HE survived four assassination attempts but when death finally came for for gangster Bobby Cummines, it was through a freak accident.
The underworld hitman was one of Britain’s most notorious gangsters who turned his back on and went on to receive an OBE from
Bobby Cummines was a gangland hitman before going straightCredit: Alamy
The wily gangster was an associate of the Kray twinsCredit: Getty
A fortnight ago, the 74-year-old former gang boss stumbled while getting out of a taxi and fell into the path of a passing car.
The man that killed for a living in a world where a victim’s eyeball was sent as proof of death died in hospital of multiple injuries three days after the accident.
On Friday (March 27) Cummines, who rubbed shoulders with the worst villains in London, will be laid to rest at a family funeral.
It will be followed by a wake at a boozer near his home in Brentwood, , where the great, the good and the bad will remember an extraordinary life.
The youngest of eight children from a law-abiding family, Bobby Cummines left school at 15 to work as a shipping clerk.
But one morning on the way to work he was stopped and searched by two cops who he claimed planted a cut-throat razor on him. Persuaded to plead guilty he lost his job.
It was then he vowed: “If they want me to be bad, I’ll show them how bad I can be.”
At just 16 he became Britain’s youngest armed robber and by the age of 20 was leading a gang of enforcers, extortionists and racketeers, known as The Chaps, who ruled North London.
Bobby told 10million listeners on the True Geordie podcast: “In the 60s and 70s, if people had a problem they didn’t go to the Old Bill they didn’t want to be known as informants or ‘grasses’.
“Instead, they would go to the head of the local manor – that was me. We made sure that justice was swift, with trouble nipped straight in the bud.”
Always immaculately dressed in a sharp three-piece suit, he said: “I was a businessman whose was crime.”
Booby’s territory covered North London, while the notorious Kray twins, Ronnie and Reggie, operated in East London and ran clubs in the West End. The capital’s mob map was completed with deadly rivals, the Richardsons, operating south of the river.
Although only five feet six tall, with his sawn-off shotgun – nicknamed Kennedy after the assassinated US President – Bobby Cummines brought terror to rivals.
He recalled: “Kennedy dealt in life and death – could snuff out an existence with a flick of the trigger and made the loudest bang you were ever likely to hear.”
Sometimes he used Kennedy as ‘The Stinger’ – the ultimate punishment tool. One cartridge would contain normal buckshot while the other was filled with rock salt.
Bobby explained: “You could shoot someone and damage their legs, but the salt melted into their wounds.
“Despite causing intense pain, the wounds would heal leaving no trace for any forensics people.
“We had strict rules. You couldn’t shoot an innocent member of the public, the media or Old Bill.
“The cops didn’t mind if the firms shot each other because that was one less to look for.”
Bobby (fourth from left) celebrating the release of armed robber George Davis with associates in 1973Credit: Shutterstock Editorial
Bobby helped broker a deal between Charlie Richardson, pictured left, and the KraysCredit: Media Drum World
MEETING THE KRAYS
As a teenager, Bobby had quickly became Britain’s youngest armed robber.
And he soon found himself in the Old Bailey charged with possession of a shotgun and armed robbery. Bobby was a distinctive prisoner, with his small build and piercing blue eyes.
In court he saw two men strutting along, looking like a million dollars, dressed in smart suits and immaculately groomed.
“I didn’t know who they were at first.”
He recalled the one with the round face asking, “What are you doing here?”
“I’m up for possession of a firearm and armed robbery. It was a sawn‐off shotgun.”
The man with the round face was taken aback: “You cheeky bastard. You’ve got some front. I’ll give you ten out of ten for that. What age are you?’
“Sixteen.”
“We’ll be seeing a lot of you,” the suited prisoner grinned.
“You probably will,” Bobby agreed.
“Do you know who you were talking to there?” a prison officer whispered, turning to Bobby. “You might not have seen them before, but you’ll have heard of them.”
“They’re obviously villains. Who are they?”
“That was Ronnie and Reggie Kray – kings of the East End.”
Cummines encounter with the Krays was memorable – for all threeCredit: Hulton Archive – Getty
Hunting drug dealers
Members of the public would also reach out to Bobby for help with a gang related problem.
A Greek couple who ran a takeaway fish and chip shop once offered Bobby their life savings to get their drug addict daughter out of the clutches of two heroin dealers who ran a local garage.
Cummines recalled: “I wasn’t worried about being paid. I’d just been out on a nice little earner, robbing.
“One of the brothers was working under a car so I walked straight through the door and aimed at his legs. I pulled the left trigger, blasting him with the salt.
“He writhed in agony and I left him to scream. He probably thought he’d been peppered with real pellets.
