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One of the Kray twins sent a tape recording of his voice to an Irish coma patient

“Open your eyes, open your eyes, don’t hesitate, just open your eyes and we can talk.”

PA archive PA archive

This is your friend Reg Kray speaking. Open your eyes, open your eyes, don’t hesitate, just open your eyes and we can talk. I will shake your hand and we will talk.

THE IDEA OF one of the Kray twins whispering the words above in your ear might fill you with terror but the intentions in this case do not appear to have been sinister.

When Reggie Kray read a newspaper article in 1995 about a 34-year-old Irishman who had been beaten up and left in a coma in Kent he decided to see if he could help wake him up.

He recorded a cassette tape of him encouraging Greg Smith to open his eyes, telling him his friend Reggie Kray would be waiting by his bedside to chat to him.

Beaten up

This bizarre story was featured on today’s RTÉ Liveline after Smith’s brother Vincent got in touch about the tape which he had kept for years, along with a note from the gangland killer.

RTÉ Liveline RTÉ Liveline

Greg had been beaten up outside a bar in Dover by two local brothers. His injuries were so severe that he was left in a coma and Vincent travelled from Ireland to be by his bedside.

When local media heard of his story they ran a number of newspaper articles about the attack on the Irishman and about how his brother was playing music to him on a walkman.

‘A nice gesture’

Vincent said he assumes Reggie Kray, then in his early 60s, read one of these articles as neither he nor his brother knew the Kray twins personally.

Though he said he thought the tape was “a nice gesture” it came as a bit of a shock.

“I nearly went into a coma listening to the tape myself,” the man told Joe Duffy earlier today.

RTÉ Liveline RTÉ Liveline

His brother sadly passed away and his death was just one of the tragedies in Vincent’s life as he revealed four members of his family took their own lives and his mother also died of cancer.

The tape is one of the rare recordings that exists of either of the Kray brothers and makes for eerie listening. Check out the full interview with Vincent below, with soundbites from the tape Reggie sent to his brother:
https://soundcloud.com/rte-radio-1/liveline-reggie-krays-tape-to-irish-coma-victim

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16 Comments
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    Mute rathminer
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    Jan 15th 2012, 1:31 PM

    Hilarious to think anybody could say ‘no’. Awards heavily influence everybody’s movie decisions. Anybody who says otherwise hasn’t thought about it enough. So there.

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    Mute Adrian De Cleir
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    Jan 15th 2012, 1:38 PM

    True, they influence mine, not cause I believe an awarded movie is better but because it’s far more likely to be marketed properly.

    ALSO, lets be fair, awarded movies are rarely absolutely terrible. Whereas if a movie is really really bad it defo won’t get an award.

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    Mute Bernadette Dunne
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    Jan 15th 2012, 1:47 PM

    I do not take any notice of the awards I do not watch them and I do not read about them as far as I am concerned I find them BORING I love films but I will choose my own and so far I have not seen many I do not enjoy I do not need the media or anyone else tell me what film I will enjoy…..

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    Mute Matt Crosbie
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    Jan 15th 2012, 2:02 PM

    Bernadette, 100%

    25
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    Mute Roddie Cleere
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    Jan 15th 2012, 3:02 PM

    Load of crap

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    Mute Pat Ryan
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    Jan 15th 2012, 6:10 PM

    Hahahaha! AND no. Frankly, I go to the cinema pretty often, and usually the movies up for awards I give a rats about have already been on, or I’ve already passed on seeing them. They occasionally influence my DVD rentals I will admit, but that option isn’t available in the poll.

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    Mute Barry O'Keeffe
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    Jan 15th 2012, 4:01 PM

    I use the following criteria.
    Q. Is Hulk Hogan in the Film?
    Yes! Rent it
    No! Don’t rent it!

    23
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    Mute Val Kearney
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    Jan 15th 2012, 4:12 PM

    Same principal can also be used for the following: Laurence Fishburn, Steven Seagal, Chuck Norris, Jackie Chan, Scarlett Johannson, Megan Fox and the voice of Morgan Freeman.

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    Mute Matt Crosbie
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    Jan 15th 2012, 1:10 PM

    not in the slightest

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    Mute Wujashtop
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    Jan 15th 2012, 1:08 PM

    Of course they influence my decision. That spent mean a film is always worth watching. The Iron Lady is shite for example…

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    Mute Wujashtop
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    Jan 15th 2012, 1:08 PM

    Doesn’t

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    Mute damien o'c
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    Jan 15th 2012, 2:52 PM

    if you have a smartphone download the rotten tomatoes app. great when you’re standing in xtravision add wondering if a video is crap or not. there’s a critics rating and an audience rating and its usually fairly spot on..

