How supergrass Damon Alvin turned the tables in gangland murder case

 

By the time Dean Boshell's blood-soaked body was found in allotments on the outskirts of Leigh-on-Sea in Essex, rigor mortis had set in. He had been shot once in the head before the killer fired twice more into his temple. The death of Boshell, a 24-year-old petty criminal and police informant, in February 2001 took detectives from Essex police into the heart of the violent and feuding criminal gangs that competed for control of the drugs scene around Southend. When a conviction for Boshell's murder was eventually secured, they made legal history with their use of unprecedented supergrass evidence. Prosecutors described the case as unique: the first time a murder charge had been dropped against one individual, who then went on to become the crown's star supergrass witness against another man who was ultimately convicted. Six years on, however, the activities of Essex detectives and prosecutors, and the lengths they went to in order to convict someone for the murder, are coming under scrutiny – along with a string of other convictions which have relied solely on the uncorroborated word of supergrasses. In the murky world of the supergrasses, most of whom are criminals who snitch on former friends to cut their own jail time, the case of Damon Alvin is unsurpassed. He started his criminal career in his early teens and by his mid-20s was running a mini drugs empire from his dormer bungalow in Benfleet, Essex. Over the years he had been convicted of several offences and been in and out of prison. He had convictions for violence, burglary and drugs offences, and police intelligence showed he was a skilled liar who was involved with firearms. It was during one of his frequent spells in jail that Alvin met Boshell and the pair became close; but the relationship was not on equal terms. According to court papers, Alvin treated Boshell as a gofer, while the younger man looked up to him as a brother. When Boshell was found dead on a cold morning in February 11 years ago, it was a sign to police that rivalries between groups of criminals engaged in supplying drugs in the region had boiled over. Detectives turned first to known associates of the dead man: Alvin, and another known drug dealer, Ricky Percival. Percival had built a drug-dealing business around individuals he met within the Essex bodybuilding scene, according to legal sources close to the case. But during a frustrating inquiry, which for years seemed to go nowhere, it was Alvin that the police focus returned to repeatedly. Arrested three times in three years for the murder, he was often pressed to talk and name others who might have been involved, but always refused. In 2003, after he had been arrested for supplying 1kg of cocaine, detectives recruited him as an informant in their efforts to disrupt local drug gangs, according to court papers. After his third arrest, detectives charged Alvin with the Boshell murder on the basis of mobile phone evidence which proved his alibi for the night was a lie. The mobile footprint revealed Alvin had driven to Southend to collect Boshell on the night he died – something he had never mentioned. Percival and two others were charged with conspiracy to pervert the course of justice; the police alleged they had made up an alibi for the night. What happened as Alvin faced his murder trial is now being scrutinised by the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC). Two weeks into the trial at Chelmsford crown court, while lawyers were arguing about admissible evidence, Alvin indicated he wanted to change his story. He spoke out after a successful application by the prosecution to admit into evidence police contact sheets which would reveal to a jury that the dead man was a police informant, who had been passing information to detectives about Alvin for several serious offences – thus providing a murder motive. The trial was halted and in interviews with the police, Alvin accused Percival of being responsible for Boshell's death. Alvin admitted for the first time that he had been at the allotments on the night of the murder, but said he had stood by as Percival first threw bleach in the victim's face, before shooting him dead. Alvin also implicated Percival in a string of other crimes he himself was suspected of, and later admitted to, including the attempted murder of three people in a gangland feud. The police will not comment on the case but are likely to argue that Alvin – facing possible conviction for a crime he had not committed – finally agreed to inform on the individual responsible at the 11th hour. Percival, however, says Alvin did his deal with the police to escape the murder charge and in doing so fingered an "innocent" man. Peter Hughman, a solicitor who has acted for Percival, said: "There is something strange in relying on uncorroborated evidence from a person of simply appalling character." Eight days later, the Crown Prosecution Service sent Alvin a letter announcing the Boshell murder charge was being dropped. He became the crown's star supergrass witness against Percival, and entered into a deal with police and prosecutors which required him to confess all his criminality. Over five and a half months, Essex detectives spent 94 hours interviewing Alvin. In December 2006, after an 11-week trial, Percival was convicted on the basis of Alvin's evidence of the murder of Boshell and given life with a recommendation he serve a minimum of 28 years in prison. Today Alvin is living under a new identity, having been relocated following two and a half years in jail for a string of offences he admitted as part of the agreement he entered into with the police. Over the months he was held in a safe house during his supergrass interviews, police documents show officers spent nearly £35,000 on him – including £7,125 towards a new car and £468 on a laptop. He received money to top up his mobile phone, pay parking fees and buy an enclosure for his tortoises. Alvin also benefited to the tune of £190,000 from the sale of his house, allegedly facilitated by the police while he was in jail. Land Registry records show the property changed hands on 22 November 2006 for £250,000. It is understood there was a £60,000 mortgage on the house. A source close to the process said: "The police were always in the background of the sale." Under the Proceeds of Crime Act, the Essex force could have seized the money from the sale, but no seizure was made and the proceeds went to Alvin. Now 32, Percival is serving his life term at a B category prison, Swaleside in Kent, from where he has been protesting his innocence for six years. Percival – who learned to read and write in prison – told the Guardian: "I still cannot really believe what happened to me. When I first came into prison I was in some kind of intense shock: I couldn't sleep, I was having nightmares, I was turning it all over in my mind – how could this happen in the British justice system? "They had to put me on medication because I was suffering from such anxiety and shock. And today it still feels the same, the shock is as raw. "What makes it even harder is that anyone who has a good understanding of my case says: 'How did a jury convict you?' " Percival's claims of innocence were bolstered recently when he passed a lie detector test – the results of which are being considered by the CCRC. Much derided in the past, the accuracy of polygraph tests has improved so much that they are being evaluated by at least one police force, and the Association of Chief Police Officers could extend the trials across the country. Percival, who admits he played a major role in the Essex gangland drug world, lost his appeal last year. The court of appeal said the case was unique, in that it "relied for its essence on the evidence of a witness, Alvin, who had been charged but acquitted on the same murder as that on which Percival was tried … [The case] stood or fell on Alvin's evidence." But after considering the case, the judges ruled that there was a "richness" to Alvin's story which made it believable, and they refused the appeal. Those close to Percival say this "richness" comes from the months in which Alvin studied the papers from the case while on remand. Evidence in court documents reveals that prison officers said Alvin's cell resembled a police incident room, papered with case documents, timings, maps and testimonies. "Damon Alvin used his year on remand to develop this false story which guaranteed his freedom," said Percival's mother, Sandy. "The records of his statements to police show his story has changed several times. Our argument has always been: show us the corroborative evidence that supports Alvin. There isn't any. "My son has done wrong, I know that, but he is not a murderer. There is no proof that he did any of these things, it is all Alvin's word against his. If I thought my son was a murderer, I would never stick by him." Documents held by the CCRC highlight another key challenge to Percival's conviction. Under the terms of the witness protection scheme Alvin entered into, he had to confess all his criminality. Yet court papers show he did not reveal one key element to his criminality that could breach the protection agreement he entered into, and which raises questions about his credibility as the crown's star witness. Alvin failed to tell police he had previously lied in court – potentially perjuring himself – in order to gain a reduced sentence for possession of 1kg of cocaine. Facing a seven-year sentence, Alvin fabricated a story that his life was under threat from four unnamed gang members, court papers show. To colour his story, he arranged for his wife and mother-in-law to cut out letters from newspapers to create threatening notes, and told another family member to send him a wreath at home, to supplement his claims. He also used hospital records from an injury he received during a domestic row as evidence that he had been attacked. Alvin's story was enough to convince a judge at Basildon crown court, who gave him a reduced sentence of 30 months for the drug offence. Hughman said the CCRC should examine the whole issue of supergrass evidence, and called on the court of appeal to issue guidance on such witnesses. "There should be a continued public interest and questioning about using people who are so manifestly unreliable to secure convictions, even if the authorities are particularly anxious to convict certain people. It doesn't make for safe convictions." The CCRC said it was still examining the case and would not comment. The Guardian made repeated requests to the CPS but it also refused to comment on the case. Detective Chief Superintendent Liam Osborne, of Kent and Essex serious crime directorate, said he would not comment while the case was with the CCRC.

