Dave Courtney found dead in bed after shooting himself hours after watching Charlton match

GANGLAND figure Dave Courtney was yesterday found dead in his bed after shooting himself.

A lodger discovered the 64-year-old former TV actor and showman at his South London home.

The day before he died he went with pals to watch Charlton ­Athletic thump Reading 4-0 in a League One match.

The flamboyant former crime kingpin, who wrote six books and appeared in films and documentaries, shared snaps on Facebook.

He wrote: “At Charlton today. Full works today three course meal.”

He added: “And what a cool cool day it’s all turning out to be.”

One pal said: “They stayed up until 4am drinking and went to bed. At around 11am his lodger and friend Brendan went to look in Dave’s bedroom because it was very quiet.

“He found Dave dead.

“The first impression was that he had taken his own life. But the police have to be certain and are investigating.’’

The road was cordoned off with a cop covering the entrance.

Officers carried out forensic examinations and described the death as “unexpected”.

Courtney’s £650,000 end of ­terrace house in Plumstead was nicknamed Camelot Castle and included huge murals showing him wearing armour, sitting astride a war horse or on a throne shaped like a knuckleduster.

Teary neighbour Sheila Wellcome, 68, told The Sun: “I saw Dave at around 8pm.

“We knew Dave was in a lot of pain from terrible arthritis. He could barely roll a cigarette.

“But he seemed in good spirits. I passed him a cigarette over the wall and he was laughing and joking.”

She said Dave owned around 12 decommissioned firearms.

Market trader pal Chris Collins, 52, laid flowers at the scene.

He said: “The world is a worse place today having lost Dave.

“He had the scariest phone book this side of the moon, let me tell you — but he was an absolute ­gentleman. He didn’t want to miss out on a minute of life. He was frightened of missing out.”

Friends said Courtney had ­suffered money troubles, ill health, and family rows in recent months.

A statement from the family said: “Dave tragically took his own life in the early hours with a firearm at his Camelot Castle home in Plumstead. Details about funeral arrangements will be provided in due course.”

Amid tributes appearing on social media yesterday, Pat Courtney simply wrote: “RIP bruv.”

After turning his back on a life of crime, Courtney wrote about being shot and having to kill to stay alive.

He claimed to have links with gangland legends such as Reggie Kray and Lenny McLean — and organised security at Ronnie Kray’s funeral in 1995.

But Essex Boys associate Bernard O’Mahoney and Frankie Fraser, a former member of the feared Richardson gang of the 1960s, accused Courtney of fabricating and embellishing his past.

Courtney was married to ­Jennifer Lucrea Pinto, who he met while she was working at a nightclub.

But their relationship hit the rocks in 2004, when Courtney was accused of beating her during a row over her then lesbian lover. He was cleared of all charges.

Courtney served a prison ­sentence in tough Belmarsh nick, but in 2009 avoided jail time after being charged with two firearm offences.

His death is not being probed by the Met’s homicide command.

They are leaving it to local officers to deal with, suggesting they do not believe it is suspicious.