Passports of feared Krays go under the hammer

Passports belonging to feared twins Ronnie and Reggie Kray are among a collection of personal memorabilia set to fetch thousands of pounds at auction.

The travel documents, issued on July 20, 1956, contain numerous immigration stamps and could sell for up to 3,000, auctioneers predict.

Ronnie's passport has an invalidated visa for the United States after he was sent home as soon as he arrived there due to the Boothby scandal.

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Lord Boothby sued the Sunday Mirror for 40,000 after it reported in 1964 that Scotland Yard was investigating a homosexual relationship between an unnamed peer and a major criminal underworld figure.

After their identities were later revealed, the Conservative peer – who died aged 86 in 1986 – denied the story and insisted he had only ever met Ronnie a handful of times.

In a letter to the Krays' biographer, John Pearson, Ronnie bemoaned the payout to Lord Boothby, saying he had only received a written apology.

In another error-strewn letter written Brixton Prison to Mr Pearson in January 1969, Ronnie reveals his pleasure at receiving a letter from singer Cliff Richard.

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He wrote: "John, I had a verry nice letter from Cliff Ritchards. I thought it was marvoulas of him to write to me at a time like this."

Former journalist Mr Pearson was asked by the Kray twins in 1967 to write their biography, during which time he became a close confidante of the gangsters.

The collection of memorabilia comprises more than 160 previously-unseen letters. The sale takes place in Lewes, East Sussex, on October 19.