The man who described himself as the 'most feared man in Britain' died aged 64 over the weekend.
News of Dave Courtney's death was confirmed on his social media account, with a post explaining that he had died in the early hours of 22 October.
A statement explained that 64-year-old Courtney had taken his own life, saying: "Dave tragically took his own life in the early hours of Sunday 22nd October, with a firearm at his Camelot Castle home in Plumstead.
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"Details about funeral arrangements will be provided in due course. His family ask for respect during this period of mourning."
Courtney's family later issued an additional statement on Instagram, which reads: "He had lived an incredible, colourful rock 'n' roll life in which he touched the hearts of so many.
"The physical pain of living the lifestyle he chose, especially due to the pain of both cancer and arthritis in his later years became too much."
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The statement continues: "So, rather than be a burden to his family and friends, he chose to 'stop the ride' and take his own way out.
"In his own immortal words, 'stop the ride, I want to get off'."
The Met police told LADbible that officers had attended a property on Chestnut Rise, in Plumstead, south-east London and the death was being treated as unexpected and under investigation.
Courtney became a celebrity in London's East End through his connections with notorious figures such as the Kray twins, Roy Shaw and Lenny McLean.
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During his life he worked as a doorman for some of London's most famous nightclubs, worked as a debt collector and even provided security for the Krays funeral.
In an interview earlier this year, Courtney told LADbible that he once stepped into the ring with infamous boxer McLean and lasted about 17 seconds, 10 of which were being counted out.
The 64-year-old said he was rooted to the spot right from the start after McLean roared at him, with Courtney revealing that if he hadn't recently been to the toilet he'd have s**t himself on the spot.
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Courtney also told LADbible he'd been shot, telling us 'I've got holes in me mate'.
He said: "I was standing outside a nightclub and a geezer pulled up in the driveway, shooting someone's very hard, you think it's quite easy, you've only got to aim it and you'll get more or less a whole person.
"You think 'I 'aint gonna miss that from 20 foot' but you do, and someone went 'Dave, Dave Courtney' in a yellow Escort Mexico with a black vinyl roof.
"I was too far away to get and I went 'yeah'. I walked right up to the window of the geezer that was gonna shoot me. As I was bending down to see his face I see him pull a gun up.
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"When anything life threatening comes into play for some reason everything goes into slow motion. Soon as I looked in the window and was close enough he went 'boom' and shot me in the leg."
The 64-year-old said being shot felt like being smashed 'with a big sledgehammer' and he was brought back to consciousness by an ambulance siren blaring in his face while he lay on the ground. Watch the full interview here:
He also provided security for the funerals of the notorious gangster Ronnie Kray.
"I thought it was gonna propel my security company into mega, you know? But it actually bought me to the attention of the general public," he told LADbible of the impact the Kray funeral had on his life.
"And to the attention of all the authorities and it came out that was their first visual proof of organised crime in this country.
"One criminal organising every other criminal in Great Britain, 'cause everyone I brought down had their own criminal CV, their own little firms, a lot of these firms didn't get along with each other.
"But on that one said day when we're burying the actual monarch of the underworld, Ronnie Kray, they all got on. They all behaved. It was one criminal organising every other criminal in England to one place and be seen."
Courtney said being part of the funeral 'destroyed' his career as everyone suddenly recognised him and he had to find another line of work, explaining that it led to him writing one of his six books, Stop the Ride, I Want to Get Off.
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Topics: UK News
Joe Harker