contract killing

This involved the contract killing of a well known member of the criminal underworld. It was suspected that this was the latest murder connected to the ongoing disputes and fallout from the Brinks Mat gold bullion case. The case rested almost entirely on cell site evidence and the defendant’s DNA found on a cigarette butt at the scene.

The victim was lured to a country lane and shot by a masked gunman with a sten gun. He was in front of his wife and child. The execution was ordered due to a drug related debt. The defendant was one of four defendants and was said to be the getaway driver for his close friend Wayne Collins who was the gunman. The defendant was acquitted after a 3 month trial at the Central Criminal Court. The other 3 defendants were convicted and received life sentences with minimum terms of 33-30 years. The trial involved a wealth of expert evidence from the usual DNA, fingerprints and cell site analysis to the more unusual of a use of a palynology expert (pollen and plant analysis).