How two-man hit squad were executed by rival gangsters in packed pub of Man Utd fans in plot by ‘Black Widow’ gun dealer
A TWO-man hit squad were gunned down in a pub full of football fans during a botched plot by an arms dealer nicknamed the "Black Widow."
Carlton Alveranga, 20 and Richard Austin, 19, unleashed a hail of bullets in the Brass Handles pub in Salford, in one of the city's most notorious gangland slayings.
Alveranga and Austin were both murdered during the mayhem that exploded inside the pub. Now 17 years on the killers are yet to face justice and the double murder is a cold case with Greater Manchester Police.
The young gunmen were sent to the boozer - a hangout for hooligans and yobs - by gangster Bobby Spiers who was a short distance away in a plush private box at Manchester United's Old Trafford.
But while Spiers enjoyed the match, Alveranga and Austin's plan quickly unravelled, with the two executed outside the pub in minutes.
The two young gunmen were apprehensive as they approached the packed pub during United's home game with Newcastle.
Arms dealer Constance Howarth, nicknamed the "Black Widow", acted as a spotter inside the pub who guided the killers toward their targets.
When they saw David Totton and Aaron Travers sat against a far wall, they opened fire. Totton was shot five times in the chest before his mates realised what was happening.
Travers charged the gunmen and was shot in the chest. But when a table was flipped over and used as a shield, the shooters became unstuck.
Alveranga and Austin were swiftly overpowered as glasses smashed around them.
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The young men were then disarmed and shot before trying to flee the scene and make it to a getaway car.
When police arrived at the scene their bodies were outside the pub. Locals refused to discuss the matter with police, leaving detectives facing a "wall of silence."
Over at Old Trafford, Spiers calmly downed his pint assuming his enemy had died in a hail of bullets.
But when news of the disaster reached him, he fled to Spain.
It later emerged the gang boss had organised the plot to kill Totton and Travers over a so called "respect" issue.
Totton had used Spiers name to gain entry into a Manchester nightclub. But when the doormen checked with Spiers, he had no idea who Totton was.
The younger man was livid and the incident led to a simmering dispute.
Spiers reached out to Ian McLeod, said to have been a leader of Moss Side's notorious Doddington crew.
Spiers said he needed two gunmen and McLeod arranged for Alveranga and Austin to carry out the shooting.
The two young men were thought to have been coerced into the shooting by McLeod after they ended up owing him money.
In truth the endeavour was always a high risk mission. The Brass Handles was a not a pub that welcomed strangers.
It was also frequented by some very tough individuals.
After the young gun men were murdered, the pub's CCTV was ripped out. This was common practice in Salford after a serious crime had been committed in or around a pub.
Mobile phone records later revealed Spiers' sinister role in the plot.
The Salford man was hunted down in his Spanish hideout after a European Arrest Warrant was issued and brought back to the UK.
Speirs was convicted of conspiracy to murder, following a
three-week trial, and jailed for a minimum of 23 years.
McLeod, 44, was jailed for life with a minimum term of 21 years following a trial at Preston Crown court in March 2007.
Howarth, 40, relation of Salford underworld's "Mr Big" Paul Massey, was also given life with a minimum term of 20 years.
Massey, a close friend of Spiers, was later photographed spraying graffiti on Salford Lads Club, calling for his pal to be freed.
Totton and a second man both suffered serious injuries in the Brass Handles shootings. They later recovered but refused to discuss the matter with police.
In 2012 Totton was involved a second firearms incident, when his friend Anthony Grainger was shot dead by an armed police officer.
The two men were inside an Audi A6 in Culcheth, Cheshire, when armed police swooped.
Totton told a public inquiry into the incident that he was in the area to collect a debt, and denied he was about to carry out a robbery at supermarket.
He was also linked by police to a spate of incidents in city centre nightclubs.
Totton was jailed for four-and-a-half years after he and three other men beat up two car park attendants when they were thrown out of a casino.
In August 2014 Totton rammed the doors of a trendy nightclub in a Peugeot RCZ after doormen refused him entry.
The Salford man was later banned from licensed premises in Manchester city centre after he was linked to many incidents.
For some, the Brass Handles shooting sowed the seeds of a fall-out between Massey and a new generation of criminals known as the Tenerife Street gang.
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This simmering dispute later contributed to the so called A Team gang war, in which Massey was shot dead outside his own home. The deaths of Alveranga and Austin are now with GMP's cold case review team.
Anyone with any information about the case should call police on 0161 856 5961 or the independent charity on 0800 555 111.
