Nipper Read: The Man Who Nicked the Krays

Just after 7p.m. on Tuesday 4 March, 1969, the jurors filed back into the Old Bailey courtroom to give their verdict on Ronald Kray. The word ‘guilty’ brought to a triumphant conclusion the months of hard work put in by Leonard ‘Nipper’ Read and his team.

In 1964 Read was invited to put together a team to ‘have a go’ at the Krays. Here he charts his extraordinary investigation, from the first time he saw Ronald in a pub on the Whitechapel Road – where he turned up flanked by minders – to the brothers’ eventual arrest in May 1968 and their sensational trial.

Nipper Read is the enthralling story of the life of a London detective. It is a tale teeming with the names that defined the era: Billy Hill, Jack Spot, Frank Mitchell and ‘Mad’ Frankie Fraser; porn dealers like James Humphries; and police officers such as Ernie ‘Hooter’ Millen.

Praise for Nipper Read :

A tasty dish … a tribute to the author’s frankness and his co-author’s skill - Independent

‘Vividly described’ - Daily Telegraph**

A former criminal lawyer, James Morton is the author of more than twenty books including the Gangland series. He has also co-written books with the police officer responsible for the conviction of the Krays, Leonard Read (Nipper) ; and the gangster Frankie Fraser (Mad Frank’s Britain).

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