Yesterday (22 October), it was reported that the self-proclaimed ‘most feared man in Britain’ had died.
Dave Courtney was a notorious ex-gangster who was said to be the inspiration for Vinnie Jones’ character in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
The Londoner’s family say he took his own life aged 64 at his Camelot Castle home.
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They shared an additional statement on Instagram, reading: "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."
Courtney, formerly one of Britain's most well-known gangsters, made a name for himself through his connections to famous London East Enders such as the Kray twins, Roy Shaw and Lenny McLean.
According to his official website, Courtney was previously better known as 'the yellow pages of the Underworld' and thanks to his crimes, he referred to himself as 'the most feared man in Britain'.
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However, we didn’t really get to see much of him on TV and that’s because he ended up not being allowed to be interviewed on telly.
In a previous chat for Gangster Tales, Courtney explained why this was – all one ‘big cocky mistake’ he made.
He claims he was in charge of the security for Ronnie Kray’s funeral and when officials tried to take over, he ran his mouth a little too much.
It was apparently said to Courtney: “Well, one thing we’ve got that your little band of men haven’t got Mr Courtney… is a fireams unit.”
This was in case there was an assassination attempt, but he went back with: “No, you’re wrong.
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“What you’ve got that I haven’t is a firearms certificate. We’ve all got a f**king gun.”
But he says he actually didn’t, admitting he shouldn’t have said that because after that and after the funeral, he claims things were put in place to ‘shut down Dave Courtney’.
He said: “A new law come out that you can’t actually celebrate crime or criminals or anything so I can’t be on telly… I’m not allowed to go on the radio, so that was a big cocky mistake I made.
“I thought it was cool but I paid for it severely in the end and still am.”
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However he does admit being proud at the time because he says ‘the Krays made me, it built me up’ and that day changed things for him: “I was showing off for England…
“Going to the East End to do a funeral, I feel powerful. I know that’s really stupid to say, but you do, you can’t help it. Testosterone is a very addictive drug.”
Jess Battison