    14
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    Mute Michael Sullivan
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    Jan 15th 2012, 3:49 PM

    Xtravision still exisits?!?

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    Mute Eamonn Clancy
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    Jan 15th 2012, 5:00 PM

    I just go through the latest torrents and download whatever catches my eye.

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    Mute Val Kearney
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    Jan 15th 2012, 1:39 PM

    Only one I can think of in recent years has been the Hurt Locker.

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    Mute Finnian Curran
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    Jan 15th 2012, 2:18 PM

    absolutely fantastic film

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    Mute Ian F.
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    Jan 15th 2012, 6:14 PM

    I was very disappointed with that film…

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    Mute Ian F.
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    Jan 15th 2012, 5:12 PM

    Awards don’t influence me at all. They’re all rigged anyway and I honestly couldn’t give a crap who wins what – I watch things that are of interest to me, subject or genre wise. That whole fake red carpet and badly disguised resentment… it’s just not my thing.

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    Mute Danny D
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    Jan 15th 2012, 7:20 PM

    Overpaid actors and directors with constant need to reassurance of how talented they all are with awards and lavish parties to celebrate themselves …

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    Mute Fiachra Maolmordha Ó Raghallaigh
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    Jan 15th 2012, 4:48 PM

    Film reviews, Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic are generally what I look at. Those generally give a more balanced overview than Hollywood self-back patting.

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    Mute Laura Crowe
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    Jan 15th 2012, 4:21 PM

    Imdb is your friend in this regard.

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    Mute Paul Breen
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    Jan 15th 2012, 3:46 PM

    Of course, Oscars, Palme d’Or, Berlin Film Festival. I make sure to watch the winners of all those, and so far I’ve not been disappointed.

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    Mute Shane Brehony
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    Jan 15th 2012, 9:47 PM

    Yes as most films that are nominated for these awards , Are the ones that i choose not to go and see because most are nominated films are usually muck ie . No country for old men

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    Mute John Staunton
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    Jan 15th 2012, 2:51 PM

    as always with the journal polls there are never enough options, so my answer is:yes the awards do influence my decision because they make me aware of the movies existence so will usually check the rating and reviews on imdb.com and make up my mind if its worth a go.

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    Mute Jamie Walsh
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    Jan 15th 2012, 10:22 PM

    That’d be a reaaaaaaaallllyyy long option.

    I think they’re trying to be a bit more succinct.

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    Mute John Staunton
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    Jan 16th 2012, 12:45 AM

    lol ok you got me!

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    Mute John Staunton
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    Jan 16th 2012, 12:44 AM

    some people have said the awards go to crap movies, let just look at the last few winners. I count one bad movie out of the last 12 and thats chicago, the rest are top drawer entertainment

    2010 – “The King’s Speech”
    2009 – “The Hurt Locker”
    2008 – “Slumdog Millionaire”
    2007 – “No Country for Old Men”
    2006 – “The Departed”
    2005 – “Crash”
    2004 – “Million Dollar Baby”
    2003 – “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”
    2002 – “Chicago”
    2001 – “A Beautiful Mind”
    2000 – “Gladiator”
    1999 – “American Beauty”

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    Mute Micheal Nagle
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    Jan 16th 2012, 9:50 AM

    I wonder how many of the people who said ‘No’ to this poll have seen any of the movies that John has just listed?

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    Mute Proinsias Matthews
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    Jan 15th 2012, 8:41 PM

    I probably would never of seen Crash if it hadn’t got Best Picture at the Oscars but now that I think about it that’s just about it. Lots of awards go to bad movies that mainly Americans find good but don’t agree with my taste.

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    Mute Eoin Kelly
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    Jan 16th 2012, 12:29 AM

    No but the chances of seeing some boob action does!

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    Mute Gwyn Morgan
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    Jan 16th 2012, 12:19 AM

    yes. I keep a close eye on the winners, assume that they must be schmaltzy lowest-common denominator garbage and then avoid them like the plague

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    Mute Niall O'Keeffe
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    Jan 16th 2012, 10:16 AM

    I actually don’t pay any attention to whether a film has won awards or not when deciding whether to watch it… I even tend to avoid watching trailers as I find they spoil films too much… I will, however, occasionally take a sneaky peek at a film’s rottentomatoes.com rating before deciding…

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    Mute Kerryspirit Chris
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    Jan 15th 2012, 7:53 PM

    I hit NO but i believe YES for the opposite! Against blockbusters…. ;-) And to watch things and movies a bit different of mainstream !!!! ;-)

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