Read was born in Nottingham, the son of Leonard Read Snr., who worked for a leather company, and his wife Ida (née Morris). His mother died when he was four and he was sent to live with her brother. After their father remarried, Leonard and his two sisters and brother returned to live with their father and stepmother.

Who nicked the Krays?

Leonard Read, who has died aged 95, was the Metropolitan Police murder squad detective who led the successful investigation into the brutal criminal career of the Kray twins, a pair whom he considered to be “wicked, unscrupulous, murdering villains”.

How did they catch the Krays?

In the 1960s, as West End nightclub owners, the Kray twins mixed with politicians and prominent entertainers such as Diana Dors, Frank Sinatra and Judy Garland. ... The Krays were arrested on 8 May 1968 and convicted in 1969, as a result of the efforts of detectives led by Detective Superintendent Leonard "Nipper" Read.