Leonard Ernest Read was born in Nottingham on 31 March 1925, the son of Leonard Read Snr.
19 Facts About Nipper Read
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2.
Nipper Read's mother died when he was four and he was sent to live with her brother.
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Nipper Read did well in school, always being one of the top three pupils in junior and senior school.
4.
Nipper Read played the lead role in a school production of David Copperfield.
5.
Nipper Read learned to box, winning his first medal in 1937.
6.
Nipper Read later joined the Grundy boxing club, where he was nicknamed "Nipper".
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Nipper Read had hoped to attend Nottingham High School and passed the entrance exam, but his father could not afford the uniform and fees for books.
8.
Nipper Read left school at 14 and later in life regretted not being able to stretch himself academically.
9.
Nipper Read began working in a Players cigarette warehouse in 1939, earning ten shillings a week, eight of which he gave to his stepmother.
10.
Nipper Read was called up in 1943 and served as a petty officer in the Royal Navy during the Second World War.
11.
Nipper Read's acting ability came in useful and he worked in disguise in several roles, on the basis that nobody would believe he was a police officer.
12.
Nipper Read was then transferred to Paddington, where he worked with senior first-class sergeant Tommy Butler.
13.
Nipper Read was promoted to detective sergeant in 1958 and transferred to Chelsea to replace Raymond Purdy, who had been shot by the burglar and blackmailer Guenther Podola.
14.
Nipper Read was detective chief superintendent of the Met's Murder Squad in 1967, and the efforts of detectives led by him were responsible for the conviction of Ronnie and Reggie Kray.
15.
Nipper Read held various positions as a boxing administrator, including chairman of the British Boxing Board of Control from 1976 to 2000, vice president of the World Boxing Council and vice-president of the World Boxing Association from 1989 to 2001.
16.
Nipper Read published an autobiography with the ghostwriter James Morton, Nipper ; the book was republished in 2001 under the name Nipper Read: The Man Who Nicked the Krays.
17.
Nipper Read married Marion Millar in 1951; the couple divorced in 1979.
18.
Nipper Read died on 7 April 2020, one week after his 95th birthday.
19.
Nipper Read was survived by his second wife and his daughter Maralyn from his first marriage.