Faces of the Underworld 2

Wayne Barker died of cancer in May 2012. His funeral was held in Failsworth, Manchester and was attended by hundreds of
mourners amongst which were boxers, travellers and villains from throughout the UK. Mad Frankie Fraser’s son David, a close
friend of Barker’s, spoke with great affection about his passing. “I was shocked, absolutely shocked when Wayne died. When you
enter his house there’s a big photo of him from when he was a fighter. He looks so healthy and young. But when I last saw Wayne
he was a shell of a man, very thin, very pale. He knew he was dying but his pride and courage would never let him admit it. The
journey back to London after the funeral was very sombre, very sad; we were hurt that we had lost our friend. I was heartbroken
to be honest.”

















David Fraser, who has spent almost twenty-five years behind bars, is not a man one would normally associate with such sentiment.
Convicted of drug, firearm and robbery offences he is as ruthless as his legendary father. The Fraser family’s notoriety has not
come without cost. According to numerous media reports north London villain Patsy Adams cut off part of David’s ear with a
knife and in a separate incident shot his then sixty-eight year-old father, Mad Frankie Fraser in the head outside a central London
nightclub. David is adamant that there is absolutely no truth whatsoever in the story concerning his ear and his father Frank
blames undercover police officers for the attempt on his life.

It’s not surprising that allegations concerning Patsy Adams or any other member of his Irish Catholic family are shrouded in
mystery and dipped in innuendo because they are as secretive as the CIA or MI5. The Clerkenwell crime syndicate, the A-team
or the Adams Family as they are rightfully known are without doubt the most powerful criminal gang to have ever existed in the
UK. Media reports have linked them to around twenty-five murders and credited them with wealth of up to £200million. Terry
Adams formed the `A Team` in the 80`s with his brothers Sean, better known as `Tommy` and Patrick as its financier and enforcer
respectively. The three brothers began their criminal careers by extorting money from traders and stallholders at street markets
close to their home on the Barnsbury Estate in north London before moving on to armed robberies. Their ability to evade justice
gave them an air of invincibility, fuelling the belief that they had detectives, lawyers and prosecutors `in their pocket`- and that
even jurors were not immune from their `influence`. Anyone considered an informer against them or a threat to the family
was targeted. In 1985 Tommy Adams was cleared of involvement with the laundering of the £26million Brinks Mat gold, while
Gilbert Wynter, one of the family’s `enforcers`, was tried in 1994 for the murder of Claude Moseley, a former athlete turned drug
dealer. Moseley was suspected of skimming money off the top of his sales, which resulted in a visit from Wynter. He was alleged
to have thrust a samurai sword so deep into Moseley’s back that it almost split him in two. Wynter was acquitted after the main
prosecution witness mysteriously refused to testify. He later disappeared amidst rumours of a dispute with the Adams family. He
is, according to sources, either in hiding in the Caribbean, or propping up a flyover in Canning Town.

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The Adams family are said to have laundered their ill gotten
gains through the jewellery quarter of Hatton Garden, using
a diamond merchant by the name of Solly Nahome. In 1998
Nahome had arrived at his Finchley home, where a man, who
had been standing by a motor cycle, suddenly headed towards
him. Instinctively Nahome knew that he was in danger and ran
towards his front door. The man, described by witnesses as
`black` and wearing a crash helmet, pulled out a handgun and
shot Nahome in the back several times before standing over him
and pumping four more bullets into his head. A gangland enforcer
named Samuel Dundas was arrested for the execution but was
never charged. Solly Nahome’s murder remains unsolved.





