Dealer was 'ruthlessly executed'

David King had been arrested on suspicion of drug smuggling

Bodybuilder, former celebrity bodyguard and well-known drug dealer Dave King died in a hail of bullets from an AK47 as he left a Hertfordshire gym in 2003.

The Glaswegian gangster was targeted by criminal associates after being released on bail early following his arrest on suspicion of importing 14kg of heroin from France.

A second man, Dave Sharma, also arrested at the time, was held in custody and only released on bail later.

"His gangland associates had been harbouring fears for some months that their 'firm' had been infiltrated by a police or customs 'grass' and the ease with which King had got off pointed the finger towards him," said Detective Inspector Paul McGee of Essex police.

Dave Sharma fled abroad, but later returned and handed himself in to police.

He was subsequently jailed for three months for jumping bail. No action was taken against him over the alleged drugs offences because of a lack of evidence.

Meanwhile the "firm" were making plans to dispose of King, 32, who lived at Ardley, Herts, in a £554,000 home financed through his drug dealing and criminal activities.

Gangland debt collector and fixer Roger Vincent, 33, of Penn, Buckinghamshire, had given the task of killing King to Dean Spencer, who went to the house in Ardley with at least one other man on September 22.

They became convinced King was waiting for them - they knew his reputation for ruthlessness and his powerful physique as a bodybuilder nicknamed "Muscles".

They decided to pull out of the deal with Roger Vincent, who became violent when he found he would have to do the job himself.

He enlisted the help of David Smith, 33, of Elstree, Herts, who was to act as his driver and help in the murder.

Much of the detailed planning was done on mobile phones and evidence from bills was used by the police to piece together the movements and motives of the main players.

Armour-piercing

With forensic evidence, CCTV recordings, descriptions from witnesses, surveillance and recording of conversations police were able to put together a profile of the murder for presentation to the court.

On 3 October, 2003, King left the Physical Limits gym in Brewery Road, Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire and a white van, driven by Smith, pulled up alongside him.

Vincent, sitting in the passenger seat, shot at the father-of-two with an AK-47 Kalashnikov assault rifle discharging at least 26 rounds of armour-piercing ammunition.

The shooting took place outside a gym in Brewery Road

The prosecution said Mr King was "ruthlessly executed" when he was struck five times in the chest.

The van and a stolen Mercedes car were later found burnt out, but police were able to collect forensic evidence from them to link the accused with the murder scene and the weapons used.

Det Insp McGee said: "We know that Vincent and Smith used their own phones until the night before the murder and afterwards bought new ones.

Gun dumped

"CCTV footage placed Smith, wearing a distinctive hat, at a filling station in Hoddesdon. A rubber glove often used by people at filling stations contained a palm print from which we were able to get DNA.

"All these forensic details and facts were brought to court and we were able to point to real motives.

"The gun was later recovered by a man who, while walking near Breydon Water at Great Yarmouth in Norfolk, saw someone dump a holdall."

He investigated and recovered the bag with an AK-47 and spare rounds of ammunition which matched those used in the shooting.

Smith's DNA was found on the gun's magazine and on the weapon and a towel in the holdall had a saliva sample that matched Vincent's.

Assets frozen

This led to the case against Vincent and Smith who were found guilty of murder.

Following King's death his assets of £1.6m were frozen by court order on the grounds that his funds were linked to drug trafficking and money laundering.

The assets included his house in Hertfordshire, a £1m property in London and £7,500 in four bank accounts.

After outstanding loans were taken into account, the government's Assets Recovery Agency recovered £610,500 from his estate.