13/12/95 - How do you want to die a single shot, or piece by piece with an axe
The Sun

THREE drug barons. executed in a country lane were offered a chilling choice of how they died - blasted though the head with a shotgun or hacked to pieces with an axe.

Patrick Tate, Tony Tucker and Craig Rolfe opted for the gun, They were found dead in their Range Rover after a volley of blasts from pump-action weapons.

The gangsters' last seconds were outlined yesterday by former associate Steve "Nipper" Ellis who was quizzed by police over an unsuccessful bid to murder 18st muscleman Tate a year 'ago.

Ellis', 30, said: "They were given two options they could be taken apart with an axe, starting with ,their fingers, moving on to their hands' and then their legs."Or they could opt for the quick way out, an execution shot through the back of the head.

They were' told, 'Either way, you're going to get it. There's no escape.' Tucker and Tate messed their trousers first, ,then took the shots."

Tate, 37, was executed with two blasts to the head and one in the chest in the back of the car. Tucker, 38, and henchman Rolfe, 26, were slumped in the front seats with their brains blown out.

Ellis, dubbed Nipper because he is just 5ft 5ins (1.65m), confirmed the three were lured to the snowcovered farm-track in Rettendon, Essex, with the promise of another drugs deal.

"They had double-crossed too many people. They had made too many enemies.
"They often went to these meets. snatched the supplies and beat up the suppliers. But they did it once too often and were set up themselves."

Detectives believe the thugs were driven from the rendezvous spot to the murder scene at gunpoint then ambushed by at least two other gunmen.

Ellis, who has a string of convictions, is a suspect for the triple murder because of his arrest for the earlier attempt on Tate's life. He said: "It wasn't me who did the shooting. "I just know what happened from a very reliable source. But I'd love to shake the hand' of the man who did it. He's my hero. And I will regret to my dying days that I could not take the credit for it."

The first attempt to kill Tate came at his £250,000 bungalow in Basildon, Essex, a year ago. A brick was thrown through the toilet window while Tate was in it. When he peered outside a gunman opened fire with a revolver from close range.

Tate raised his right arm to shield his face. The bullet hit him in the wrist, travelled up his arm and smashed bones in his elbow. Ellis, who had fallen out with Tate and Tucker, said: "Tate identified me as the gunman. And Tucker and Rolfe told police I had chased them with a pumpaction shotgun.

I was arrested but the case was never pursued because checks ruled out my gun as the' weapon. "But Pat Tate was 100 per cent sure it was me and swore revenge.

Ellis told how he fell out with 'Tucker and Tate late last year. He said: "It was all over some silly remark I made on the phone. Next thing I knew Tucker and Rolfe came round to my home in Essex.

"Tucker stuck a loaded pistol into my temple and threatened to kill me. They then came after me with a machete and threatened to hack off my hand and foot. "Then they looted my house and left their filth plastered over the stuff they left behind. "I couldn't take any more of it and went out and bought a Smith & Wesson for £600 and a bullet-proof vest for £400.

I might be small but someone had to stand up to them." Ellis told how after the attempt on Tate's life he was invited to meet Tate in hospital to "sort out a misunderstanding." But he found out Tate had a gun hidden in his hospital bed and was planning to execute Ellis as he stepped through the door.

Tate was later jailed for smuggling the weapon into the hospital Ellis has been lying low in the West Country since August after serving 7 and a half months jail for illegally possessing firearms. Wearing sunglasses to disguise his identity he said : "When I was in jail I had numerous death threats On one occasion two men came up to me and told me a £10,000 contract had been put out on me.

"As soon as I got out of prison I was ordered to leave town. I was told if I ignored the warnings they would retaliate. "A hit-man went to my dad's door looking for me. "My family were told that Tucker and Tate planned to snatch my little sister and take off her fingers one by one. She was only 15, and terrified.

"The threats never stopped and the last one was only two weeks ago. "These people were nasty, vicious bullies. They will not be missed. They were scum, and Britain Is a better place without them. "My dad was crying tears of joy when he heard they had been murdered."

Detective Superintendent Ivan Dibley, who is in charge of the triple murder investigation, last night asked The Sun to put him in touch with Ellis. He said: "Because of the previous incident it is in our interest and his to eliminate him from this inquiry."