Two businessman linked to a Glasgow gangland family will have almost £1m assets confiscated under proceeds of crime legislation.

Russell Stirton and Alexander Anderson, who ran a sex toys business and were involved in the McGovern family, will have their homes taken by the Crown as part of the court action.

The pair have never been convicted of a criminal offence in relation to gangland activity, but the long-running action by the Scottish ministers found that they had made money through "unlawful conduct".

Stirton and Anderson were found to have been involved in the importation of drugs and a handgun into the UK, to have extorted "protection money" from Glasgow taxi firm Spring Radio Cars and money laundering through a petrol garage in the city.

In Lady Stacey’s opinion released on Tuesday, both men were also found to have laundered money through purchasing Skoda cars using cash obtained by criminal activity before re-selling the vehicles.

A formal order transferring ownership of the assets, worth £922,000, to the Scottish ministers will be made before it is sold and the proceeds used to fund community projects.

Lady Stacey's opinion states: "I have found that Mr Stirton was present when controlled drugs and a hand gun were imported into Dover from Calais in 1997, in circumstances which prove he was involved in the importation.

"Mr Stirton and Mr Anderson were found to have a large amount of cash in a car on the M74 in 2000, in circumstances from which I infer that they were involved in some capacity in the supplying of controlled drugs or other contraband or the laundering of cash."

Stirton, who is married to Jacqueline McGovern, told the court during the case that began in 2005 that he did not associate with his wife’s brothers who are reported gangland figures based in the Springburn area of Glasgow.

The businessman, who ran the sex toys firm Loveboat with 54-year-old Anderson and who had previously been involved in construction, told a hearing that he was not involved in drug dealing, extortion or money laundering.

Police investigation

After Stirton and Anderson were caught with between £20,000 and £50,000 in cash on the M74 in 2000, a large-scale police investigation was conducted into claims of money laundering and extortion relating to them.

In 2005 they appeared on petition in relation to these allegations, but were released on bail and the criminal case was taken no further.

Lady Stacey also stated in her decision: "I have found that the purchase of Skodas for cash was money laundering, and that payment by Spring Radio Cars of a non-commercial interest in respect of them was achieved by intimidation of the directors of Spring Radio Cars" by Stirton and Anderson.

