Krays' memorabilia fetches £100,000

12 April 2012

Personal possessions of gangland criminals the Kray twins have fetched more than £100,000 at auction.

The pair, who were jailed for life for the murder of Jack McVitie in 1969, were notorious in east London in the 1950s and 60s.

They went on to develop a cult-like status among the public and celebrities alike.

Lots included photographs signed by actress Patsy Kensit, TV presenter Fern Britton and musicians Barbara Streisand and Mark Knopfler, which were sold for a total of £1,310.

But the biggest sales of the night were two pairs of cufflinks belonging to Ronnie, fetching nearly £15,000.

One buyer paid £7,400 for a letter to the brother from the artist Francis Bacon.

Spokesman for Chiswick Auctions William Rouse said: "It was extraordinary, and there's been an extraordinary group of people in the sale room. The interest has been phenomenal from the beginning."

Chiswick Auctions sold 160 lots including clothes, poems by the brothers and paintings by Ronnie.

Reggie Kray was freed in 2000 aged 66 because of his deteriorating health, and died shortly afterwards and his brother Ronnie died in prison in 1995, aged 61.

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