Like a scene from a British gangster movie: Notorious London hoods pay respects at funeral of Kray Twins enforcer Freddie 'Brown Bread Fred' Foreman after death at 94

Mourners have turned out to pay tribute at the funeral of Kray Twins enforcer Freddie Foreman – known as 'Brown Bread Fred' – after he died aged 94.

Friends and associates gathered for a service at GreenAcres Kemnal Park in Sidcup, south-east London, before making their way to the Greyhound pub in nearby Keston.

Among those spotted were former Essex Boys associate and true crime author Bernard O'Mahoney, The Essex Boys Tapes actor Mike Linnane, convicted armed robber John Twomey and former Kray Firm member Chris Lambrianou.

Convicted criminal Foreman passed away at his care home in west London on the morning of October 10 following a short illness, his family said.

Known as 'The Guv'nor' and 'Brown Bread Fred', Foreman was acquitted of several murders at the Old Bailey – but later admitted to carrying out both killings and throwing his victims' bodies in the sea.

For most of the 1960s Foreman ruled the streets of east London with his and famed crime duo the Kray Twins' gang The Firm.

He was involved in the disposal of the body of Jack 'The Hat' McVitie – murdered by Reggie Kray – and was a close associate of a robbery gang who carried out a £6million Security Express cash heist in Shoreditch, east London, August 1983.

Foreman had recently moved out of his home in Maida Vale, west London, after reportedly becoming estranged from his family.

Paying tribute, Foreman's godson Nick Reynolds described his death as 'the end of an era'.

He added: 'I saw Fred a few months ago when he was in St Mary's Hospital and he was in great form, chatting about the old days and in amazing shape for someone his age.

'He had not been in the hospital long and was leaving his Maida Vale flat to move into a care home.

'Fred was my Godfather and a good friend of my dad's. I was very fond of him and this is very sad news.

'He had been a great source of support for the train robbers, helping Buster Edwards and Ronnie Biggs.'

Maureen Flanagan, a former model and close friend of the Krays, also paid tribute to the 'very warm man'.

She said: 'Fred was the last of the old-fashioned gentleman gangsters.

'He was a very warm man who would treat women like princesses and was very kind to children and if any man upset them, they would suffer for it.

'He was the last of the old guard and only Chris Lambrianou is left now from the Krays' Firm.'

In 2018, Foreman put on a sharp navy blue suit for the release of the biographical film Fred: The Godfather of British Crime, which premiered as part of the East End Film Festival in London.

The film delved into the life of Foreman, allegedly responsible for numerous murders while acting as a henchman for Kray Twins Ronald and Reginald.

His rise through the ruthless British crime underworld grabbed headlines – with Foreman having been one of the only voices from the era still alive.

He was sentenced to ten years in prison for reportedly being involved in disposing of the body of Jack 'The Hat' McVitie, who had been stabbed to death by Reggie Kray in Clapton, east London, in October 1967.

Foreman told an interviewer in 2000 how he had thrown McVitie's body off a boat into the sea off Newhaven in East Sussex. 

Following his prison stint, Foreman found himself locked up once again after allegedly taking part in the Shoreditch Security Express robbery, which was the largest cash robbery in the UK at the time.

In total, Foreman served 16 years in 15 different jails – though he was acquitted at the Old Bailey on murder charges four times.

He also ran his own pub in south London and later outed himself as the organiser of the prison escape of gangster Ronnie Biggs in 1965.

The violent career criminal and self-confessed murderer went on to produce two volumes of memoirs, alongside his occasional media appearances.

Speaking to the Daily Mail in 2024, Foreman recalled how he first began building his reputation in post-war south London, first as a boxer and subsequently as a criminal.

A side hustle involving hitting electrical stores brought him into the orbit of Charlie Kray, the Kray twins' elder brother.

He said: 'I was used to death and destruction. Nothing would faze me anymore. Like when Ronnie shot Georgie Cornell.

'Georgie Cornell was a pal of mine, he was a nice guy. But he went and shot him in the Blind Beggar. I had a flat opposite that.

'I got involved with them. It was a bad move, but they did help me. They got me that flat.

'I used to go around to their house to their mother, Violet, and have a cup of tea. I took the kids around there to see them. She was a lovely woman. She would look after the kids if I had to go out anywhere.

'We got to know the Kray family. There were good times and bad times.'

• READ MORE: Gangster legend and Kray Twins 'enforcer' Freddie Foreman dies aged 94
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