Houses bought by 51-year-old Stirton, including The Limes in Mugdock and his mother’s home in Milngavie will be confiscated and sold under the order, while the Uddingston house owned by Anderson’s partner Janice Leonard will also be taken under the proceedings after the judge found it was bought through mortgage fraud.

The loan Anderson secured to buy Thomson's Bar in Springburn was obtained by fraud, the judge found, which will result in it also being confiscated by the Crown.

On Tuesday, Ruaraidh Macniven, head of the Civil Recovery Unit, said: "I welcome Lady Stacey's careful and detailed opinion in this long-running case. Her Ladyship's decision vindicates the assessment of the Civil Recovery Unit that Russell Stirton and Alexander Anderson hold property which was obtained through a variety of serious crimes, including extortion, fraud, involvement in the supplying of controlled drugs or other contraband and the laundering of cash.

"Those crimes have a destructive impact on individuals and businesses in Scotland and it is important that all of the available tools, including civil recovery, are used to tackle those who seek to profit through them.

"The unit does not shy away from difficult and complex cases which can take some time to resolve. Our focus is on both the disruption of crime and depriving criminals of their assets. In this case the unit has shown that we are determined to disrupt crime and to ensure that any proceeds of crime are recovered and put to good use in our communities."

All money raised from the selling off of Stirton and Anderson’s assets will be invested by the Scottish Government into its CashBack programme to fund community projects.

Chief Supt Wayne Mawson, of Strathclyde Police, added: "Strathclyde Police also notes, with pleasure, the successful outcome to this very long-running and often complex case.

"Its result bears proper testament to the assiduous and exhaustive efforts of a large number of officers, and members of police staff, whose work went towards identifying and recovering the evidence to support the claim.

"The Proceeds of Crime Act offers a valuable tool to law enforcement agencies to see that ill-gotten gains do not remain ill-gotten. This case also offers a timely reminder that the police and other justice agencies will pursue the holders of such property for however long it takes."

celebrity gangster-turned-author has been banned from the road after being caught more than one-and-a-half times the drink-drive limit

David Courtney

A celebrity gangster-turned-author has been banned from the road after being caught more than one-and-a-half times the drink-drive limit.

David Courtney, 52, was pulled over on the M6 in the early hours.

He was driving a borrowed Vauxhall Vectra after his wife, the rapper JennyBean, had taken his car following an argument, a court heard.

Debbie Byrne, prosecuting, told Macclesfield magistrates court that Courtney had been spotted travelling southbound on the M6 in excess of 70mph.

Courtney, who was alone, was pulled over near Knutsford services and spoken to by officers.

A roadside breath test proved positive so he was arrested and taken to a police station in Middlewich.

There he gave two samples of breath, the lowest of which was 53 microgrammes of alcohol, in 100ml of breath, more than one and a half times the legal limit of 35.

Stuart Page, defending, said Courtney had a domestic dispute and his wife had taken all his belongings, including his car.

He spoke to one of his friends who owns a car hire company, who agreed to lend him the Vectra. He said he then drove to Chorley in Lancashire to see some friends and whilst talking to them, he had a couple of drinks.

He said he thought he was below the limit and OK to drive at the time of the offence on December 22.

Courtney, of Chestnut Rise, Plumstead, London, pleaded guilty to drink-driving.

He has a previous conviction for drink-driving in 2006, meaning he was subject to a minimum driving ban of three years.

He was also fined £100 and ordered to pay £40 costs as well as a £15 victim surcharge.

Courtney, is an ex-London gangster well known for his friendships with other hard men, such as the Kray twins, which saw him dubbed ‘the yellow pages of the underworld’.

He previously worked as a debt collector and claims he has been shot, stabbed and had his nose bitten off.

He also boasts to have been the inspiration for Vinnie Jones’s character in the film Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.

He has so far written four books about gangland violence and written, produced and starred in his own film called Hell to Pay.

He refers to himself as David Courtney OBE, which stands for ‘one big ego’.

Wonga stops targeting students after Twitter protests

 

Short-term lender Wonga.com has announced that it is taking down information on student finances from its website following accusations it was encouraging undergraduates to take out one of its high-interest loans. Earlier Wonga.com came under severe criticism after its website claimed that its loans can offer students "a little more financial freedom and independence". The claim attracted outrage on Twitter. One user, Neale Gilhooley, tweeted: "A pox on loan company #Wonga offering students loans at a sharking 4,214pc APR." On the "student loans" section of its website, Wonga.com says these government-backed loans – despite their very low interest rates – could encourage people to borrow too much. Student loans currently attract interest at 1.5pc or 5.3pc, depending on when they were taken out. "It's pretty hard not to get carried away when you're a student on a budget and have the option to borrow large amounts of money with a student loan. But the problem with student loans is that they potentially encourage you to live beyond your means," the website says. "They're intended for living and education costs, but it's all too easy to fritter away the money once you have it. Wonga encourages responsible borrowing because, depending on your trust rating, you can borrow as little as £1 up to £1000, as long as you can repay it within a month."