Patsy Adams developed a reputation as one of the most violent men in the underworld, pioneering the use of high-speed
motorcycle hit-men to carry out assassinations. An accountant named Terry Gooderham was said to have crossed the `A Team`
by siphoning off £250,000 of drug money. In 1998 he and his girlfriend Maxine Arnold were found shot dead in Epping Forest. A
rival Irish family, the Reilly’s, attempted to challenge the Adams’ dominance in north London. In response, Patsy Adams is said
to have gone into a pub controlled by the Reilly’s and encouraged one of his associates to insult a member of their family. The
Reilly’s were naturally offended and went away to arm themselves. When their BMW pulled up outside the pub, members of the
Adams gang raked it with gunfire. No one was killed, but the incident sent out a message - both to the Reilly’s and anyone else
who needed to know - that the A Team was prepared to go all the way to preserve its reputation and territory. Over the years,
the A Team has recruited some of the most ruthless criminals in the UK to fend off takeover bids from rival villains.
On a trip London Glaswegian Paul Ferris walked into one of the many nightclubs where the `A Team` had an interest. A senior
member of the Adams family approached Ferris and offered him work in the capital. For the next twelve months Ferris collected
cash for the A Team from those in their debt. As a young man Ferris had carried out similar work for Glasgow Godfather Arthur
Thompson. Those that refused to pay Thompson were beaten, cut and in extreme cases shot. However the `A Teams` reputation
was such, that the mere mention of their name resulted in instant payment.

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During a trial, Tommy Adams attracted blanket media
coverage when he was described as having attended
a meeting at the request of Kenny Dalglish the former
Scottish International, Celtic FC and Liverpool FC player.
Dalglish was reported to have hired Adams to attend the
meeting at a Heathrow Airport hotel to resolve a dispute
between player’s agents over England and Manchester
United superstar Wayne Rooney. Liverpool based boxing
promoter John Hyland and brothers Christopher and
Anthony Bacon were charged with demanding money with
menaces from Wayne Rooney’s agent, Paul Stretford.

During the trial Stretford had broken down in tears and said
he had developed an ‘arthritic nature in my foot caused by
the stress’. Stretford added that he felt intimidated at seeing
a ‘London villain’ present and the meeting became heated
when Hyland and the others could not get Stretford to sign
a deal on their terms. Dalglish and Adams apparently said
little but Dalglish refused to give police a statement. The
charges against John Hyland and the Bacon brothers were
eventually discharged.





In August 1998 Mark Herbert, an official employed
at the Crown Prosecution Services headquarters in
central London passed classified information to the
`A Team` and also attempted to give them the names
of thirty-three registered police informants. Herbert,
the son of a policeman, had been moonlighting at a
nightclub to earn cash to clear his debts. There he
met a man named Kevin Sumer, who had previously
worked for the Adams family. Herbert bragged about
his access to secret material in the central casework
division of the CPS and Sumer had immediately
realised the potential for making money. Herbert
and Sumer were apprehended after officers from the
national crime squad were tipped off and began an
investigation. They followed Sumer when he went to
meet Billy Isaacs, a henchman for the Adams family.





Sumer was carrying a plastic bag which detectives believe contained documents concerning the ongoing police investigation into
the Adams brothers. Isaacs eventually left with the bag. During another meeting, Sumer and Isaacs were overheard complaining
about the speed with which Herbert handed over information. Herbert eventually hacked into CPS computer databases and
wrote down the names of 33 informants. Herbert then employed a colleague to type two copies of the list and when Sumer was
arrested a few days later, both were found inside his car. Two undercover policemen posing as Adams associates had approached
Herbert and he had allegedly told them: “I have got a list of the majority of the grasses in the country.” During interviews, Herbert
told detectives that satisfying the Adams family was like feeding `a ravenous dog`. Isaac was no stranger to the police; he had
previously been arrested after 46 year old businesswoman Pat Hayes was shot twice in the head as she slept at her home in
Manchester. Isaac was accused of carrying out the shooting on the orders of his mother Rita. It was claimed she stood to inherit
Ms Hayes’s bungalow and several properties that they owned together in Florida. But he was acquitted of murder along with his
mother. Since 1999, Isaac has faced four criminal trials, been accused of two assaults, blackmail and a firearms offence. The trials
all collapsed after legal argument concerning evidence. In October 2013 Isaac was found dead after falling from a ground floor
window at his mansion in Ireland. It is believed he was locked out of his home and had climbed in through an open bathroom
window. He fell and died from ‘positional asphyxia’, after his head was jammed behind a bath.

