Reputed East End monster is shot dead
A reputed East End mobster has been shot dead in a suspected gangland hit, it was disclosed today.
George Francis, reportedly an associate of the Kray twins and the Great Train robbers gang, had been shot in the head and chest.
His bullet-riddled body was found slumped in his car yesterday in south London.
Francis, 63, was a wealthy scrap metal dealer with a substantial house in Kent, but had been linked by police many times to the London underworld.
In 1981 Francis was cleared of involvement in a £2.5m (€3.5m) cannabis smuggling operation in which a Customs officer was shot dead.
Francis was questioned by police over the handling of the proceeds of the £26m (€37m) Brink’s-Mat gold bullion robbery at Heathrow in 1983.
Two years later he was shot by a hitman but survived, after a gunman burst into his pub near Hever Castle in Kent.
Francis was also reportedly an associate of Kenneth Noye, the gangster serving life for the M25 road rage murder of Stephen Cameron.
Murder squad detectives have appealed for witnesses to the killing of Francis, found in Lynton Road, Bermondsey.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: “We are looking into his background.”