Officer finds own parents Avtar and Carole Kolar killed in ‘revenge attack’

 

The unnamed son went round to see Avtar Kolar, 62, and his wife Carole, 58, after they failed to answer his morning phone call. ‘It was obvious from the scene the couple had been assaulted and had more than likely died of their injuries,’ said Dep Supt Richard Baker, who is leading the inquiry. When asked if it might be a revenge attack linked to their son’s police work, Mr Baker replied: ‘We are definitely looking at that as a possibility but we have no information to suggest it is the case at this stage.’ Mr Baker added: ‘At 7.15 on Tuesday night, a family member spoke to Carole and there were no issues. At 8am yesterday, their son went round to find the couple dead at the scene.’ Detectives were keeping an open mind about what kind of weapon was used. ‘We have a full team of experts and forensic scientists now at the  address,’ said Mr Baker. The couple, who had four sons and eight grandchildren and had been married for 40 years, had lived in  Birmingham for most of their lives. ‘The local community – and the  family – have been extremely  supportive in what they are telling us and how they are co-operating with us,’ Mr Baker added. ‘We will catch the people responsible but we would like to make an appeal for information at this very early stage.’ More than 60 detectives, as well as uniformed offiers, from the West Midlands force are working on the case. Post-mortem examinations will be carried out on Thursday or Friday.

5 UK men on trial for allegedly distributing leaflets calling for gay people to be killed

 

Five men are on trial in Britain for allegedly distributing leaflets calling for gay people to be killed, charged under a new law that makes such actions a hate crime. The men allegedly gave out flyers titled “The Death Penalty” that showed a noose and said gay people would be punished. Two other leaflets were used to publicize a protest against a gay pride march in the central English city of Derby in 2010. 0 Comments Weigh InCorrections? inShare The Crown Prosecution Service said Wednesday this was the first prosecution for stirring up hatred on the grounds of sexual orientation, under the law that took effect in March 2010. It has long been illegal to incite hatred over disability, race or religion. The maximum penalty for the crime is seven years in jail. Prosecutors said Ihjaz Ali, 42, Mehboob Hussain, 45, Umar Javed, 38, Razwan Javed, 27, and Kabir Ahmed, 28, handed out leaflets near a mosque in Derby and also stuffed them into mailboxes. Prosecutor Bobbie Cheema called the leaflets “frightening and nasty.” “These five defendants were part of a small group of men who distributed horrible, threatening literature, with quotations from religious sources and with pictures on them, which were designed to stir up hatred and hostility against homosexual people,” she said.

The schoolboy killer of teenager Giuseppe Gregory has been jailed for a minmum of 18 years.

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Moses Mathias (left) and Giuseppe Gregory1/2PLAY SLIDESHOW

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Moses Mathias was one of three gunmen who murdered Giuseppe, a 16-year-old from Ardwick, outside the Robin Hood pub in Stretford in May 2009.

At a Manchester Crown Court sentencing hearing Mathias – who was just 15 at the time of the killing – was given a life term.

In August 2009, Greater Manchester Police (GMP) took the unusual step of naming the then youth Moses Mathias as a wanted suspect for the murder of 16-year-old Giuseppe Gregory.

Huge photographs of Mathias were beamed on to a big screen in Piccadilly Gardens in central Manchester as police also offered a £15,000 reward for information to track him down.

Mathias, now 18, remained at large until he was arrested in Amsterdam earlier this year on a European Arrest Warrant after a joint investigation by the Serious Organised Crime Agency and GMP.

He was flown back to the UK in June and four months later admitted the murder of the youngster who was gunned down in the early hours of May 11 2009 in a car outside the Robin Hood pub in Stretford.

Mathias, formerly of Randlesham Street, Prestwich, was obsessed with gang culture and even got a tattoo pledging his allegiance to the Gooch gang.

Script on his arm reads ‘Loc’ – a term used by Los Angeles Crips which means ‘crazy’, short for the Spanish slang term ‘loco’.

Rusholme-raised Mathias, now 18, even told a police officer who visited his school that he was friends with Gooch gang members – and filled his Facebook pages with pictures of his encounters with them.

How killer of Giuseppe Gregory fell into gangland underworld while still a schoolboy

Mathias spoke in court about the murder publicly for the first time and claimed the fatal shooting came about by coincidence.

The teenager, who spent two years on the run in the continent in the aftermath of the killing, admitted murder earlier this year.

But he disputed the prosecution’s theory that the shooting was a bungled revenge attack targeting Travis Bailey, another youth who was in the car which Giuseppe was a passenger in when he was killed.

Giving evidence on his version of events, he told the court that on the night of the murder he and his accomplices, Njabulo Ndlovu and Hiruy Zerihun, who are both serving life for the crime, had only planned to rob the Robin Hood.

But just as he and Zerihun prepared for the job by cocking their weapons in a nearby alley they saw a car driving towards them, Mathias told court. He claimed he heard ‘bangs’, panicked, and opened fire believing the vehicle contained gangland enemies.

 “I didn’t know where the bangs were coming from”, he said. “I didn’t know what was going on. I feared for my life. When the car drove off we didn’t know we’d hit it, we just thought we’d scared them away.”

“I was there, and we murdered, but we didn’t meant to at the time”, he added.

The prosecution say that the shooting was a Gooch gang attack in revenge for the killing of Louis Brathwaite, gunned down the year before in a Withington betting shop.

Travis Bailey had been arrested in suspicion of murdering Louis, but was told he would face no charges days before the shooting at the Robin Hood.

Mathias told court that he did not know Louis Braithwaite and did not know Giuseppe’s party would be at the pub that night.

He denied being a member of a gang, although he admitted associating with gang members and being ‘steeped’ in the culture.

