there's an old saying the strength in numbers this is something criminals have
learned although some prefer the lone wolf approach others have found it more effective
and lucrative to become a part of a gang today we'll be touring through the annals of crime as
we take a look at some of the most notorious unique and ruthless gangs in british history
number eight the cockroad gang during the late 18th century kingswood forest in south
gloucestershire was a lawless land that served as a hideout for many rogues swindlers and
mouth actors and most notorious of all was the cockroach gang named after a tiny hamline in
the city of bristol the cockroach gang was active for decades and consisted mainly of
multiple generations of the same family the canes accompanied by their friends and confederates
that being said it's unclear if the gang was started by the canes or if they merely took over
it one issue of the bristol gazette from 1786 writes about the execution of two members of
counterfeiting and robbery joseph fry and samuel ward but makes no mention of the kane's family
that same issue reported that the gang kept the neighborhood in so much dread that people used
to pay them an annual stipend not to rob them the year 1815 was a turning point for the gang after
storming a lock-up to free one of their members a party of watchmen from bristol assembled and
raided the houses of all the known gang members and arrested 25 people reverend and historian h.t
alacombe revealed the bend the cockroach gang came in 1817 after most of the canes had been executed
or transported stating the eldest son george was transported for life for housebreaking thomas
and benjamin were executed for burglary thomas joseph and samuel were transported for burglary
james a grandson of all benjamin was executed for murder francis and thomas grandsons transported
other descendants transported or executed three daughters had their respective husbands executed
or transported number seven the sabine family although it had mostly been forgotten for almost
a century the sabini family which was once the most powerful gang in london is once again well
known thanks to being featured on the british tv show peaky blinders but more on them later
the sabini family was led by charles darby sabini the son of an italian father and an english mother
born in clarken world green in london zabini started as a brawling hoodlum before he assembled
a crew of his own the mainly handled racketeering and fencing his power grew during the 1920s when
he took over the protection extortion rackets for race courses a highly lucrative business in the tv
show sabine feuded with the peaky blinders and the jewish gang led by arthy solomons in real life his
main enemies were the birmingham boys led by billy kimber and the elephant and castle mob headed by
the mcdonald brothers even though his opponents allied themselves against him sabine came out on
top their feud culminated with a violent brawl in 1927 on waterloo road where eight men were killed
the fight brought too much police attention and both the mcdonald's and billy kimber decided to
flee to america leaving the sabini gang in charge their power slowly dwindled during the 1930s and
derby took a step back as his brother harry sabini assumed the leadership role during world war
ii both brothers were arrested and imprisoned as enemy aliens although they were eventually
released because their mother was english of course by that point the sabini gang was a shell
of its former self and other london mobsters such as billy hill and the white family were
more than ready to take over 6. the 40 elephants compared to other gangs on this list the 40
elephants might not seem so bad they were rarely violent and they mostly resorted to shoplifting
from fancy stores but this allowed them to keep a low profile and they managed to operate a lot
longer than any other gang on this list records suggest that the group was in existence for at
least 80 years between 1870 and 1950 and for possibly as long as 200 years and there was one
more thing the 40 elephants consisted entirely of women they got their name from the elephant
and castle area of london where they were based that's the same place where the elephant castle
mob were from unsurprisingly and the two groups often worked side by side and indeed more than
a few of them were married to each other the 40 elephants took advantage of the morals of the day
they walked into stores wearing heavy coats bloomers and skirts that had hidden pockets sewn
on the inside knowing that more often than not the staff and even the police would be too prudish to
search them those who did get caught only spent a few months in jail most of them were careful never
to wear the things they stole instead preferring to fence the goods and buy their own clothing and
jewelry legitimately they had their heyday during the interwar period especially during the decadent
1920s when they became known for throwing lavish parties and indulging in the new flapper lifestyle
their activity slowly declined following world war ii although it is still unclear what exactly
brought a permanent end to the 40 elephants number 5. the richardson gang the crate twins are without
a doubt london's most notorious gangsters who ruled the city's criminal underworld during the
mid 20th century but even at the height of their power they were not completely untouchable they
always had a thorn in their side and that thorn's name was the richardson gang led by brothers
charlie and eddie richardson this gang based out of south london garnered a fearsome reputation for
extreme sadism cruelty and torture all employed to protect their criminal empire which was based
mainly around fraud protection rackets and drug dealing catching a beating from the richardsons
was known as taking a shirt from charlie referring to the fact that charlie richardson gave the
victim a new shirt when they were sent home since their own clothes when covered in blood some of
the gang's go-to techniques involved nailing the victim to the floor using electric shocks on their
genitals and cutting off their toes with bolt cutters other prominent members of the richardson
gang included mad frankie frazier whose favorite punishment involved pulling teeth out with pliers
and george cornell who was murdered by ronnie cray inside the blind beggar the richardson gang came
to an end in 1966 when both brothers and 10 other members were arrested on various charges they were
given long prison sentences following what became known in the british media as the torture trial
4. the damned crew we're going back in time for this entry all the way to the 17th century to
