The death of gangster Dave Courtney was announced yesterday (October 22), with his family confirming he died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Dave, 64, was known to be an associate of the Kray twins before moving onto acting and writing. He was found dead at his Camelot Castle home in London.
According to reports, just hours earlier he was in “high spirits” after watching a football game with friends.
Now, his family have revealed he had secretly battled cancer and was in pain from the disease and arthritis attacking his body.
Death of gangster Dave Courtney: ‘Stop the ride, I want to get off’
While Scotland Yard said it was investigating his “unexplained death”, Dave’s family have now released a statement.
Posting on his Instagram account earlier today (October 23), it read: “On October 22, Dave made the decision to ‘stop the ride’. He had lived an incredible, colourful rock ‘n’ roll life and he touched the hearts of so many.”
The statement added: “The physical pain of living the lifestyle he chose, especially due to the pain of both cancer and arthritis in his later years, became too much. So rather than be a burden to his family and friends, he chose to ‘stop the ride’ and take his way out.”
The statement concluded: “In his own immortal words: ‘Stop the ride, I want to get off.'”
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‘I was supposed to look as scary as possible’
Said to be the inspiration behind Vinnie Jones’ character in Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Dave once gave an insight into his former underworld “job”.
Speaking in an interview with presenter Tim Shaw, he said: “My job in short was standing beside somebody in a foreign country who had a load of money. I was supposed to look as scary as possible so he wouldn’t get robbed.”
He added: “I obviously didn’t do my job properly and as they were talking and they shot him. I’d never seen a dead body or a person dying.”
‘The most feared man in Britain’
Dave, who called himself “the most feared man in Britain” because of his criminal past, recently spoke about death and the afterlife.
Talking in a podcast with Graft Kings in August, the hardman said: “I do believe in something. Whatever it is, whatever it is, whatever his name is, whether he has got a halo. I’m not anti it, I’m not a non-believer. I am the [bleep]ing afterlife.”
He then added: “I’m not saying I am running away, or looking forward to it. I am actually going to embrace having a little lie-down and a rest. It wouldn’t frighten me, I think I’d be smiling before my head hit the floor.”
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