As previously reported in the MEN, Mathias was shot himself in July 2007. 

The shooting was understood to have targeted Gooch gang members in revenge for the killing of 24-year-old Tyrone Gilbert, a member of rival gang the Longsight Crew, hours earlier.

Mathias, 19, formerly of Randlesham Street, Prestwich, was given a life term and told he will serve a minimum of 18 years.

Mathias was stopped in the street by police in Manchester just over a week after the murder but was not a suspect at the time.

He was found in possession of notepaper which had lyrics on it which referenced 'The Terminator' and 'Letting Shots Off'.

When detectives subsequently raided his family home in Prestwich, other rap poetry he had composed was discovered, the court heard.

Among the verses he had written were the words: "Kill One Nigger Then Be Gone. Away From The Homeland, Move To Spain. I Want To Get To 21 Like EJ.

"I On The News On BBC 1. I Can't Handle 25. I Can't Handle 25, I Think I Might Die."

EJ was a reference to Errol Reynolds who was jailed for 30 years in 2007 for the murder of a gang rival.

The judge said he had read other lyrics which referred to "heating up the streets" and "upping the death toll".

Mr Justice Holroyde said: "Making every allowance for adolescent bravado, your compositions show a very disturbed attitude and mind."

The lyrics found at the house were effectively a confession to murder, said the prosecution.

Zerihun was sentenced on the basis that he was the one who fired the fateful shot, but the prosecution could not be sure whether it was him or Mathias who had pulled the trigger.

Despite claiming he had not knowingly shot Giuseppe and saying he was fearful for his life, Mathias still went into the pub and went on to commit the "gratuitous theft" of a chain from around the neck of the customer.

He also calmly looked around the premises for the intended target, Travis Bailey.

Mathias - nicknamed Mojo - went on to disappear without trace and stayed at large until he was traced to Amsterdam and arrested by Dutch police.

He was found travelling with a fake Polish identity, passing himself off as a man named Pavel who was six years older than himself.

During today's sentencing, Mathias managed to find time to construct a three-page letter to the judge which he said he had taken into account balanced against the lies he had told the court earlier.

"I have to say that on all important points I found your evidence to be simply incredible and I reject it as deliberately untrue," Mr Justice Holroyde said.

"I accept that as you have aged you have at least come to appreciate, to a degree, the enormity of what you did."

He said the victim impact statement from Giuseppe's mother, Samantha, "makes clear the dreadful feeling of loss that she and others have felt and are still feeling."

He said he would not read it out but "suffice to say the statement vividly illustrates what can be overlooked in cases like this; murder can end one life but can blight even more".

Sentencing him to a life term and rejecting the defendant's claim he had only gone to the pub to commit a robbery, Mr Justice Holroyde said: "This was a planned shooting motivated by inter-gang rivalry and a desire for vengeance."

He told him: "The waste of young lives is dreadful. In this case one teenager has been killed and you and others will spend in prison what should have been productive lives."

Mathias had earlier given evidence at Manchester Crown Court on his basis of plea in which he said he did not intend to kill anyone.

He said he did not learn of Giuseppe's death until he saw it on the news the next day.

In March 2010, Mathias's associates Njabulo Ndlovu and Hiruy Zerihun, then aged 19 and 18, were jailed for life and ordered to serve minimum terms of 21 years and 23 years respectively after they were convicted of Giuseppe's murder.

Their trial heard the pair carried out the attack in revenge for the murder of Zerihun's boyhood friend Louis Brathwaite, also 16, who was shot dead in a betting shop in Withington, south Manchester, in January 2008.

They were affiliated to Fallowfield Man Dem, a splinter group of the notorious Gooch Gang, who targeted Giuseppe and his friends because of their association to the rival gang the Longsight Crew.

Rumours were rife of the identity of the gunman who shot Louis, and the person they thought had shot their friend was sitting in front of Giuseppe in the targeted Volkswagen Golf.

The suspect, Travis Bailey, had been arrested a year after Louis's murder and was later released on bail pending further inquiries. He was eventually told in April 2009 that no further action would be taken against him.

Mathias, of no fixed address, also pleaded guilty to possessing - with Zerihun and Ndlovu - an imitation firearm, a self-loading pistol, a .32 pistol and six .32 bullet cartridges.

But today he argued the basis of his plea for murder and claimed he did not know Louis Brathwaite.

Giving evidence, he said the plan was to enter the pub and "rob the tills".

Shortly before the VW Golf arrived and someone shouted 'Boy Dem' - slang to describe that gang members were around, he said.

"I was in fear of my own life," he said.

"Some gang members were travelling towards me with the lights on and I heard bangs.

"I did not hear where the bangs were coming from. That is when I started shooting.

"It all happened so fast."

He denied being a gang member and being steeped in that lifestyle.

Stephen Riordan QC, prosecuting, said Mathias was "lying" in a bid to play down his involvement and intention that night.

Following sentencing, Giuseppe's mother added: "Two and a half years ago I had a wonderful son, Giuseppe, and my mother a loving grandson. Giuseppe was 16 years old when he died.

"Today this boy, Moses Mathias, has been convicted of his murder. I call him a boy because that is what he was. He was a 15-year-old boy when he murdered my son. Albeit a boy with a loaded gun.

