Secret jail documents have shed new light on the love-hate relationship between the Kray twins and their sinister “almost telepathic” bond. After they were separated, Reggie was allowed regular visits to his brother in Broadmoor until Ron died in 1995. But long-lost prison records have revealed that instead of a joyful reunion, the meetings would often pass in eerie silence.
A prison officer ordered to observe Reggie during the trips to Broadmoor wrote in his report: “His relationship with his brother was of a curious love-hate nature. Sometimes on his regular visits to see his brother in Broadmoor they exchanged hardly a word.”
The Krays’ mother Violet campaigned successfully for her boys to do their time together in Parkhurst after Ron attempted suicide in Durham. But confidential prison records noted that together the twins were dubbed “The Godfathers” who were both worshipped and feared by other inmates. Ron was shipped off to Broadmoor in July 1979, and Reggie was transferred to lower security Long Lartin Prison in January 1981.
Medical notes record that when Reggie returned to Parkhurst in 1982, staff were shocked by the change in appearance from the man they remembered as “a lively humorous East Ender”. He was said in reports to be “sallow, drawn, looking very worried and concerned, had lost his confidence and was clearly upset.”
Reggie only revealed the devastating impact of the separation years after his twin’s death. He was aged 64, when he finally opened up to an unnamed prison probation officer from the Krays’ old haunt of Bethnal Green. The officer won Reggie’s trust in the two years before his death and wrote a report for the Parole Board concluding he had been as bad as his twin but was no longer a threat to the public and should be given a release date.
The probation officer concluded following his brother’s transfer to Broadmoor, Reggie’s mental health “suffered severely”. His report concluded: “Until his separation from his brother, Mr Kray’s identity had been inextricably linked to his twin. There is much anecdotal evidence of communication between the Kray twins being almost telepathic.” Kray was finally freed from prison in August 2000 by Home Secretary Jack Straw because of his failing health and died in his sleep aged 66 two months later after a battle against bladder cancer.
