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Ex-cartel boss whose brother bit off and ate man’s eyelids challenges ‘escape’ bid
Colin Gunn, the mastermind behind the assassinations of the parents of a gangland rival, claims his security status in the nick is too severe, and reduces his chances of him being released
A crime boss who’s serving life behind bars for his role in one of the most notorious gangland crimes in recent years has launched a bid to have his prison conditions relaxed.
Colin Gunn was banged up for at least 35 years in 2006 for conspiracy to murder John and Joan Stirland, who were shot dead to gain “revenge” on their son.
Now Gunn is taking legal action against the Ministry of Justice, claiming a decision last year to not downgrade his escape risk classification was unfair and unlawful.
Gunn is serving time in Long Lartin prison, Worcestershire, and he says the ruling to keep him in a high-security facility means he experiences a “significantly more intrusive and restrictive regime in the prison”.
He also says being held there prevents him moving to a lower security category, and reduces his prospect of release on licence at the end of his minimum term in 2040.
But the MoJ rejects his case, arguing that its decision to keep him at Long Lartin was “entirely rational”.
John, 55, and nurse Joan, 51, were found dead at their home in the village of Trusthorpe, near Mablethorpe, Lincs, in August 2004. They’d been killed in a revenge attack by gunmen working for gang boss Gunn.
The double murder was a revenge attack after Joan’s son, Michael O’Brien, shot 22-year-old Marvyn Bradshaw dead outside a Nottingham boozer the previous year. Criminals in Nottingham believed the bullet was meant for Bradshaw’s mate Jamie, who was Gunn’s nephew.
The Gunn family was notorious. Colin’s brother David has previously said of one of his more grim attacks: “My pal has got one of them [referencing a gun] but I said, ‘It’s not a murder mate, let me beat him’. So I’ve bit his eyelids off and his lips off and swallowed them. But that’s what I had to do, because he had cut my daughter’s eye, so I thought, 'I’m going to scar you for life, mate’.”
At a hearing in London yesterday (Wednesday, March 13), Gunn's lawyers argued that the MoJ should reconsider its decision and allow an oral hearing where the gangster can make his case that he should be considered a “standard” risk.
Gunn was last classified as being of “exceptional” risk of escape in 2013 following allegations that he’d tried to corrupt a member of staff as part of an escape plan. He was then downgraded to “high risk” later that year.
Barrister Leonie Hirst, representing Gunn, said the MoJ had placed “undue and irrational reliance on factors which were irrelevant and which were not supported or were overtly contradicted by the evidence”.
She said an assessment that Gunn is “the head of an organised crime group with associates able to assist in an escape attempt” is “unsupported by any evidence”.
Ms Hirst added that Gunn is a “trusted inmate” who has shown “good behaviour” in recent years, having held prison jobs and mentoring roles.
She said his status means he frequently moves cells, is escorted everywhere while off his prison wing, has only supervised visits and is woken every hour at night by staff checking up on him with a torch.
But David Manknell, for the MoJ, said Gunn's claim should be dismissed, and that prison policy “does not provide for oral hearings” for such matters.
He said Gunn was previously classified as having an “exceptional” escape risk due to “past intelligence of escape attempts ... ties to serious organised crime groups” and offending “which evidenced a high level of determination to enact severe retribution”.
Gunn is believed to have run the Bestwood Estate in Nottingham with his brother, David, and he built up a multimillion-pound empire based on drugs, extortion and violent crime. He was one of the reasons that the city was labelled Britain’s gun crime capital.
The hearing before Mr Justice Saini is due to conclude next Wednesday, with a ruling expected at a later date.
Daily Star Sunday
Colin Gunn, the mastermind behind the assassinations of the parents of a gangland rival, claims his security status in the nick is too severe, and reduces his chances of him being released
A crime boss who’s serving life behind bars for his role in one of the most notorious gangland crimes in recent years has launched a bid to have his prison conditions relaxed.
Colin Gunn was banged up for at least 35 years in 2006 for conspiracy to murder John and Joan Stirland, who were shot dead to gain “revenge” on their son.
Now Gunn is taking legal action against the Ministry of Justice, claiming a decision last year to not downgrade his escape risk classification was unfair and unlawful.
Gunn is serving time in Long Lartin prison, Worcestershire, and he says the ruling to keep him in a high-security facility means he experiences a “significantly more intrusive and restrictive regime in the prison”.
He also says being held there prevents him moving to a lower security category, and reduces his prospect of release on licence at the end of his minimum term in 2040.
But the MoJ rejects his case, arguing that its decision to keep him at Long Lartin was “entirely rational”.
John, 55, and nurse Joan, 51, were found dead at their home in the village of Trusthorpe, near Mablethorpe, Lincs, in August 2004. They’d been killed in a revenge attack by gunmen working for gang boss Gunn.
The double murder was a revenge attack after Joan’s son, Michael O’Brien, shot 22-year-old Marvyn Bradshaw dead outside a Nottingham boozer the previous year. Criminals in Nottingham believed the bullet was meant for Bradshaw’s mate Jamie, who was Gunn’s nephew.
The Gunn family was notorious. Colin’s brother David has previously said of one of his more grim attacks: “My pal has got one of them [referencing a gun] but I said, ‘It’s not a murder mate, let me beat him’. So I’ve bit his eyelids off and his lips off and swallowed them. But that’s what I had to do, because he had cut my daughter’s eye, so I thought, 'I’m going to scar you for life, mate’.”
At a hearing in London yesterday (Wednesday, March 13), Gunn's lawyers argued that the MoJ should reconsider its decision and allow an oral hearing where the gangster can make his case that he should be considered a “standard” risk.
Gunn was last classified as being of “exceptional” risk of escape in 2013 following allegations that he’d tried to corrupt a member of staff as part of an escape plan. He was then downgraded to “high risk” later that year.
Barrister Leonie Hirst, representing Gunn, said the MoJ had placed “undue and irrational reliance on factors which were irrelevant and which were not supported or were overtly contradicted by the evidence”.
She said an assessment that Gunn is “the head of an organised crime group with associates able to assist in an escape attempt” is “unsupported by any evidence”.
Ms Hirst added that Gunn is a “trusted inmate” who has shown “good behaviour” in recent years, having held prison jobs and mentoring roles.
She said his status means he frequently moves cells, is escorted everywhere while off his prison wing, has only supervised visits and is woken every hour at night by staff checking up on him with a torch.
But David Manknell, for the MoJ, said Gunn's claim should be dismissed, and that prison policy “does not provide for oral hearings” for such matters.
He said Gunn was previously classified as having an “exceptional” escape risk due to “past intelligence of escape attempts ... ties to serious organised crime groups” and offending “which evidenced a high level of determination to enact severe retribution”.
Gunn is believed to have run the Bestwood Estate in Nottingham with his brother, David, and he built up a multimillion-pound empire based on drugs, extortion and violent crime. He was one of the reasons that the city was labelled Britain’s gun crime capital.
The hearing before Mr Justice Saini is due to conclude next Wednesday, with a ruling expected at a later date.
Daily Star Sunday