The Kray twins' former hitman Freddie Foreman reckons that Richard Osborn-Brooks deserves an award for bravery after stabbing an intruder in his home, who later died.
86-year-old Foreman retired almost 30 years ago, having been imprisoned in 1990 for 10 years after the £6 million Security Express heist. Having been on the run since 1983, he was then snatched by Spanish police in the Costa del Sol, before being taken back to Britain.
He was also convicted of helping the gangster duo dispose of Jack 'The Hat' McVitie's body.
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Off the back of his new documentary film, Fred, he has revealed that he believes Osborn-Brooks is 'right' to have done what he did, as his life was at risk.
He told The Sun: "Every man's home is his castle and that burglar has gone in there armed with a screwdriver to raid him.
"That old boy has fought him off - and could have got killed himself.
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"So he should get some kind of bravery award for what he did."
Foreman - who was known as 'Brown Bread Fred' also revealed that he once fought off an intruder himself, after they tried to raid his home in West London two years ago.
He continued: "I could hear this guy shouting and screaming my name outside so I opened my door and a young guy in his 30s busted in past me and started trying to nick my stuff.
"He clearly wasn't right in the head so I had to drag him out the room and get rid of him. I was really angry.
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"If he had got violent with me, I would have done something I regretted. I would have ended up killing the b*****.
"How can I cope with it? I was on my own. I was thinking what can I do if it does get out of hand. I would have probably thrown him out the window or something.
"So Osborne-Brooks is right to do what he done. His life was at risk.
"Naturally your self-survival sense kicks in and you do what you need to do."
The retired London gangster also commented on the spate of shooting and stabbings in the capital - particularly in relation to the tragically young lives that have been lost.
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He said: "That would never have happened in my day. It was never like that. I can't believe the stabbings and shootings going on at the moment and how young some of the victims are.
"Anyone who did something like that back then was chastised. They didn't get away lightly."
Referencing Tanesha Melbourne, the 17-year-old who was killed in Tottenham last month, Foreman said: "It is terrible and just getting worse.
"In my day, the people who done that would have been shot.
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"Anyone who took liberties was dealt with - it didn't matter where they were in the UK - the old firms in them days had a long reach and they would have sorted it out.
"It was like an old firm network that took care of liberty-takers and problem-makers.
"I see these killings and know that would never have happened in my time.
"I can't think of anything in my day when youngsters were shot and stabbed like this. "It saddens me that all the old firms are broken up now and can't deal with it.
"It was known as organised crime but it was organised security.
"People would rectify those that took liberties. It was an unwritten rule.
"The people doing these stabbings and shootings of youngsters today are scum. Lowlife scum."