"On that Sunday night in May 2009 this boy, together with his two other murderous friends, who have already been convicted, went out, armed with loaded guns, with the apparent intention of committing robbery on innocent people at a local pub disco.

"Today, the judge rejected this as a lie. When they arrived they skulked into the bushes like cowards and fired their guns indiscriminately at a car.

"In the blink of an eye they robbed my son Giuseppe of his life, his future, and our happiness and plunged my family into an everlasting life of grief.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service for their patience, perseverance and professionalism over the last two and a half years, which has eventually resulted in all the persons responsible for Giuseppe's murder being convicted.

"In this week leading up to Christmas I would like to ask people to take a single moment to think about all the families up and down this country who have lost a child through violent crime and for whom Christmas will never be the same.

"Giuseppe will always be my son. He will always be my entire life. He was my best friend and everything I lived for and I truly loved him."

Superintendent Paul Rumney said of the campaign to trace Mathias: "At the time, we as a force took the bold step of issuing his name and his picture because we knew we had to leave no stone unturned, no avenue unexplored, to find one of Giuseppe's killers.

"It has been a long, difficult investigation but we promised we would not rest until all of his killers were behind bars, and today we have achieved that.

"I can only hope it gives Giuseppe's family some comfort as they continue to rebuild their lives."

Giuseppe's mum Samantha said in a statement: "Two and a half years ago I had a wonderful son, Giuseppe, and my mother a loving grandson. Giuseppe was 16 years old when he died.

"Today this boy, Moses Matthias, has been convicted of his murder. I call him a boy because that is what he was. He was a 15-year-old boy when he murdered my son. Albeit a boy with a loaded gun.

"On that Sunday night in May 2009 this boy, together with his two other murderous friends, who have already been convicted, went out, armed with loaded guns, with the apparent intention of committing robbery on innocent people at a local pub disco. Today the judge rejected this as a lie. When they arrived they skulked into the bushes like cowards and fired their guns indiscriminately at a car.

"In the blink of an eye they robbed my son Giuseppe of his life, his future, and our happiness and plunged my family into an everlasting life of grief.

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service for their patience, perseverance and professionalism over the last two and half years, which has eventually resulted in all the persons responsible for Giuseppe's murder being convicted.

"In this week leading up to Christmas I would like to ask people to take a single moment to think about all the families up and down this country who have lost a child through violent crime and for whom Christmas will never be the same.

"Giuseppe will always be my son. He will always be my entire life. He was my best friend and everything I lived for and I truly loved him."

Superintendent Paul Rumney said: "It has been more than two years since Giuseppe was murdered and his family left with a void they will never be able to fill. He was a schoolboy with his whole life ahead of him

"That night, Mathias and his accomplices had no qualms about firing guns indiscriminately into that car. He did not care who he hurt, and had no regard for the consequences that ultimately left Giuseppe's family completely devastated.

"I am delighted that finally, after more than two years on the run, Mathias has been caught and is now behind bars, particularly for Giuseppe's family who for all that time have had to live with the knowledge that Mathias was out there, evading punishment for what he had done.

"At the time, we as a Force took the bold step of issuing his name and his picture because we knew we had to leave no stone unturned, no avenue unexplored, to find one of Giuseppe's killers. It has been a long, difficult investigation but we promised we would not rest until all of his killers were behind bars, and today we have achieved that.

"I can only hope it gives Giuseppe's family some comfort as they continue to rebuild their lives."

teenager who murdered a 16-year-old schoolboy outside a pub in Stretford has denied his motive was revenge for another gangland killing.

 

A teenager who murdered a 16-year-old schoolboy outside a pub in Stretford has denied his motive was revenge for another gangland killing. Moses Mathias told Manchester Crown Court he intended to commit a robbery but instead fired at a vehicle carrying Giuseppe Gregory out of "fear for my life". He said he did not learn of the death in May 2009 until the next day. Àt the age of 15 he later went on the run. Mathias, now 18, remained at large until he was arrested in Amsterdam earlier this year on a European Arrest Warrant after a joint investigation by the Serious Organised Crime Agency and GMP. He was flown back to the UK in June and four months later admitted the murder of the youngster who was gunned down in the early hours of May 11 in a car outside the Robin Hood pub in Stretford. In March 2010, Mathias's associates Njabulo Ndlovu and Hiruy Zerihun, then aged 19 and 18, were jailed for life and ordered to serve minimum terms of 21 years and 23 years respectively after they were convicted of Giuseppe's murder. Their trial heard the pair carried out the attack in revenge for the murder of Zerihun's boyhood friend Louis Brathwaite, also 16, who was shot dead in a betting shop in Withington, south Manchester, in January 2008. They were affiliated to Fallowfield Man Dem, a splinter group of the notorious Gooch Gang, who targeted Giuseppe and his friends because of their association to the rival gang the Longsight Crew. Mathias, of no fixed address, also admitted possessing - with Zerihun and Ndlovu - an imitation firearm, a self-loading pistol, a .32 pistol and six .32 bullet cartridges. But now he has argued the basis of his plea and claimed he did not know Louis Brathwaite, saying in evidence that the plan was to enter the pub and "rob the tills".

The top ranks of the Government are now coming to the conclusion that the break-up of the euro is inevitable.

