Bert Rossi: Clerkenwell ‘gangland boss’ laid to rest following service at St Peter’s Italian Church

The Clerkenwell funeral of self-proclaimed “gangland boss” Bert Rossi, once a key mentor of the Kray twins, took place on Monday.

Bert Rossi. Picture: Rossi family - Credit: Archant

Mr Rossi, 94, died on July 2 after a fall at home. He’d just released an autobiography and planned a book tour.

A service took place at St Peter’s Italian Church in what was once London’s Little Italy, followed by a ceremony at Islington Crematorium.

Grandson Frankie said: “He was a good man, an honest man, a very respected man and a family man, I was proud of him. If you needed any money he’d always help a friend out.”

Frankie has fond memories of being taken to boxing matches by his grandfather as a boy. He said of the book: “He wanted to tell his story and obviously he couldn’t have written it in the old days. People should read it because it’s interesting.”

Frankie said Mr Rossi went out the way he would have wanted – with Italian music, including some from The Godfather.