09/09/06 - Man arrested over blackmail plot  
By The Newcastle Journal
  
Police have arrested a North-East man over an alleged blackmail plot linked to the infamous Essex Boys murders.

The man, of Pelton, near Chester-le-Street, was detained by Durham Police on Thursday on behalf of West Midlands Police.

It is alleged he posed as a member of a Newcastle criminal family to demand £50,000 from a man now living in the Birmingham area. The blackmail plot centres on a bid to implicate the man for the gangland killing of three suspected drugs dealers found dead from shotgun wounds in a Range Rover in an Essex field.

The Pelton man, a former bouncer, was being transferred to the West Midlands for questioning yesterday.

A West Midlands Police spokesman said: "We are investigating a complaint of blackmail and inquiries are on-going. A man, 26, was arrested by Durham Police in connection with the inquiry. He will be transferred to the West Midlands for questioning."

Two men, Jack Whomes and Michael Steele, are serving life terms for the December 7, 1995, murders of Tony Tucker, Pat Tate and Craig Rolfe - but both have always protested their innocence.

A farmer discovered the bodies of the three men, who had been shot in the head, near Chelmsford, in Essex.

The trio had allegedly been involved in the supply of cannabis and ecstasy. Police claimed they were murdered because they fell out with Steele over a shipment of cannabis from Holland.

The North-East arrest follows a complaint from a man who now lives in Birmingham. It was claimed the suspect demanded cash, falsely using the name of a Tyneside criminal, or he would divulge evidence to the media linking the man to involvement in the murders.