 

 I understand that Hague, like the Chancellor, now believes this will happen soon. Osborne told Cabinet colleagues on Monday that the Merkel-Sarkozy plan for greater fiscal discipline within the eurozone was no solution to the current  crisis. Rather, he said, ‘it was like standing over a man having a heart attack and telling him that to avoid one in future he should do more exercise and cut down on cholesterol’. This view that the euro is unlikely to survive is why there are, so far, few worries about Britain being isolated by the eurozone bloc and its allies. The Government is also confident that the differences between the countries in the single currency will remain – that the Netherlands and Finland will continue to take a more liberal attitude to financial services and the single market than the French and the Italians. But there’s little doubt that Cameron’s decision to wield the veto changes Britain’s relationship with the other members of the European Union. The days of Britain carrying on down the same route as the rest of Europe, just at a slower pace, are now over. As one of Cameron’s closest allies says: ‘We are now, inevitably, en route to a very different destiny.’ ... but one rift is healing, at least Labour’s failure to capitalise on the weakening economy has led to renewed tensions within the party’s ranks. Ed Balls, the Shadow Chancellor, is the target of much of this backbiting. Shadow Cabinet sources complain he is more interested in justifying his record in office than winning the argument about what to do now. Balls’ detractors argue that his bellicose statements are drowning out Ed Miliband’s message.

Glenn Mulcaire, the private eye at the centre of the News of the World phone hacking scandal, has been arrested

 

Glenn Mulcaire, the private eye at the centre of the News of the World phone hacking scandal, has been arrested by Scotland Yard detectives pursuing a fresh investigation into phone intercepts, according to a person familiar with the inquiry. Officers working on Operation Weeting – the Metropolitan Police’s second probe into phone hacking at News International, which owned the now-defunct Sunday tabloid – announced on Wednesday that they had arrested a 41-year-old man who was being held on suspicion of conspiracy to hack voicemail messages and perverting the course of justice.  Mr Mulcaire is the 16th person to be arrested under the new operation, and has already served a six-month prison sentence in 2007 after pleading guilty to intercepting phone messages. He was arrested at his home in Surrey in a dawn swoop and held in a south London police station. Detectives on Operation Weeting have used the private investigator’s notebooks – which contain the names of nearly 5,800 potential victims and run to around 11,000 pages – as the basis for their investigation, trawling through the documents to identify those who may have been hacked. The hacking scandal was reignited this summer when it was revealed that the News of the World had hacked into the voicemail messages of the murdered schoolgirl Milly Dowler after she went missing in 2002, leading her parents to believe that she was still alive. Last month, Mr Mulcaire released a statement through his lawyer, denying that he had deleted voicemail messages on Ms Dowler’s phone. “[He] did not delete messages and had no reason to do so,” the statement read. The Financial Times could not reach Mr Mulcaire’s lawyer for comment on Wednesday. Chris Bryant, a Labour MP and suspected hacking victim, told the FT he was “quite encouraged” that Mr Mulcaire had been taken in for questioning. “I always thought this was a logical next step, but not one [the police] would take unless they had sufficient fresh evidence to put to [Mr Mulcaire], and it seems now they do,” he said. News of the arrest came as lawyers for Andy Coulson, the News of the World’s former editor, argued in the High Court on Wednesday that the tabloid’s parent company should continue to pay Mr Coulson’s legal bills arising from the criminal investigation into phone hacking. It emerged during the course of Mr Coulson’s evidence that News Group Newspapers – a subsidiary of News International – had continued to reimburse Mr Coulson for legal fees relating to his involvement in the judge-led phone hacking inquiry and parliamentary select committee hearings. The court heard that Mr Coulson had received a letter from Tom Mockridge, the chief executive of News International, in August informing him of an “immediate cessation” of payments in relation to criminal legal fees.

DRUGS baron Curtis “Cocky” Warren is serving 13 years behind bars – but his tentacles still stretch around the globe.

Curtis Warren

 

He is suspected of operating a £300million empire built on smuggling cocaine, heroin and cannabis in deals with criminal cartels in Latin America, the Middle East and Spain. And all from his jail cell.

But 48-year-old Warren faces the biggest challenge yet to his evil enterprise as police launch a double assault in the courts on his fortune.

Authorities in Jersey are set to haul him before a judge next month to face a £200million Confiscation Order after he was convicted of drug smuggling on the Channel Island in 2009.

And in a second attack the Serious Organised Crime Agency, in a rare move, is asking judges to impose a Serious Crime Prevention Order in the High Court in London to stop him in his tracks when he is released in 2015. Yesterday Warren’s legal team won an adjournment in the High Court to delay a hearing scheduled for this week so they can prepare the crime lord’s defence.

With typical arrogance he told his lawyers to fight the bid on the grounds it breaches his “human rights”.

The SCP order, signed by Alun Milford, the Chief Crown Prosecutor and director of the Serious Organised Crime Division, seeks to restrict Warren’s use of communication devices and public phones.

It demands that he never has more than £1,000 in cash, to “make it harder for him to buy drugs or reward criminal associates”. And a financial reporting requirement will “deter him from acquisitive crime and give law enforcement authorities the opportunity to investigate any wealth he comes into”.

A source said: “Curtis is almost untouchable. A mobile is vital to him. It’s all he needs to operate. There are thousands of mobiles smuggled into the prison system and he has the means to get one.”

