The Murder of Jack McVitie by Reggie Kray on the 28th October 1967, was a pivotal event in the Kray twins criminal history, with the event itself (combined with The Murder of George Cornell) lead to the life imprisonment of the twins and the downfall of The Firm.
Murder
Saturday, 28 October 1967 was an ordinary day for Sylvia Barnard. She had been alone with her daughter at the home she shared with Jack McVitie, in Hartland Road, Stratford, for most of it. McVitie was out, and as the afternoon wore on, Sylvia got ready to go to her sister’s in Dagenham. At about 4.30 p.m., McVitie returned from wherever he had been and had his dinner, and at around 7.30 p.m., Sylvia bade him goodbye and left with her daughter to see her sister. Up to that point it had been a rather pedestrian - one might even say dull - day, but its significance would be revealed later; Sylvia had seen Jack McVitie for the last time.
In the meantime, it was party time at the Carpenter’s Arms. It had been the twins’ thirty-fourth birthday only four days before and the celebrations had extended into the weekend; the little Cheshire Street pub was now buzzing with friends and family. With Reggie and Ronnie were their parents, brother Charlie, Connie Whitehead, old friend Geoff Allen, Ronnie Bender and Ronnie Hart. ‘Scotch’ Jack Dickson, Albert Donoghue, Sammy Lederman and Harry ‘Jew Boy’ Cope fleshed out the representation of the Firm. The women included, interestingly, Carol Thompson, a red-head who had become Reggie’s companion, and accompanying Ronnie Bender was ‘Bubbles’, Frankie Shea’s common-law wife, as the two had recently begun an affair. Charlie was with his wife Dolly, Whitehead was with his wife Pat and Geoff Allen was accompanied by a girlfriend called Annie. Hart was with his girlfriend, Vicky James, who later became his wife. Ronnie Kray had invited two young men along, Trevor Stone and Terry Clulow: Stone was a masseur and Clulow would eventually become one of the croupiers at the Colony Club. They were both seventeen-years-old and had known each other since their school days in Bethnal Green.
By all accounts it was a happy occasion and, by the time Chris and Tony Lambrianou arrived, the party was in full swing: A juke-box in the corner of the long, L-shaped bar belted out the hits of 1967: the Beatles, the Stones, Dusty Springfield, the Everly Brothers. Members of the Firm were there, suited and booted, all drinking, with smiles on their hard faces. The wives and girlfriends were there, too: all dolled up and smelling nice. That night the Lambrianous were entertaining another pair of brothers, Alan and Raymond Mills, noted characters from West London’s Ladbroke Grove area. Ray Mills had been living in Birmingham for about two years and had become friendly with Chris Lambrianou, although he had never met Tony; Alan knew Tony but had never met Chris. It was a chance for the four men to get properly acquainted and, at some point, introduce the Mills brothers to the Krays. Their evening had started at about 7.00 p.m. in The Brown Bear in Leman Street, Whitechapel, and after a few drinks there, Tony Lambrianou made a quick phone call to find out where the twins could be found. Finding out it was the Carpenter’s Arms, they made their way there. They arrived to a happy house where for several hours a pot of ten pound notes, a ‘whip’ for drinks, had been liberally plundered, and the Mills brothers met the Krays. At 11.00 p.m., the pub was due to close and a number of people began to drift off; for many, the night was still young, as there were always opportunities to extend a party at any number of clubs. There was also talk of a party at 97 Evering Road, Stoke Newington, at the flat belonging to Carole Skinner, a young lady who had been a cloakroom attendant at the El Morocco club, and whose boyfriend, George Plummer worked at the Green Dragon Club.
‘Big’ Pat Connolly, after splitting up from his wife, was renting a front room from Winnie Harwood a few doors away at No. 113. Many of the Firm were frequent guests at Skinner’s parties, which were held almost weekly, and it was where Albert Donoghue spent the night with Lisa after the death of Frank Mitchell: Various people started coming to these parties including Wally Garelick, Connie Whitehead, Ronnie Hart, Ronnie Bender, Albert Donoghue, Ian Barrie, Jack Dickson, Tommy Cowley, Tony Cronin, Pat Connolly, Sammy Lederman, Billy Exley, Tommy Flanagan, Ronnie and Reggie Kray.
Carol Skinner - known as ‘Blonde’ Carole to distinguish her from Reggie’s new red-headed girlfriend - was 27-years-old and had been living at 97 Evering Road since 1963. After four years of marriage, she had separated from her husband, Colin, in 1964 when he went to prison; since Colin’s release, he had kept in touch, mainly to visit their two children, but the separation was permanent and since 1966, Carole had been seeing club houseman George Plummer on a regular basis.
Opposite ‘Blonde’ Carole’s, at No. 76, lived Kathleen ‘Kitty’ Collins, who shared a top-floor flat with her three sons; her husband was at that time serving a sixteen-year prison sentence, and she knew Skinner well as they occasionally worked together at El Morocco and would babysit each other’s children. Collins was a frequenter of the local clubs, including the Regency, and had been casually introduced to the Krays through Winnie Harwood the previous year. When unaccompanied, she tended to steer clear of the twins and their associates, a number of whom she knew well by sight; Jack ‘The Hat’ McVitie was one of them, and she described him as somebody “who used to speak to everyone in general, and liked to dance with any of the girls all the time. He was very happy go lucky.” As often as not, she generally kept her social life away from the Krays, and often frequented the Coach and Horses on Stoke Newington High Street, a pub usually known as ‘Blondie Bill’s’. She also had a crowd of friends who were all regulars at the Old Blue Anchor pub in Whitechapel Road, which they commonly called ‘Coleman’s’ after the owner. It was common for them all to drink there on a Friday and Saturday night and, when the pub closed, to buy drinks from there to take back to somebody’s house for a party. On the night of Saturday, 28 October, it would be Collins’s turn to play hostess, albeit in an unexpected way.
As the Carpenter’s Arms emptied, a number of people decided to go to the Evering Road party. Reggie said that he was going for a meal with his Carol. Chris and Tony Lambrianou had left a little earlier with the Mills brothers, keen to see some other pubs before closing time, and so they went to the Queen’s Arms on Hackney Road, before Tony suggested moving on to the Regency. Chris was none too keen; having taken some speed (amphetamine) earlier on, he was feeling more ambitious and wanted to venture into the West End, but Tony convinced him and they soon arrived at the Regency and went downstairs to the jazz club, which was typically busy. Chris’s reservations returned: