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.
Friends and associates gathered for a service at GreenAcres Kemnal Park in Sidcup, south-east London to mark the death of underworld fixer Freddie Foreman after his death aged 94
Foreman (right) is pictured here in 1961 along with (left to right) Sulky Gower, boxer Henry Cooper, Charlie Kray and Reggie Kray
Freddie Foreman, seen in London in 2000, died aged 94 in west London on October 10, 2026
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.
Floral tributes were laid in honour of Freddie Foreman at his south-east London funeral
Convicted armed robber John Twomey attended Freddie Foreman’s funeral in south-east London, with a wake held at the Greyhound pub in Keston
Former Kray Firm member Chris Lambrianou was among those attending the funeral
Actor Mike Linnane, whose films include The Essex Warriors and The Essex Boys Tapes
Also there was former Essex Boys associate and true crime author Bernard O’Mahoney (right)
Freddie Foreman – also known as Brown Bread Fred – was an East London gangster who worked closely with the Kray Twins in the 1950s and 60s
Foreman (centre) is pictured in 1969 at the Royal Garden Hotel in Kensington with Tottenham Hotspur footballers Mike England (left) and Pat Jennings (right)
‘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.’
Among the mourners at his funeral was John Twomey, who was jailed in 2010 after he and others were found guilty of raiding a Menzies World Cargo warehouse near Heathrow airport in 2004.
Twomey, described in court as the ringleader of the £1.75million theft, was sentenced to 20 years and six months.
Fellow mourner Bernard O’Mahoney previously worked as a nightclub doorman and was played in 2020 gangster biopic Rise of the Footsoldier: Origins by ex-Wimbledon and Wales footballer Vinnie Jones.
Also there was Chris Lambrianou, one of Ronnie and Reggie Kray’s most feared gang members who has since helped set up a charity aimed at steering youngsters away from crime.
Back in the 1960s, he would dish out regular beatings on behalf of the twins and helped clear up the murder of Jack ‘The Hat’ McVitie.
He had to put socks on his hands to mop up McVitie’s blood and then with his brother Tony Lambrianou drove the body south of the Thames and left in it in a car outside a church.
The pair ended up being jailed for life for their part in the 1967 gangland slaying.
But since his release, he has told of trying to stem a knife crime epidemic and encouraged criminals to move away from gangs and into the boxing gym.
He told the Daily Mail in 2021: ‘These kids carry knives because they are scared most of the time, scared that they will be stabbed if they don’t have a knife.
‘But the longer they carry that knife – the more likely they are going to use it – destroying not just the life of the victim and their family but also their own.
‘We are reaching out to these youngsters and trying to help them get away from people who may look like they want to take them under the wing but in reality treat them like a commodity and nothing more.
‘We’ve so far helped countless youngsters off the streets and into the gym, where they can use their energy in a positive through boxing.’
Lambrianou added: ‘Myself and my brother – and others – were jailed for a moment of madness.
‘We didn’t wield the knife that killed Jack or were even there when he was killed but were sucked in and crime has a habit of doing that to people.
‘I saw what it did to my old dad who had to traipse all over the country to come and see me in prison and then my brother.
‘Your family serve every minute with you inside, it corrupts your soul, and if we can stop a 12-year-old picking up a knife and going out with the intention of doing someone harm, then we’ve done alright.’