take a look at a unique london gang that consisted mainly of gentlemen reuters and revelers who like
to get drunk and cause mayhem they were called the damned crew also referred to as the cursed crew
because they were regarded as men without fear who were in service of the devil there isn't a ton of
information about this gang readily available but we do know the name of the man who was in
charge at least for a few years sir edmund banem we also have a contemporary account for one of
their misadventures which occurred on the night of march the 18th 1600. after boehner and his men got
drunk at the mermaid tavern they cast off their cloaks and upper garments drew rapiers and daggers
and marched through the streets they were arrested after getting into a fight with the city watchmen
and as they were being dragged off to jail bainum shouted that he cared not a fart for the
lord mayor or any magistrate in london afterwards banham was implicated in a rebellion in essex and
then the infamous gunpowder plot of 1605 he was forced to flee england and spent the rest of his
life in europe and it's likely that his getaway also meant the end of the damned crew three the
scuttlers just because most of the gangs in this video were centered in or around the capital
does not mean that gang violence was strictly a london problem in fact during the 19th century
a lot of fighting seen in manchester and the surrounding townships was caused by young hoodlums
known as the scuttlers technically speaking the scuttlers were not just a single gang but rather
multiple similar gangs each one centered around a specific neighborhood they consisted of teenagers
with rarely anyone being over 20 years old and most of the boys joining as soon as they hit 12 or
13 years of age as for their crimes the scuttlers usually fought each other in turf wars that often
turned bloody since most of them were armed with knives or with heavy buckled belts the scuttlers
even had their own style of dress which made them immediately recognizable they wore bell-bottom
trousers clogs with brass tips and colorful neck achieves that could have been used to signal
their allegiance to a particular neighborhood they also had a distinctive donkey fringe haircut with
the back and sides cropped very short and a long fringe at the front the violence between the
various gangs reached its peak in 1870 during a series of street battles that became known
as the rochdale road war around 500 scuttlers were arrested over a one-year period and a lot of them
were given lengthy prison sentences as a deterrent to other gang members even so this did little to
curb their enthusiasm and it wasn't until a few decades later when various clubs for working-class
boys were opened in the city that the numbers for the scuttlers finally started dwindling number
2. the peaky blinders without a doubt the peaky blinders are the most famous gang in this video
thanks mainly to the tv show of the same name centered in birmingham the peakies were a street
gang consisting of working-class men and teenagers who like to get drunk and cause some trouble
although the tv program brought them renewed notoriety there are some differences between
the show and their real counterparts for starters the show takes place during the 1920s and many
peaky blinders and their associates are veterans of world war one in reality the gang was at its
peak in the late 19th century and had declined significantly by the time the war had even started
another myth was that the name peaky blinder came from the fact that members liked to
line the rims of their peaked caps with razor blades and use them as weapons the truth was much
less dramatic as detailed by a contemporary businessman who described the average peaky
blinder in his memoirs he said the peaky blinder took pride in his personal appearance and dressed
the part with skill bell-bottom trousers secured by a buckle belt hobnailed boots a jacket of sorts
a gordy scarf and a billy [ __ ] hat with a long elongated brim this hat was worn well over one eye
hence the name peaky blinder the last myth is a typical hollywood exaggeration the real peaky
blinders were hardly criminal masterminds and rarely took part in the kind of exciting exploit
scene in the tv show while they did have a hand in gambling and protection rackets they
were mainly responsible for brawling and other street crime the most serious offense that we
know of was the charge of manslaughter in 1898 against 19 year old george cloggy williams who
killed a police constable by throwing a brick at his head 1. the firm throughout the 1950s
and 1960s a criminal organization known as the firm ruled over most criminal enterprises in
the east end of london thanks mainly to its two leaders brothers ronnie and reggie cray better
known as the cray twins born in 1933 ronnie and reggie became street brawlers from a young age and
they were proficient enough that they took up boxing however a dishonorable discharge
from the army ended whatever hopes they might have of a legitimate career and the duo turned
to organize crime they started small doing a defensing hijacking and protection racquets or
working as muscle for other more established outfits eventually there was a power vacuum
created by the absence of two big time gangsters billy hay and jack comer and the crays were there
at the right place at the right time to become the new dominant organization in the east end
ronnie and reggie used their money to open nightclubs in the more fashionable west end of
london that is how they transformed from gangsters to celebrities they were often seen in the company
of famous movie stars singers and socialites and became an integral part of england's swinging 60s
culture their success came to a screeching halt in 1968. each brother had been imprisoned before
but the firm had always survived because the other sibling was on the outside able to run it
scotland yard knew that they needed to imprison both crays to put an end to the gang which they
did in 1968 ronnie and reggie were each convicted of murder while another 15 prominent members of
the gang were also arrested on various charges the craze both got life in prison and just like that
the firm was dead but its mark on london can still be seen half a century later and if you'd like to
know the full story you can check out the video we did on the cray twins on our sister channel
biographics there's a link below this video and hey while we're on the subject of gangs and true
crime make sure you're subscribed to my podcast the casual criminalist which is going quickly it's
both on youtube and wherever you get your podcasts there's a link below and thank you for watching