on the 7th December 1995, three men were found dead as they sat in a Range Rover in Workhouse Lane, in the village of Rettendon, Essex. All the men had been killed at close range by a shotgun in what police described as a Gangland hit. After numerous arrests, there was still no sign of anyone being charged with the murders. Six months later, three people were in custody. One of them decided to talk, if he went on the Witness Protection programme. His words convicted two men, who are still in prison now, and have always protested their innocence. This book tries to piece together the events leading up to the murders, and if the right men were found guilty.

Two films and numerous books have attempted to tell the shocking story of two of Britain's most ruthless gangs. For 20 years, the Essex Boys firm and their successors, the New Generation, controlled a lucrative drugs empire in Essex and throughout the south east of England by using intimidation, gratuitous violence and murder. Rampaging through the streets and clubland, they destroyed anything and anybody that dared to get in their way. Eventually torn apart by greed and paranoia, the gang members became victims of their own vile trade and hate-filled actions. Pat Tate, Tony Tucker and Craig Rolfe were all blasted repeatedly with a shotgun as they sat in their Range Rover down a remote farm track. Dean Boshell was lured to allotments, then beaten and shot execution-style three times through the head. Others, such as Darren Nicholls and Damon Alvin, turned Super Grass and disappeared into the witness protection scheme never to be seen again, while three other men are in prison serving life sentences. Steve `Nipper` Ellis is the last man standing, the only member to have survived the bloody reign of both gangs. In Essex Boy, he tells his shocking story for the first time, and reveals just how close he came to being both murderer and murder victim.

There have been many versions of who, why and how, regarding events which took place on the night of the 6th December 1995, in Rettendon, Essex. The death of three men is all that is certain. They were notorious, violent and professional criminals. And they died on a lonely and deserted farmers track. In the middle of nowhere, unarmed. These are the only elements of the event, which are universally accepted. Two men are serving life on scant evidence. The convicted proclaim their innocence, yet appeal has been denied, or manoeuvred from grasp. Conspiracy theories are rife. Several films and a few accounts have clawed their way into existence; to be portrayed as factual accounts of the event. Fact or fiction, perhaps no longer relevant in the unforgettable and alluring story about the untimely demise of the gentlemen in question. Pat Tate, Craig Rolfe and Tony Tucker. They are dead, somebody knows why and how. They aren't talking. The legend, perhaps best, now becomes a fable. Corporal William Handley served in the Falklands war. A member of the legendary 22 Special Air Service regiment. D Squadron, Mountain Troop. It is not a forever career. He can't do Civvy Street. He joins the Metropolitan Police. Perhaps they should have turned him away. Someone in Special Branch thinks otherwise. Bill's career is nothing out of the ordinary. No spectacular rise through the ranks. Just a steady bloke, eventually becoming a sergeant in the Criminal Investigation Department. Out of a uniform, but not really. Hollywood's in Romford, the first big door for Tony Tucker. Not long before the bright lights of Bas Vegas, a few miles along the Southend Arterial beckon. More sensibly referred to as Basildon by Essex Police. Tucker and Tate's organisation and muscle grows rapidly. Fuelled by steroids, ecstasy and fast easy money. Essex is partying, the Essex Boys are cashing in. The power struggles spill out onto the street. Eventually getting the attention of the serious organised crime team. Trouble is the Essex Boys are always one step ahead. They're learning fast, got inside help. No one has the bottle to break ranks, give evidence. They pair have earned the right to step back from front line work. Not going down for a large possession, when there are so many mules to do the work for them. Eventually, if you push hard enough. There's going to be collateral. Any firefight, it's a given. The wrong person will go down, an innocent. It had all gone too far. They didn't care. They were too busy looking at the next big bit of work. This time they were helping themselves to someone else's prize. They had their eye off the ball. It was just a quick look, then on to dinner.

On December 6th, 1995, three key members of the infamous Essex Boys gang were lured to a deserted farm track on the pretense of planning a robbery. As the trio sat in their Range Rover, two gunmen approached the open rear door of the vehicle. Moments later the first shots rang out, signaling the start of a swift yet bloody massacre. When the weapons fell silent, the three men lay dead. Before the gun smoke had cleared, rumors laced with innuendo and lies had begun circulating throughout the Essex underworld and beyond. Who really killed Tony Tucker, Pat Tate, and Craig Rolfe soon became the greatest mystery in British criminal history. Despite countless books, films, and documentaries pointing accusing fingers at an array of suspects, no clear cut version of events backed by hard evidence has emerged. That is, until now. Bernard O'Mahoney breaks his silence. He is the man who knows who killed who, why, how, and when. This is his confession. This is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth about the Essex Boys murders and so much more.

ESSEX BOYS is the brand new edition of the shocking bestseller known as SO THIS IS ECSTASY'. It is the true story of the rise of one of the most violent and successful criminal gangs of the 90's whose reign of terror was finally terminated when the three leaders were brutally murdered in their Range Rover one winter's evening. On their way they had built the drug-dealing organisation that which supplied the pill that killed Leah Betts. They were responsible for a wave of intimidation, beatings and murder. Until, it seems, they took one step too far. Now there is compelling evidence that the men convicted of shooting the dead men are innocent. Which means the real murderers are still at large. Bernard O'Mahoney was a key member of what has been one of the most feared gangs of the decade. His inside account of their cold-blooded violence reveals that facts can be more terryfing than fiction.

'Protected Witness Unit (PWU): Designed to hold prisoners who are giving evidence or assistance to the police in cases of serious crime. All inmates are known to staff simply as 'Bloggs', followed by a number...' In December 1995, the bodies of three men were discovered in a Range Rover in a quiet country lane in the Essex village of Rettendon. All three were well-known villains. Each been blasted in the head with a shotgun at point-blank range. The search for the killers had almost ground to a halt when tensions within the gang involved boiled over and one member decided to break ranks. At first his story seemed too incredible to be believed, but as the evidence to support his version of events began to mount up, the motives behind the brutal murders became clear. The plot eventually uncovered involved everything from Irish terror groups and European smuggling rings to prostitution and police corruption. Tony Thompson, crime correspondent of the OBSERVER, is one of the country's leading experts in the field of organised crime. Now, in this extraordinary book, he chronicles the rise of some of Britain's most powerful and notorious villains and of the man whose betrayal led to their downfall - the man known as 'Bloggs 19': arguably the most important supergrass since the time of the Kray twins.

The Sunday Times bestseller and the definitive story behind the ITV factual drama White House Farm, about the horrific killings that took place in 1985. On 7 August 1985, Nevill and June Bamber, their daughter Sheila and her two young sons Nicholas and Daniel were discovered shot to death at White House Farm in Essex. The murder weapon was found on Sheila's body, a bible lay at her side. All the windows and doors of the farmhouse were secure, and the Bambers' son, 24-year-old Jeremy, had alerted police after apparently receiving a phone call from his father, who told him Sheila had 'gone berserk' with the gun. It seemed a straightforward case of murder-suicide, but a dramatic turn of events was to disprove the police's theory. In October 1986, Jeremy Bamber was convicted of killing his entire family in order to inherit his parents' substantial estates. He has always maintained his innocence. Drawing on interviews and correspondence with many of those closely connected to the events – including Jeremy Bamber – and a wealth of previously unpublished documentation, Carol Ann Lee brings astonishing clarity to a complex and emotive case. She describes the years of rising tension in the family that culminated in the murders, and provides clear insight into the background of each individual and their relationships within the family unit. Scrupulously fair in its analysis, The Murders at White House Farm is an absorbing portrait of a family, a time and a place, and a gripping account of one of Britain's most notorious crimes.