In the early hours of Saturday 28th September 1985, shortly after midnight, a contract killer knocks on the door of 126 Kennington Road. The door is answered by the victims’ wife. The killer calmly asks for Brian Clifford by name. His wife replies by saying that he is asleep in bed. The gunman then barges past her and races upstairs to the main bedroom. A single gunshot rings out before the gunman then runs back out of the property.
This Killing has all the trademarks of an underworld ‘contract’ killing
Met. Police Murder Squad Detective
Brian ‘Little Legs’ Clifford
The victim was Brian “Little Legs” Clifford, a south London criminal. Shirley Pitts said in her memoirs that Clifford ran several nightclubs in London’s west end while “Mad” Frankie Fraser described him as a “mover, a buyer of gear” (a fence) who shot Johnny Mangan twice in the head in 1979 and was tried for attempted murder but acquitted.
Addict by Stephen Smith
“He was known as ‘Little Legs’ in the criminal underworld because he was short with fat little legs. He wore his wavy black hair combed back and was quite handsome, really. Brian, however, was a dangerous man and it was his psychopathic behaviour which was the turn-on for me. His uncontrollable temper made Ronnie Kray seem like a girl guide. Whereas the Krays, bless them, following the Cockney code of conduct only attacked fellow villains. Little Legs knew no code. He would have killed a bus load of nuns or the local church choir without batting an eyelid. He was not only an evil bastard but in the wrong mood was certifiable..”
Gone Shopping: The Story of Shirley Potts – Queen of Thieves by Lorraine Gamman “Brian was a funny little bloke who ran a few nightclubs in the West End. The Italians shot him, it was rumoured, because he knocked them for a load of Capi (porcelain Capodimonte). He didn’t pay up so they blew his head right off the pillow, poor bastard.”
Mad Frank’s Underworld History of Britain by
Frankie Fraser & James Morton “Little Legs’ Brian Clifford was a mover, buyer of gear, He did Johnny Mangan down the East End in 1979. Two in the nut and somehow Johnny survived and Clifford got acquitted of attempted murder. A few years later Clifford got done himself but there was no mistake this time. I’ve heard it said that everyone but him on his manor knew it was on top. People come to his door one night, pushed his wife aside when she opened it, thundered up the stairs and shot him whilst he was in bed.”
His murder has never been solved.
MP calls for Enquiry inquiry into house sale
According to official records, he left an estate not exceeding £40,000. In December 1985, Stuart Holland MP revealed in a parliamentary debate that the house had been bought for Clifford in the false name of Mrs Robinson for less than £17,000 in 1984 and the police were investigating the connection between Clifford and a number of sales of property by the St Olave charity, from whom Clifford had bought number 126.
The Prince of Soho
This was an organised crime hit carried out in the early hours whilst the children slept in neighbouring rooms. At home, that evening was his widow, his 2 daughters and his son, Bernard.
Bernard was in fact Bernie Katz who went on to become the legendary manager of the Groucho Club in Soho.
In his book ‘Soho Society’, he tells the story of his father’s death with a detached, macabre humour.
Soho Society by Bernie Katz
“On hearing gunshots, ‘when I went to investigate, I discovered that thanks to the bullet through his head, my dad’s brains were splattered across the four walls of his bedroom. Never one to miss an opportunity, I sashayed over to his wardrobe and navigated my way across the sea of footwear to his black Pierre Cardin alligator-skin shoes I’d secretly always had my eye on. Thank God they were in the wardrobe. You see something good always comes out of tragedy.’”
Remembering Bernie Katz
- The Times : (subscription required) https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/bernie-katz-obituary-hx26m59zd
- Tatler Magazine : https://www.tatler.com/article/bernie-katz-groucho-club-king-of-soho
- Journal Magazine : http://journal.london/2016/07/12/bernie-katz/
- GQ Magazine : https://www.gq-magazine.co.uk/article/bernie-katz-king-of-soho
Nicknamed The Prince of Soho, Bernie was a well-known figure among celebrities who frequented The Groucho. He was manager for over 20 years, before retiring from his role in March 2017.
