Crime boss offered to kill Leah Betts drug dealers – weeks before they were found dead in ‘Essex Boys’ murders
Underworld figure is reported to have made offer to policeman in secretly-taped conversation
AN underworld boss offered to kill the Essex Boy drug dealers responsible for the ecstasy tablets that killed Leah Betts, a secret police recording allegedly reveals.
Within weeks of the shock offer, three gangsters were blasted to death with shotguns as they sat in their Land Rover.
And a secret recording made by Met Police during a cop corruption investigation allegedly saw one crime boss pledge to “take out” the suppliers.
Neither the crime boss nor the police officer allegedly involved in the conversation can be named for legal reasons.
An extract from a secret 2002 Scotland Yard report, seen by , read: “On 16th November 1995 [ex-officer named]… met [crime lord named] who offered the hand of friendship, by offering to take out the supplier of the drugs to Leah Betts, who died of an overdose.”
The two men jailed for the 1995 Rettendon murders remain behind bars after their conviction in 1998.
Michael Steele, 74, and Jack Whomes, 55, are expected to use the allegations in their bid for freedom over the conviction they have always denied.
Gangsters Pat Tait, 37, Tony Tucker, 38, and Craig Rolfe, 26, were shot dead inside their Land Rover in a rural spot near the Essex village Rettendon.
The killing went on to become one of the most notorious in British crime history and sparked a number of films including Essex Boys – starring Sean Bean.
Only three weeks before the murders Leah Betts had died after taking an ecstasy pill on her 18th birthday.
Betts was found to have died from swelling to the brain after she drank 12 pints of water in just 90 minutes.
Heartbreaking pictures of the teenager in a coma were released by her parents and sparked a wave of revulsion around the country.
A Scotland Yard spokeswoman told : “We are not prepared to discuss publicly the details of Operation Tiberius, produced in 2002. It is a secret document.”
We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team? Email us at tips@the-sun.co.uk or call 0207 782 4368