??/??/?? - Patient shot by hit man dressed as a clown
Report by Fred Hammerton
Essex Chronicle

Armed police are hunting a cold-blooded hitman who was dressed as a clown with Dracula teeth, and carrying a bunch of flowers, when he shot a patient at St Andrew's Hospital, Billericay.

The 6ft 4in gunman walked into the hospital and, when staff saw him in a clown's wig with a pink forehead, they thought he was a well-wisher. But the hit man produced a handgun and shot the 26-year-old patient who was being treated after an acid attack.

The shooting happened at 3.30pm on Wednesday . The Essex Police Tactical Firearms Group were yesterday guarding the victim, who was hit in the shoulder with a single shot. Staff had smiled at the "clown" as he strolled in with his big, red, shiny nose, shiny shell-suit top and trousers tucked into his socks.

The victim underwent emergency surgery, but a police spokeman said that his injury is not believed to be life threatening. He was being treated for acid burns to his face.

On August 31 he had been in a telephone box off the A13 Purfleet, when two men pulled up in a car and his face was sprayed with acid. He was then bundled into the car's boot taken to Dagenham and dumped.

Detectives are believed to be treating the shooting as a vendetta.