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Things began to go wrong for Terry Adams in the late 1990’s. Between 1997 and 1999 the police put Adams under surveillance
and bugged his home. Excerpts later produced in court indicated that Adams was keen to go straight and not do anything to
attract the attention of the authorities. He even offered to pay the Inland Revenue £95,000 for taxes which he had not previously
declared. Terry Adams was finally arrested in 2003 and faced one sample charge of money laundering. The legal process dragged
on for two years, partly as a result of a perforated ulcer which affected his wife and co-defendant, Ruth. On the eve of his trial,
Adams pleaded guilty and was jailed for seven years.



James Anthony Froude, Professor of History, at Oxford once said of the Irish, `they are more like squalid apes than human beings.
...unstable as water. ...only efficient military despotism [can succeed in Ireland] ...the wild Irish understand only force.` In 2002,
journalist Julie Burchill narrowly escaped prosecution for incitement to racial hatred, following a column in The Guardian where
she described Ireland as being synonymous with `child molestation, Nazi-sympathising, and the oppression of women.` Burchill
has expressed anti-Irish sentiment several times throughout her career, announcing in the London journal Time Out that, `I
hate the Irish, I think they’re appalling.` This strong anti-Irish sentiment, that has been prevalent in the UK for centuries has
undoubtedly contributed to the rebellious and anti authority streak that Adams, the O’Mahoneys and many other Irish immigrant
families developed. As children of the 60`s the Adams and O’Mahoneys would have seen signs outside hotels and businesses
stating, `No Irish Need Apply,` `No blacks, no dogs, no Irish.` It cannot be denied that Irish families in the UK were treated
appallingly and this resulted in them experiencing extreme feelings of isolation, rage and resentment. In O’Mahoney’s case these
emotions, coupled with his father’s lust for violence resulted in three of the brothers serving prison sentences. Jerry, the eldest,
armed himself with a pair of large mechanic’s spanners and started clubbing a group of men that had somehow displeased him.
The police arrived and he clubbed one of them too before being overpowered. One of the men suffered a fractured skull; the
policeman had a shattered knee. Jerry was sent to prison. Paul got into a fight with a rival gang. He ran at them with a screwdriver
in each hand. He stabbed three people before being beaten to a pulp. He served two years in borstal. Bernard took exception to
the manner in which a man was talking to a woman and glassed him. He too was sent to prison. Less than twelve months after
Bernard had been released he glassed another man and went on the run rather than face a second term of imprisonment. He
washed up in South Africa where he earned his living as a nightclub bouncer on Johannesburg’s notorious Murder Mile. Whilst
at work, Bernard met a girl named Debra from Basildon in Essex and they became close friends. One night Bernard got into
a fight with a group of Portuguese men. He was stabbed in the chest but retaliated which resulted in one of the Portuguese
men being seriously injured after being repeatedly clubbed with the butt of a shotgun. The police were called and Bernard was
arrested, charged and remanded in custody to await trial. Shortly afterwards Bernard secured bail and fled South Africa, but he
was arrested upon his return to England for the earlier glassing incident. Throughout his prison sentence Bernard was visited by
Debra and in time romance blossomed. On 8 July 1986 a warder unlocked the main door of the prison and Bernard stepped out
on to the street. “See you soon O’Mahoney. Next time bring a friend,” the prison officer had said. Bernard turned to answer but
the prison door slammed shut in his face. Later the same day Bernard arrived in Basildon, Essex where he and Debra had agreed
to set up home together.

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Pylons march across the northern rim of the estuary from Tilbury Power Station to Basildon, Benfleet and Canvey Island, parcelling
off the sky like giants barbed wire. Welcome to the Essex Badlands, the county the Krays would have most likely moved to had
they not been imprisoned. Ever since the Second World War, Londoners have been flocking to Essex in their thousands. The
German Luftwaffe had blitzed the capital in bombing raids and so when peace eventually arrived the Government set about
clearing large parts of the overcrowded East End slums. In a surge of post war optimism new towns like Harlow and Basildon were
built in neighbouring Essex. With the promise of a new life in a clean, safe and spacious environment, Londoners embarked upon
a mass exodus to the county. Essex was about to become the new gangland frontier. Sixty times larger than the East End, it had
everything a criminal entrepreneur could wish for, miles of unguarded coastline, acres of remote farmland and a fast growing
urban population to prey upon. Two of the most notorious villains to move out of the East End into Essex were brothers Eddie
and Billy Blundell. Deemed to be more dangerous than the infamous Kray brothers the Blundells soon became the most powerful
figures in the region. The sons of a policeman, Eddie and Billy were keen boxers but they fought more often in the street than
they did in the ring.