Curtis Warren, from Liverpool, leaves The Royal Court in St Hellier

Warren is the only convicted criminal ever to appear on The Sunday Times rich list, which in 2005 described him as a “property developer” with an estimated fortune of £76million. But according to underworld sources his real wealth is four times that.

He appointed himself chairman and chief operating officer of a global operation to flood Britain with cocaine and heroin.

His criminal associates say Warren’s business philosophy was simple and effective – drugs are a product to buy and sell like oil and gold. He is a meticulous planner whose organisation resembles the layers of executives and managers you find in a City institution, said a police source who has followed Warren’s career.

Before the euro was introduced, he was said to be putting £1million a week in money-laundering scams after trusted couriers changed cash into German marks and Dutch guilders and moved it abroad.

Paul Grimes, a gangster turned supergrass after his son died from a heroin overdose, said: “Warren wanted to be the cock everyone looks up to. He loves the status.”

Even behind bars it is feared Warren still handles deals and keeps phone numbers in his head as he links supplies to smugglers.

Detectives believe he has villas in Spain, Turkey and Gambia, owned through an intricate web of associates who also operate a Spanish casino, Turkish petrol stations and 250 rental properties in the North West of England.

Warren says the claims are “ridiculous”, alleging that he only has a flat in Liverpool’s Albert Dock and a house on the Wirral.

Softly-spoken Warren started his criminal career at the bottom when he was just nine and living at home with his dad, sailor Curtis Aloysius, and mum Sylvia, a shipyard boiler attendant. He was recruited by a gang to climb through small windows and burgle homes. By 11 he was carrying out muggings and armed robberies in the tough estates of Toxteth, Liverpool.

At 18, he was sent to borstal for assaulting police. In an adult jail eh honed his talent for crime.

Warren started selling drugs on the street and rubbing shoulders with Liverpool’s biggest villains, who underwrote huge cocaine consignments with Columbia’s Cali mobsters worth millions.

GRAFTING

He does not drink or take drugs, allowing his photographic memory to be razor-sharp at all times – especially in jail. On the outside, he has always shunned flash cars and big houses and wears tracksuits instead of Armani suits so as not to attract attention.

“Cocky takes no unnecessary risks,” said an ex-associate.

Paul Grimes added: “Unlike me and my crew, he wasn’t out till all hours in the pubs and clubs. He wasn’t flash. If he was grafting it was all VW Golfs and Passats or a low-key Rover.” Streetwise Warren gave contacts nicknames, including The Vampire, The Egg On Legs and Cracker to throw eavesdropping police off the scent.

His methods developed a business worth hundreds of millions as the drug trade exploded in the 1980s. He became a trusted client of Colombian cocaine cartels, Turkish heroin producers and Spanish cannabis suppliers.

It enabled him to get huge ­quantities of drugs on credit.

As he left court on a technicality during a 1993 trial for smuggling cocaine worth £250million, he is said to have told Customs officers he was “off to spend my £87million from the first shipment and you can’t f****** touch me”. Grimes, who will be under witness protection for the rest of his life, said: “Warren is a parasite.”

As Merseyside turf wars worsened in the mid-1990s, Warren moved to Sassenheim in Holland.

When Dutch police intercepted 400kg of cocaine, the game was up – for the time being.

At other addresses controlled by Warren, officers discovered a £150million haul containing 1,500kg of cannabis, 60kg of heroin, 50kg of ecstasy, 960 CS gas canisters, three guns, ammunition and £400,000 in Dutch guilders. The bust put Warren behind bars for 12 years in 1997.

In 2005, Dutch police charged him with running a drug smuggling cartel from his cell but the case was dropped because of insufficient evidence.

On his release, Warren returned to his manor in Merseyside to take up his mantle as the King of Coke.

But within weeks he was busted plotting what he described as “just a little starter” to get himself re-established as the No1 drugs baron in Europe.

PROPERTIES

He was jailed again in 2009 for 13 years for trying to smuggle £1million of cannabis into Jersey – for which he is still behind bars at Full Sutton Prison near York.

Following his sentence at Jersey’s Royal Court, SOCA said Warren was on its Lifetime Offender Management List.

However, Warren could now have his vast fortune seized. After he was jailed, Jersey authorities said they were determined to force Warren to hand over his assets and are seeking a Confiscation Order for more than £200million.

Warren is determined to take his fight against the Confiscation Order – which could see police seize his properties purchased with proceeds of crime – all the way to the European courts.

His solicitor said his client will “fight it all the way”.

Last week, in a similar case that will strike fear into the London underworld, kingpin Terry Adams, 57, was jailed for eight weeks, for breaching a Financial Reporting Order, after authorities demanded details on his spending.

Officers are determined that this week’s application in the High Court will finally nail Warren’s sinister organisation.

It is understood that this is the first SCPO to be applied for through the High Court.

Breaching any SCPO can lead to five years in jail and an unlimited fine. But in true Cocky fashion, Warren laughs off the order as “a mere irritant” in his bid to remain the drug trade’s Numero Uno.

WARREN once killed a fellow prisoner in a fight.

Cemal Guclu, a Turk serving 20 years for murder, attacked him at Hoorn Prison, Holland, in 1999.

Warren punched Guclu to the ground and kicked him in the head four times. Incredibly, Guclu got up but Warren struck him again. He hit his head on the ground and later died.

Warren was convicted of manslaughter and had four years added to his sentence.