The Essex drugs market was rife. ibid.
The Essex Boys were making enemies in high places. ibid.
So who shot the Essex Boys? ibid.
The East End has always looked to Essex as a place to get away to. Professor Dick Hobbs, University of Essex
The worst thing you can ever do in a criminal fraternity is be successful. Billy Blundell
Who sold the ecstasy tablet that killed Leah Betts? Dispatches: The Firm
Under cover of darkness, just over a year ago, members of the Firm, a major Essex drugs gang, are on their way to a meeting. Their Range Rover pushes down a lonely farm track. Seconds later all three men were dead blasted in the head from a pump-action shotgun at point-blank range. ibid.
The Firm built its reputation around the explosive temper and drug-induced rages of Pat Tate. ibid.
Controlling the doors at clubs can mean running the drugs sales inside where the real money can be made. ibid.
The Firm was establishing a national reputation for intimidation, enforcement and drug dealing. ibid.
For the Firm, Leah’s death was catastrophic. The public scrutiny was intense. ibid.
The Essex Boys were a group of vicious drug-dealing villains. Their deaths have been the subject of two Hollywood films and countless newspaper headlines. The Real Essex Boys, 2012
A brutal gangland execution. ibid.
Within the clubs dealers controlled the sale of drugs. But the doormen control the dealers. Anthony Tucker took a cut from every deal. ibid.
Tate and Tucker were both heavy users of steroids. ibid.
A local farmer awoke to find nearly five hundred pounds of cannabis – worth about half a million pounds – in his pond. ibid.
Policeman’s daughter Leah Betts was certainly facing potentially fatal consequences. Within hours of taking ecstasy she was rushed to Chelmsford Hospital where she fell into a deep coma. ibid.
Double-cross: their greed had cost them their lives ... Police investigate this triple gangland killing. ibid.
Supergrass Darren Nicholls, who had a history of acting as a paid police informer, identified his old partners in crime Michael Steele and Jack Whomes as the two murderers. ibid.
Rettendon Village, Essex: 6th December 1995 18.48: and paid for their greed with their lives. But what really happened? ibid.
Police had encouraged Darren Nicholls to become a supergrass ... There were no forensics, no footprints, no DNA. ibid.
Not everyone thinks the jury got it right. ibid.
7th December 1995: It was the end of an era. But before the murders, the torture, the beatings and the ecstasy, before all of that there was football. You see football is where the hatred and the spite first come from. Rise of the Foot Soldier 2007 ***** starring Ricci Harnett & Terry Stone & Craig Fairbrass & Roland Manookian & Billy Murray & Frank Harper & Neil Maskell & Dave Legeno & Kieran Bew & Jason Maza Coralie Rose& et al, director Julian Gilbey, Carlton Leach’s commentary
I was West Ham. For us football, fighting and fucking was our way of life. ibid.
Football was my mistress, and I played away every weekend. ibid.
We started calling ourselves the ICF, the Inter City Firm. ibid.
In my world kindness is mistaken for weakness. ibid.
You didn’t get work on my door unless you could seriously handle yourself. ibid.
People started coming to me for all sorts. ibid.
The first time I’d ever touched drugs and got as close to God as chemically possible. ibid.
Peace by ecstasy. ibid.
This stuff really was going to change the world. ibid.
We started doing punishment as well as protection. ibid.
The steroids left my whole body shaking. Crying out for food. I couldn’t think straight. They don’t just make your muscles big they fuck your head up. ibid.
Tony ran security at some of the top nightclubs in Essex. I had some of the toughest doors in London. Joining forces seemed like a good idea. ibid.
Heroin. Mug’s game. I told everybody on my firm to stay well clear. ibid.
One of my boys was dead, and those Turks were about to find out what it felt like to be on the wrong end of a kebab knife. ibid.
Everybody knew who Pat Tate was. He was a legend in the Essex underworld. ibid.
It had been almost a year since Pat went back to prison. Tony and Craig had become increasingly powerful in the drug world while he was inside. ibid.
Pat, Tony and Craig were out of control. ibid.
The bodies of three men have been discovered in a Range Rover on a farm in Rettendon in Essex. It’s thought these were victims of a gangland slaying. ibid. news report
Who murdered Tony, Pat & Craig that night? ibid. Leach’s commentary
On 6th December 1995 Anthony Tucker, Patrick Tate and Craig Rolfe were murdered in a Range Rover in Workhouse Lane, Rettendon, Essex. On 20th January 1998 Michael Steel and Jack Whomes were found guilty of the murders and are both serving triple life sentences. Their guilt was based on the testimony of Darren Nicholls, a convicted thief and self-confessed liar. Michael Steel and Jack Whomes protest their innocence to this day. Darren Nicholls has disappeared into the witness protection programme: his whereabouts are unknown. The ICF though long since disbanded had an old boys’ reunion in 2001 – it was a peaceful day. Carlton Leach attended. Carlton Leech currently lives in Essex with his family. ibid. caption
Essex 1995: What the fuck’s he doing in the motor with Tony and Pat? The Hooligan Factory 2014 starring Jason Maza & Nick Nevern & Tom Burke & Ray Fearon & Steven O'Donnell & Morgan Watkins & Josef Altin & Leo Gregory & Keith-Lee Castle & Ronnie Fox & Ian Lavender & Danny Dyer et al, director Nick Nevern, opening scene
I’ll try anything once me. Except bestiality. And maybe Morris dancing. Essex Boys 2000 starring Sean Bean & Charlie Creed-Miles & Alex Kingston & Tom Wilkinson & Larry Lamb & Michael McKell & Holly Davidson & Terence Rigby et al, director Terry Winsor, Billy’s commentary
Every firm needs a mad acid bath murderer, don’t they? ibid.
Pills is where’s the money’s really at. ibid. gangsta in car
I’m a jealous fucking bastard and I don’t trust you. ibid. Jason
I get a call from Mr Dee. I mean strictly speaking I’m still working for him. He’s asked me to pick up Henry and drive him to this place. I’ve never been there before. Some farm. ibid. Billy’s commentary
Mr Dee and Perry have been hatching this one for months. ibid.