The Blundells built up a lucrative ice cream business in the Ilford area but rival villains attempted to take over. This resulted in a
pitched battle being fought in broad daylight on Ilford High Road between the Blundells and a gang of up to twenty men. Three
members of the rival gang were shot and Billy Blundell was charged with attempted murder. When he appeared at the Old Bailey
to stand trial, Blundell told the jury that he had acted in self defence. Much to the dismay of the police, the jury believed him and
he was found not guilty.

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Twelve miles down the A13 from the Blundell’s home Bernard
O’Mahoney and his partner Debra had settled in well at their
Basildon home. They were happy and had two children, a son
named Vinney and a daughter named Karis. The Beatles once
penned a song that claimed money can’t buy you love but it’s
equally true to say that love can’t pay your bills or put food
on the table. O’Mahoney was working hard as a HGV driver to
provide for his family but he knew that it was not a lifestyle that
he could sustain for any period of time. The stress and strain
of working long hours and travelling to and from London every
day with two small children in the house to greet him when he
returned home began to tell. All he wanted to do during the
eight hours he had free each night was sleep but with screaming
neighbours and howling kids it proved impossible. To preserve
his sanity and his relationship with Debra he decided to seek out
employment locally. Whilst in the process of doing so a young
boy named James Fallon who had once lived in the same street
as O’Mahoney, was seriously injured after being knocked down
by an uninsured driver. O’Mahoney attempted to raise money
for the stricken boy and was joined in his efforts by Ron, Reg
and Charlie Kray. The Krays organised a charity boxing show in
aid of the stricken boy which was attended by many high profile
celebrities including Glen Murphy, Barbara Windsor and Ray
Winstone. The Kray brothers had been very close friends of
Winstone’s father and so they had known the actor since he was
a child.



O’Mahoney had mentioned to Reggie Kray that he was working long hours in London which was having an adverse effect upon his
family. Kray had sympathised and told him about a vacancy for a nightclub doorman at a venue called Raquel’s in Basildon town
centre. On Friday 16 March 1990, the day after O’Mahoney’s 30th birthday, he telephoned Keith Bonser who was Reggie Kray’s
friend and the manager of the club. Bonser arranged for O’Mahoney to meet Dave Venables the head doorman the following
week. Venables was six foot tall, balding and very powerfully built. He supplied security at a couple of clubs and most of the
pubs in the Basildon area. Venables looked O’Mahoney over, asked a few questions and then told him that he could start work
the following weekend. Raquel’s nightclub has been described in the media as the most violent in Britain. O’Mahoney and the
other door staff were involved in at least five or six fights per night. Men were kicked unconscious, glassed, stabbed and some
were even shot. After witnessing a lot of extreme violence O’Mahoney began to question the way that the trouble makers were
being dealt with. Local men with reputations would fight in the club and be ejected but the following evening they would be
allowed in - because, as the other doormen would say, `it’s not worth the trouble. ` The doormen believed that if they barred
one of these local hard men who regularly caused trouble, they may bump into him in the street, or they may even be visited at
their home. Forty pounds a night simply wasn’t enough of an incentive to invite trouble into their everyday lives and the lives of
their families. However, O’Mahoney was of the opinion that if he was going to do a job then it should be done properly and if
people wanted trouble, then they could fucking have it. Customers after all, are always right. One night O’Mahoney confronted
a trouble maker and in the battle that ensued, the man was left permanently blind. Venables left the club shortly afterwards and
O’Mahoney took control of the security. Knowing he needed back up, O’Mahoney approached a man named Tony Tucker who ran
a large established door firm and in February 1993, the pair agreed to run Raquel’s together. Over the next few months numerous
bloody battles were fought until the club became free of those customers who had been intent on causing trouble.

