Astor Club a remark which led to a gangland war (Cornell himself being shot dead in March 1966 in front of witnesses at the bar of the Blind Beggar pub in Whitechapel) and so, ultimately, to the trials and sentences which destroyed both the Kray and Richardson gangs. Indeed, when the Krays were arrested for the Cornell murder (two years after the fact), they were drinking (at 6 a.m.) at The Lion pub, Bethnal Green, intending to move on later to the Astor. The Astor survived beyond the era of the Krays and Richardsons and continued to attract wealthy customers. An Astor
Kray twins party. Upon entering the premises, he saw Ronnie Kray seated in the front room. As Ronnie approached him, he let loose a barrage of verbal abuse and cut him below his eye with a piece of broken glass. It is believed that an argument then broke out between the twins and McVitie. As the argument got more heated, Reggie Kray pointed a handgun at McVitie's head and pulled the trigger twice, but the gun failed to discharge. McVitie was then held in a bear hug by the twins' cousin, Ronnie Hart, and Reggie Kray was handed a carving knife. He