Notorious gangster Neddy Smith, 76, has died in Sydney’s Long Bay jail hospital

Convicted criminal Arthur ‘Neddy’ Smith has died in Sydney’s Long Bay jail hospital.

The notorious gangster was 76-years-old and had spent decades behind bars.

He had been battling Parkinson’s disease for 30 years.

Corrective Services NSW said it was investigating the incident with police.

“All deaths in custody are subject to a coronial inquest,” a Corrective Services spokesman said.

Smith was a key figure during Sydney’s gangland war in the 1980s and had spent decades in jail over the course of his life.

He had been locked up since 1989 after also serving stints behind bars from 1963 to 1965, 1968 to 1975 and 1978 to 1980.

Smith cut a terrifying figure, standing at 1.98cm tall, and weighing in at more than 100kgs.

While Smith had been charged with eight murders, he was only convicted of two – the killing of brothel owner Harvey Jones and the murder-in-company of a tow-truck driver named Ronnie Flavell during a road rage incident.

During a coronial inquest in 2017 it too was alleged Smith was contracted to murder brothel-keeper Shirley Finn 1975.

It was widely known that he made money from dealing heroin and was behind a spate of armed robberies.

He was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in 1981. His health really took a turn in 2008 when his medication stopped working effectively.