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05/10/03 - SUPERGRASS!
Sunday People
DRIVE-BY shooting victim Dave King was a criminal supergrass
executed by hitmen to silence him, The People can reveal.
King, 32, was gunned down before he could give evidence
in a multi-million-pound drug smuggling case.
He had been a high-ranking member of the gang, which
also involved Chinese Triads gangsters and a notorious
south London crime family.
But he was cut to pieces by up to 40 BULLETS fired
from an AK47 military assault rifle as he and a friend
left the Physical Limits gym in Hoddesdon, Herts.Underworld
sources say King, a nightclub bouncer, debt collector
and minder, was killed because he was about to betray
the gang's secrets in a forthcoming court case.
Drugs bosses had learned he had turned supergrass and
talked to the police rather than face a long prison
sentence himself.
Detectives said King had a past of "considerable
criminality".
Detective Superintendent Steve Read, leading the hunt
for the hitmen, revealed: "This was a very precise,
planned attack.
"It was a very, very deliberate attack targeted
at Mr King.
"We are following a number of lines of inquiry
and leads and will be looking at all aspects of Mr King's
life and business. "We have a catchphrase, 'Know
the man and you will know how he died'." Musclebound
ex-convict King had acted as minder to stars including
Robbie Williams and former world boxing champ Nigel
Benn.
The gang was caught smuggling hundreds of thousands
of pounds worth of ecstasy tablets and cocaine a week
from Europe.
King is alleged to have been the lynchpin of the British
end of the multi-million-pound operation. Our source
said: "Quite a few members of the gang were picked
up by the police, but none of them said a word. King
squealed like a stuck pig to save his own skin.
"He didn't want to go to prison so he grassed
in return for a deal where he walked after the court
case.
"Well, you don't grass on the sort of people he
was mixed up with.
"Whatever he said to the cops is useless now.
He won't be giving evidence in court, that's for certain."
King lived with girlfriend Rebecca in a flat in Stevenage,
Herts, and had at least three young children.
The hitmen opened fire as he and his friend walked
to their car on Friday morning, still dressed in trainers
and shorts from their workout at the gym. King died
in a hail of bullets, while his friend miraculously
escaped serious harm.
He is under armed police guard at a secret location.
The assassins' white van was set alight just minutes later
in nearby Lampits to destroy all forensic clues to their
identity. |
| Contact : bernard.omahoney@bernardomahoney.com |
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