Bobby Cummines, who was infamous as an armed robber and gang chief in the 1970s earlier than turning his life round to change into a jail reformer, has died at the age of 74
Bobby Cummines has died(Image: Unlock)
A infamous gangster who served time alongside the Krays has handed away. Bobby Cummines, who gained infamy in the 1970s as an armed robber and gang boss before transforming his life, has died aged 74.
His household introduced on his Instagram web page: “It is with nice unhappiness that we announce the sudden demise of our beloved Bobby Cummines OBE who died on Thursday March 5.
“The household has requested for privateness at this troublesome time. Details concerning the funeral will likely be shared in the end.”
A message from the household additionally said: “Writing this appears very, very surreal. Our darling, dearest Bobby was cruelly taken from us this week. The household, his fiancé and myself are all slowly coming to phrases with it.
“We would love to see any memories you have of Bobby, let’s remember the good times because there were plenty of them!Uncle Bobby, you really were a very special man who did so much for the youth and anyone who needed help. You will be truly missed. Love you millions, rest easy Bobby xx”
Born in Islington, London, in 1951, Cummines was the youngest of eight youngsters and regardless of being raised in a law-abiding family, he departed faculty at 16 with out {qualifications} and launched into his legal profession.
He went on to steer a agency of hitmen, blaggers and racketeers, dealing out excessive violence and brandishing a shotgun he known as Kennedy. Cummines constructed a brutal popularity in 1970s north London and when, inevitably, he ended up in jail, he precipitated fixed chaos, even holding the governor of a most safety jail as a hostage.
But it was a dialog behind bars with one in all Britain’s best-known criminals that put Bobby on the street to redemption. He bought to know the late Charlie Richardson of the infamous south London “Torture Gang”, a lethal rival of the Kray Twins.
“He told me I had a good brain but if I carried on I would end up dead or on a life sentence. He told me to get into education – that it would earn me money without hurting anyone,” stated Bobby. Incredibly, he did simply that, and Bobby grew to become a revered anti-crime campaigner whose charities have helped rehabilitate tons of of ex-offenders.
In his autobiography he detailed his lifetime of crime and the way he went straight. Including the second in 2011 when the man who saved a portrait of the late Queen in his cell met her in particular person to get an OBE.
“The Queen told me I had a really colourful background and she was pleased to award me the OBE. That’s the nicest way I can think of someone telling me I’ve got a lot of form,” stated Bobby. “I’ve done some horrendous things – extreme violence – I never deny that. I deserved every day I got in prison because it was lunacy.
“I was dangerous and if I hadn’t been stopped there would have been shootings. There would have been dead bodies all over the place. But I got to the stage where I didn’t want to hurt people any more. When I got my OBE I was humbled. I never expected that. I was just trying to make up for all the bad things I’d done and make sure other kids didn’t do the same.”
