AS a mark of respect Billy Webb made a point of turning up at the
funeral in Glasgow of Arthur Thompson, Scotland's most notorious
gangster. On the other hand, because he held him in no regard
whatsoever, it never even crossed his mind that he should attend the
over-the-top funeral of Ronnie Kray through the East End of London the
other week. Nor was he prepared to join in the crocodile tears being
shed on that occasion by other former enemies of the gangland twin.
The tramlines slashed on Billy Webb's face many years ago warn that
here is a man not to be meddled with. He is a villain who will hold a
grudge and seek retribution when crossed.
In conversation he mentioned the name of a man -- who a few years ago
gained world-wide notoriety -- but who recently had done him out of some
money. ''He'll live to regret that,'' he promised.
''Death was kind to Ronnie Kray. He deserved a lot more than he got,''
Billy Webb declares with more than a degree of vehemence. Others might
have been prepared to forgive and forget, but not Webb. ''He got off
lightly. It is said that Ronnie screamed out for his mother just before
he died, but compared with what he inflicted on others he suffered no
pain.''
While lily-livered liberals, such as myself, are concerned about the
recent reawakening of the capital punishment debate in the UK, Webb has
no qualms.
''It is a pity they abolished the death penalty. This would have been
right and just punishment in the case of the Krays and would have saved
a lot of heartache and misery to many people who sat and watched the
glamorisation of the twins in recent years.''
Now that Ronnie is dead, he thinks it is possible that when Reggie is
eventually released he will abandon a scheme the twins had developed to
set up a new club to be called the Sweeney Todd. ''It was a twisted
notion. They even intended to have sawdust on the floor splattered with
red ink simulating blood.''
While clearly Webb disliked Ronnie most, it is just as obvious he does
not hold Reggie in high regard. From his prison cell, Reggie had been
writing romantic letters to Webb's daughter. ''She's well away out of
London,'' said Webb. ''She will be safe from him when he gets out.''
In his youth, Webb was very much in the same business as the Kray
twins. He and his older brother Ron ran illegal gambling clubs,
protection rackets, and he offered his hard-man services to those too
squeamish of blood to defend themselves. He was an enforcer for Rachman,
the notorious slum landlord of the sixties. Webb was into any scam that
would make money. He offered muscle and, if necessary, backed it up with
what he calls ''lethal weapons''.
Now aged 61, Webb still likes to be seen driving flash cars -- in his
youth it was a distinctive Cadillac Coup de Ville, today it is a Porche
with a personalised number plate from Ireland.
He also makes it clear that he is still involved with an illegal
gambling den in London. However, nowadays his main source of income is
from a scam he operates in the Far East.
''I won't tell you the name of the country,'' he said, ''because they
would almost certainly get their hands on a copy of The Herald and try
to put a stop to it.
''But in this Far Eastern country they have banned betting, except,
that is, when there has been a death in the family. In these
circumstances the authorities allow gambling at the wake.
''What we do is go along to that country and borrow a body for up to a
couple of weeks. We move it from house to house and from town to town.
It enables me and my friends, not from this country, to set up a
lucrative operation.
''We are talking big money here. The Chinese live to gamble and we
give them the opportunity.
''Nobody loses. The family of the deceased get enough money to provide
for a decent funeral -- something they could not otherwise afford -- and
the people whose houses we use get whatever share of the take we have
agreed upon.
''We play it straight!
''Once other expenses have been paid, such as a backhander to the
local cops, we are left with a tidy sum and it's almost legal.''
Webb says he spends several months of the year out of Britain running
the scam.
In his time he has known all the villains. He was friendly with George
Cornell and Jack ''The Hat'' McVitie, both murdered by one or other of
the Kray twins. He talks about ''Mad'' Frankie Fraser, enforcer for the
Richardson gang south of the river, with a degree of affection, and
speaks highly of Arthur Thompson.
''I liked Arthur very much,'' he says. After a pause he adds: ''I have
to be careful what I say to you. I don't want to upset the new 'Man' up
there. I will be going to Glasgow shortly.''
All in all, unless crossed, Webb seems to have got on reasonably well
with all the infamous names of the fifties and sixties underworld --
except of course the Krays.
And that may seem strange as their paths kept crossing most of their
adult lives -- ever since Webb and Ronnie Kray shared safe houses
together when each had gone Awol during National Service -- and when it
is considered Webb frequently visited both Reggie in prison and Ronnie
in Broadmoor.
For most of the time it was live and let live, but there were
occasions when tolerance came close to a face-to-face confrontation.
It was in the Old Horns public house in London's Bethnal Green, deep
in the Krays's manor, that violence finally erupted. According to his
version, Billy and Ron Webb were set upon by the twins and their
henchmen. Outnumbered 20 to one both the Webbs were badly beaten up.
According to Billy Webb his brother never really recovered and he
attributes Ron's early death to the battle at the Old Horns.
When his brother died, and an anguished Billy Webb visited Ronnie Kray
in Broadmoor, he walked straight up to the gangland killer and set about
him. ''I managed to get a few punches in before the screws pulled me off
him,'' he recalled. ''It was the first time I had come across grief,''
he said.
''It was not just Ronnie Kray. I was having a go at anybody who had
bad-mouthed my brother. The police came to my gaff and told me to cool
it.''
Although they were in the same business as the Krays, Webb said: ''We
were never like them. Anything my brother and I did, we did it for
money. Ronnie Kray would cut people up for little or no reason.
''I have never killed anyone . . . at least not as far as I know.
''Yes I was delighted when they were finally sent down. I told the
police about the Old Horns battle.
''I certainly was not unhappy when I heard Ronnie had finally died.''
The paperback edition of Billy Webb's book, Running with the Krays, is
published by Mainstream Publishing, priced #6.99.
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