster Lambrianou’s ego.
In 1969 Tony Lambrianou had appealed against his murder conviction. In a full and frank statement he told the truth about what happened that night and afterwards in order to try and secure his freedom. Tony said:
On 28 October, 1967 I met my brother Chris at about 7.30 p.m. and we went to various public houses to have a drink. We went to the Regency Club and upstairs Jack McVitie joined us. My younger brother Nicky was also at the club and he told me sometime after we had arrived that Reggie Kray was in the club. Sometime after midnight when we had gone downstairs to the lower bar, I decided to get some cigarettes from the machine near the office. I went upstairs and while there, Tony Barry came out of his office and walked back in again. He then re-emerged and asked me into his office. Ronnie Kray, Reggie Kray, Bender and Hart were there.
The conversation was to this effect:
RK: Is McVitie downstairs?
TL: Yes, he’s drinking with us.
Then something was said about getting him up to the office and then either Hart or Reggie said, ‘We’re going to do ’im.’
I said, ‘What’s it all about?’, but I didn’t really get a reply.
I was asked if I had a car and I said that I had. Hart told me to bring McVitie round to Carol’s
By now Reggie had let go of Jack who was sitting on the sofa asking ‘What have I done?’ Reggie told him ‘You know what you’ve done.’ The gun came out again. Again it just clicked. ‘They gave me a duff ’un,’ said Reggie.
The next thing I saw was Reggie with a carving knife; it was happening so fast. Jack was in a bear hug and someone was shouting, ‘Do him, Reg, go on, Reg, do him.’ I saw the first stab go in and turned away. I walked out of the room. I couldn’t believe it was really happening. He got it three times with the knife but he must have been dead with the first one. The scene went quiet. I walked back into the room and I didn’t want to look but I had to. Then I saw the blood. I saw Reggie pointing the knife into Jack’s neck as if he was trying to find his jugular vein. The knife blade was arched and then it went straight through.
I’ve seen some bad things in my time, men stabbed, near death, but this was worse. And I will never forget the smell.
Death smells like something singeing, like hair and blood burning, a smell that never leaves you. When it was over, Reggie stood there for a second just looking. The knife was twisted to bits. Jack was on the floor in the middle of the room. His hat was a foot from him, crumpled up. Chris wandered back in with the gun we no longer needed. Suddenly everybody seemed to snap out of it. The two boys and the Mills brothers were running out of the room. Reggie Kray turned to me and said: ‘Get rid of that, Tony.’ And with that, he and his brother and Ronnie Hart had gone.
Jack had been warned by myself and other members of the firm about his behaviour but had paid no attention. How far could the twins let it go when he was persistently challenging their power, constantly trying to undermine their authority?
They could not allow it to happen. Men of their standing could not be seen to have someone like McVitie carrying on like that, particularly in the East End. Had I been in Reggie’s shoes I would certainly have done the same thing and the tragedy of it all is that so many suffered for something which the victim himself had decided to cause.
Tony, clearly a leading member of the Kray firm, had decided he and his brother were going to murder McVitie if the Krays failed to do so. McVitie had done the Lambrianous no wrong, but as Tony said, McVitie knew they had lured him to a particularly unpleasant ‘meeting’ with the Krays and not a party as promised, and for that McVitie would not forgive them. Dramatic stuff, if true, but it isn’t – it’s fantasy, invented to bolster Lambrianou’s ego.
In 1969 Tony Lambrianou had appealed against his murder conviction. In a full and frank statement he told the truth about what happened that night and afterwards in order to try and secure his freedom. Tony said:
On 28 October, 1967 I met my brother Chris at about 7.30 p.m. and we went to various public houses to have a drink. We went to the Regency Club and upstairs Jack McVitie joined us. My younger brother Nicky was also at the club and he told me sometime after we had arrived that Reggie Kray was in the club. Sometime after midnight when we had gone downstairs to the lower bar, I decided to get some cigarettes from the machine near the office. I went upstairs and while there, Tony Barry came out of his office and walked back in again. He then re-emerged and asked me into his office. Ronnie Kray, Reggie Kray, Bender and Hart were there.
The conversation was to this effect:
RK: Is McVitie downstairs?
TL: Yes, he’s drinking with us.
Then something was said about getting him up to the office and then either Hart or Reggie said, ‘We’re going to do ’im.’
I said, ‘What’s it all about?’, but I didn’t really get a reply.
I was asked if I had a car and I said that I had. Hart told me to bring McVitie round to Carol’s
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