Gangland enforcer once known as 'the dentist' dies at 90

Frankie Fraser.

"Mad" Frankie Fraser, a gangland enforcer who mixed with many of Britain's most notorious underworld figures, has died in hospital aged 90.

Fraser, who spent 42 years in prison, fell critically ill after undergoing surgery on his left leg last week.

His family took the decision to withdraw life support after he was placed into a medically induced coma at the weekend.

South London gangland boss Eddie Richardson, who described Fraser as an "old acquaintance", said: "He's had a long life and I don't think he's done too bad. He had Alzheimer's for about three years, so I don't think he knew what day it was."

It is believed the operation Fraser had at King's College Hospital in south London was linked to an injury he sustained during the brutal riots inside Parkhurst Prison on the Isle of Wight in 1969.

Fraser was said to be one of the ringleaders of the uprising, which left him with injuries he said took months to heal.

During a criminal career spanning decades, the notorious gangland enforcer was given the moniker "the dentist" after gaining a reputation for pulling out his rivals' teeth. In his heyday, word on the streets of London's East End was that Fraser carried pliers in his top pocket as a warning to the loose-lipped.

He spent nearly half his life in prison for violence and was an associate of notorious crime families the Krays and the Richardsons.

The gangster claimed to have served time in every prison in the country, including the infamous mental hospital Broadmoor.

Born in 1923 in Cornwall Rd, Lambeth, the baby of his family, Fraser found his calling early in life.

"I began stealing early on and bringing it home, saying I'd found 1 or 2," he said in his memoirs. "My mother would say she had the luckiest children, but she would not tell my father because he would have made me take the money down to the police station."

In a 1994 interview with the Independent, he appeared chuffed to have been dubbed Britain's most dangerous man by not one but two Home Secretaries.

Fraser's "Mad" nickname came as a result of him pretending to be mentally ill to avoid being drafted during World War II.

In the 1950s he worked for crime lord Billy Hill, and was paid 50 a time to carry out razor attacks. In 1991 he survived an assassination attempt after being shot in the head but refused to tell police who the gunman was.

"If you play by the sword, you've got to expect the sword," said Fraser.

His last stint in jail ended in 1989, and recent years had seen him living in sheltered housing at Bermondsey, southeast London.

Mad Frankie Fraser
1923 - born in Lambeth, south London

1936 - charged with his first crime: stealing a packet of cigarettes

1941 - sent to borstal for breaking and entering a hosiery shop in London

1950s - worked for crime boss Billy Hill and carried out razor attacks on victims for £50

1960s - joined the Richardson gang as an enforcer

1989 - Fraser's last jail term ended

1991 - survived being shot in the head outside a club in London

Telegraph Group Ltd, Independent