“The sound of someone making that noise, thinking he is about to die, has to be heard to be believed. I knew that sound off by heart.”
Then Bobby walked into their office and placed ‘Kennedy’ with a live round in the chamber against the older brother’s head. His eyes began to bulge and he shook with fear.
Cummines warned: “If you ain’t off the manor in 24 hours I’m going to blow the pair of your f***ing heads off. Your mate there has been shot with rock salt. He’ll recover.
“This is a live round, a couple of inches from your brain. Do you want your workshop redecorated?”
The brothers were gone the next day and never seen again.
Bobby turned his life around after leaving jailCredit: Carl Fox – The Sun
He was awarded an OBE by the late QueenCredit: PA:Press Association
Grim trophies
Cummines was also a hired hitman and would do diligent research on his target to avoid being caught.
He said: “If I was paid to shoot you, I would shoot you. Nothing personal. It was just a bit of work for me.”
True crime author David Meikle reveals: “If a hitman’s target was diabetic, he would be given an ‘accidental’ overdose of insulin while out walking his dog and go into a coma. It had to look like natural causes.
“If one firm wanted to send a message to another firm that had caused aggravation, they would kill the gang member and send out an eye or a hand by special delivery.
“An eye was the favourite body part and the ultimate proof of a killing. A hand could be nicked from a mortuary but the eyes told the brutal truth.”
Everyone in Bobby’s firm had a specific role – explosives, locksmith, firearms, mechanic and getaway driver.
Their vehicles looked unremarkable on the outside, like the brown Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6L with velour trim that Brucie the mechanic had fitted with a three-litre engine.
Bobby said: “It looked horrible but was totally anonymous. There was no point in screeching around in a flashy Jag during an armed robbery.
“It went so fast. You had to brace yourself as it went from 0–60 in a flash. The average cop car stood no chance of keeping up.”
The first attempt on his life happened as Bobby was walking through Holloway checking on his business interests, when he took his eye off the ball.
A loud crack of gun firing was followed by a feeling that his leg had been set on fire.
He said: “The pain was unbearable. I knew it was a drive-by because, after the bullet hit me, I could see a cloud of exhaust smoke and I heard a motor revving.”
He was whisked away to a safe house, where a gang member with medical skills treated the wound left after a .22 rifle bullet went straight through Bobby’s leg. Treatment in the house took several weeks.
If one firm wanted to send a message to another firm that had caused aggravation, they would kill the gang member and send out an eye or a hand by special delivery
Author David Meikle
The Chaps discovered the attacker was an enforcer with a rival outfit.
The gunman was taken to a secluded place and injured in delicate places with a blade.
Bizarrely, the enforcer’s father then sent a note of apology in an envelope along with £500.
Not long after, a shotgun was fired at Bobby from a passing car.
The pellets missed him but hit his friend Big Eddie, who found out where the attacker lived.
Big Eddie exacted revenge with a revolver, shooting his victim through the letterbox, causing serious wounds.
Bobby also escaped unscathed from two other assassination attempts through his car windows.
Bobby at No.10 Downing Street with Bishop Joanne GrenfellCredit: Alamy
The former gangster campaigned for prison reformCredit: Alamy
Banged up
But Cummines could not escape justice. He was jailed for seven and a half years for manslaughter when a hostage he took during an armed robbery died because Bobby tied his gag too tight.
Later, he spent another 12 years in jail for committing 13 armed robberies.
At Parkhurst , he was banged up with terrorists including Colonel Gaddaffi’s special agent who had velvet curtains in his cell, his own butler, and an endless supply of comforts sent by the Libyan leader himself.
Bobby used his wits to broker a deal between deadly rivals Reggie Kray and Charlie Richardson when he discovered inmates from both gangs were tooling up for a bloodbath inside the jail.
Richardson told Cummines: “You’ve got a brain, use it. Crime has no future.”
Bobby heeded his advice, and when he was moved to Maidstone prison, studied sociology with University.
After release, he went on to become chief executive of Unlock, the National Association of Reformed Offenders and was an adviser to the government on rehabilitation of criminals.
He said: “Our message was that ex-prisoners live a life that others can only guess about and we’re living in an unforgiving and sometimes brutal society that is not willing to give us a break.”
In July 2011 – 20 years after being released from jail – Bobby received an OBE from the late Queen for his work with reformed offenders.
Pinning on his medal, said: “The way you have turned your life round is amazing. I must say that you have a very colourful background.”
*David Meikle co-wrote ‘I Am Not a Gangster’ and ‘The Parkhurst Years’ – published by Ebury Press – with Bobby Cummines.
* Armed Robber OBE, a tribute to Bobby Cummines will be aired on the Underworld Uncut YouTube channel on Friday evening at 7pm.
Eze Chidiebere Paul
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