In a calm corner of Essex, a crime boss meets a metropolitan police officer to offer him 'the hand of friendship'.
The secret top took place on November 16, 1995 – on the same day that Leah Betts, the daughter of a retired policeman, died after taking a polluted ecstasy pill.
Leah's death – and the harrowing photo that her family released who held her life in the hospital – sent shock waves through Great Britain and changed the national debate about drugs.
Her case also led a police performance against drug dealers and to a more sinister debate in the criminal underworld in the hours after her livelihood was removed: or those who were suspected of selling the pill that her killed would also die.
The conversation 30 years ago between one of the most feared gangsters of Great -Britain and a corrupt policeman was secretly recorded and later revealed how the Mafia boss had told the officer that he would be willing to eliminate the drug suppliers as a favor .
Three weeks later Anthony Tucker, 38, Patrick Tate, 37 and Craig Rolfe, 26, who had checked the delivery of ecstasy and safety in the Basildon -night club where the tablet was purchased, were killed in a Range Rover south of Chelmsford.
The ecstasy death of teenage Leah Betts shook the nation and changed the debate about drugs. An undercover operation later revealed theories that the murders of three men in an Essex field, known as the 'Range Rover Murders', were offered as retribution
Police officers with the Range Rover on the farm track in Rettendon where the three men were found dead
Michael Steele (left) was convicted of the same triple murder together with whom (right). Steele will now be released. They are depicted in 2006
Patrick Tate, Anthony Tucker and Craig Rolfe (from left to right) were all found shot in a Range Rover on an isolated farm in Rettendon, Essex in December 1995
Their bodies were discovered on the snowy morning on isolated agricultural land in Rettendon on December 7, 1995 by a farmer and his friend who believed Were poachers.
To their horror they looked at the 4×4 and discovered that all three men were killed With a pump promotion shotgun.
The murders inspired the 2000 film Essex Boys, starring actor Sean Bean, and also Rise of the Footsoldier – but also revealed a bitter and violent war between rival companies.
Yesterday it was revealed that Essex Boys convicted triple murderer Michael Steele is recommended for release – despite refusing to admit his debt.
Steele, 82, was imprisoned for life in 1998 for the triple execution of three men in Rettendon, Essex.
Both Steele and his complicit next to Jack Whoes, 63, remain on it that they had nothing to do with the murders. Whoes was released in 2021 after a reduced penalty of 22 years.
The murderers were partially convicted thanks to the proof of the police 'supergrass' Darren Nicholls, who said he had been the outing.
Steele, who has served much of his sentence in category A Wakefield Prison, West Yorkshire, was told yesterday about the decision of the conditional council.
The three members of the drug gang of 'Essex Boys – were killed on an isolated track at a farm in a row over drugs. They were all linked to the night club where Leah Betts had died.
The conversation of the gangster about the killing of the men in retribution for the death of Leah Betts Bond Associated Ruthless Drug Dealers to her case.
But there are also other theories.
Former with Police Detective David McKelvey said in 2023 that “credible lines of research were not followed” and that the three men were killed in connection with an armed robbery, no drug trafficking.
Sean Bean played as Jason Locke in the 2000 film 'Essex Boys'
Leah collapsed on November 1, 1995 during her 18th birthday party after taking an ecstasy tablet. She died 15 days later in the hospital.
It was thought that her death was caused by a polluted party of drugs, but an autopsy discovered that she had consumed 12 pints of water, causing swelling on the brain.
Paul Betts, Leah's father, who was a retired police officer, released a photo of her in a coma to show the dangers of illegal drugs.
The revelations that may have been connected to the 'Range Rover Murders' and the death of Leah Betts appeared in a secret intelligence report of 2002 Scotland Yard Draft Intelligence called 'Operation Tiberius'.
The report would claim that organized criminals infiltrated the 'as will'.
An extract from the report, seen by the Sunday Mirror, was: 'On November 16, 1995 [ex-officer named]… met [crime lord named] who offered the hand of friendship, by offering to take the supplier of drugs to Leah Betts, who died of an overdose. '
The men who have performed the murders are probably the only ones who know the truth.
While Steele will run free in his 1980s, Who's was released in 2021 after a reduced penalty of 22 years.
Both who and Steele are stuck that they had nothing to do with the murders.
The triple shooting took place on December 6, 1995 on a small farm in Rettendon. The bodies of the three men were found the next morning by farmer Peter Theobald and his friend Ken Jiggins.
All victims were shot with a pump-action shotgun. Tate suffered injuries at the head and body, while Rolfe and Tucker died of head wounds.
The Essex police were soon warned by the witnesses and started an investigation, led by detective head inspector Ian Dibley.
At the time, Det Supt Dab willy said: 'This is no ordinary murder. It seems that they are seduced down there.
“As far as murders are concerned, you don't get more serious than this.”
Two years later, Whoes and Steele were found guilty of the old Bailey of London of the murders and received three lifelong penalties with at least 15 years.
The most important witness was police informant Darren Nicholls van Braintree, Essex, who claimed that he was the step-by-step driver for the murders.
Proof that the process is given, including disputed data from mobile phones, was then lost. This included many of the tape recordings of the interrogation of nicholls.
The couple condemn the couple, Mr Justice Hidden said: 'There is little that can be said useful at this stage. In my opinion you two men were responsible for taking their lives in a violent and summary way.
“You have lured them to a quiet farmway and performed them briefly.”
Police are looking for a remote lane in Rettendon, Essex of the A130 between Chelmsford and Southend, in November 1995, where a Range Rover car was found with three bodies inside
The police remove the Range Rover car, where three bodies were found by a farmer at the back of the low charger
McKelvey arrested Darren Nicholls in May 1996 for drug offenses, before he became the so -called 'supergrass' and says that evidence was sent to him four years ago by lawyers from the lawyers. '
He said in the documentary, together with Former with Det Supt Albert Patrick, that they believe that the murder surrounds the proceeds of an armed robbery instead of drug trafficking.
He said: 'We believe that we have a credible and compelling alternative report of what happened and if you go on the basis of the basis that the test in the British legal system is reasonable doubt, we believe that there is now sufficient material for not Only reasonable doubt, but considerable doubt. '
Lawyers for both Steele and Whoos have claimed that the step -by -step story has been manufactured.
The Court of Appeal rejected applications that were submitted by the defendants in 2006, 2013 and 2016, and the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) recently decided not to refer to the courts as a January.
The Essex police said that the case was 'exhaustively investigated' and that there was 'no new evidence' to dispute the 'original judgments'.
In 2021, Whoes was released on license and returned to his mother Suffolk's house.