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Whilst O’Mahoney and the Blundells were fighting for a living on the streets of Essex, on the coast a new type of crime was
emerging. The Port of Tilbury was a gateway to Europe and every day millions of pounds worth of goods was being loaded onto
lorries for distribution throughout the UK. After leaving the security of the docks, the vehicles were vulnerable to attacks from
hijackers. Enterprising villains in Essex began buying cheap farmland and erecting barns which they called slaughters. Lorries
would be hijacked, driven to the barns, emptied and then stripped down so that any valuable parts could be sold along with
the valuable cargo. The shell or carcass of the lorry would then be sold as scrap leaving no trace of any crime being committed.
Apart from Dick Turpin, Danny Woolard is the most infamous highwayman to have ever operated in Essex. He had slaughters
throughout Essex which worked relentlessly stripping the countless vehicles that Woolard and his gang had hijacked. One evening
O’Mahoney received a call from Woolard saying that he needed a favour. He explained to O’Mahoney that a driver was required
to take a hijacked container full of coffee beans to a bonded warehouse in Liverpool. Despite not having a licence to drive an
articulated vehicle, O’Mahoney agreed. Later that night O’Mahoney met some of Woolard’s associates at a slaughter in rural
Essex. They attempted to start the lorry which had been provided by Terry Edwards, brother of Great Train Robber Buster Edwards
to haul the container. Black smoke poured out of the exhaust as the vehicle was dragged back and forth across the farmland by
a tractor in an attempt to start the engine. Eventually, it roared into life and O’Mahoney headed for the motorway. In the early
hours of the morning the vehicle broke down near Birmingham. A mechanic was called out and the lorry eventually arrived in
Liverpool albeit several hours late. Four men met O’Mahoney and explained that because of the delay they couldn’t park the
lorry in the warehouse and so it would have to be left outside overnight. O’Mahoney agreed, unhitched the container and headed
off back to Essex in the lorry. When he reached Northampton the vehicle broke down again. O’Mahoney rang Woolard and his
associates but couldn’t get a reply. Tired and fed up, O’Mahoney abandoned the lorry and headed for the nearest train station.
Because O’Mahoney was not familiar with articulated lorries he had overlooked the fact that number plates are on the front of
the lorry and on the back of the trailer. He should have removed the number plate from the container before leaving Liverpool
but he had simply forgotten. That night police swooped on the men moving the container into the warehouse and soon linked
it with the abandoned lorry in Northampton. They then arrested Terry Edwards who explained that he had hired the lorry to
his brother Buster. After being sentenced to fifteen years imprisonment for his part in the Great Train Robbery Buster couldn’t
contemplate another lengthy stint in jail. He refused to answer police questions about the lorry and when he was bailed pending
further enquiries Buster took his own life. He was found hanging from a steel girder inside a lock-up garage by his brother.

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In the 1980`s an underground youth movement became a cultural phenomenon which would change the Essex underworld
forever. Acid house music was founded by DJ`s in Chicago, Illinois and soon spread to the UK and continental Europe, where it
was played to hundreds of revellers in large warehouses and later open air gatherings that became known as raves. The new
music scene was fuelled by the equally new `love drug` called Ecstasy. Users experienced feelings of euphoria, empathy and were
able to dance endlessly. A pioneer of the new movement was Andrew Pritchard. He began staging illegal parties which attracted
thousands of people to warehouses and open spaces in Essex. He didn’t pay for the venues; he would just turn up, take over
and charge admission. People wanted to party and Pritchard made it happen. He mobilised legions of revellers to descend upon
unsuspecting villagers. Under pressure from horrified communities, the Government were forced to take heavy handed action.
The media joined in the furore, national radio banned acid house music and newspapers published sensational headlines such
as `Ecstasy is Evil, `Danger for lives as drug sweeps discos` and `11,000 go crazy on drugs at acid party.` A `Pay Party Unit` was set
up by the police to disrupt Pritchard’s events but they failed miserably. Broadcasting on pirate radio and using newly available
mobile phones Pritchard was able to direct thousands of party goers from one location to another without hindrance. Pritchard’s
illegal events company Genesis went from strength to strength. Charging £10 - £15 per head admission, Pritchard had made his
first million by the age of twenty-two.

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