Gary Nelson murders

The Gary Nelson murders occurred on October 20, 1993, when Gary Nelson (b. 1969) of Woolwich, south-east London, killed Patrick Dunne and William Danso in Clapham, England.

Victims

Patrick Dunne, born in 1949, was a British constable with the Metropolitan Police Service. Prior to his police career, Dunne had taught maths for fifteen years at the Deane School in Bolton. Danso was a doorman at the Brixton Academy music venue.

Murders

Danso, a doorman at the Brixton Academy, had refused Nelson entry to the nightclub and, on the day he died, he was working as a part-time security guard at a shop when he broke up a fight involving Nelson.

Woolwich Crown Court heard Nelson targeted Danso for "disrespecting" him. He and two unidentified accomplices laughed as they fired a hail of bullets at Danso in his hallway in Cato Road, Clapham, on 20 October 1993.

Pc Dunne had been investigating a minor domestic dispute, heard gunshots from Danso’s house and went to investigate. As the unarmed police officer stepped into the street he was hit by a single shot to the chest, killing him instantly.

Investigation, prosecution, and conviction

Nelson was originally charged with the murders five weeks after they took place, but the case was dropped because of insufficient evidence.

In 1994 Nelson, nicknamed Tyson because of his resemblance to boxer Mike Tyson, was jailed for eight years for an unrelated shooting.

He had lost his temper when a van driver tried to overtake him on a road in south London. The road rage incident degenerated and Nelson got out of his car and fired five times at the van, hitting the bonnet and radiator.

Ten days after starting his sentence at Belmarsh high security jail, in south-east London, he attacked prison officers and had six months added to his term. He was released in 1999.

After a month-long surveillance operation, conducted in February 2003, Nelson was followed to the United States, where he bought a laser device for a 9mm Browning semi-automatic. Police subsequently swooped on his flat in London, seizing the weapon and the device, described as being designed to make the gun a more efficient killing machine.

In January 2004 he was jailed for life for possessing weapons and ammunition for a second weapon.

While in prison, he was again charged with the Clapham murders. Among the evidence against him was the discovery of the murder weapon in Wandsworth cemetery, south London, in June 1994, wrapped in a plastic bag with Nelson's mother's fingerprint on it. On February 17 2006 Nelson was convicted of the 1993 murders. The trial judge recommended that Nelson should spend at least 35 years in prison before parole can even be considered, a ruling which would keep him behind bars until at least 2038 and the age of 69.

References

*http://www.met.police.uk/job/job970/live_files/7.htm
*http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/4703356.stm
*http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4717168.stm

External links

* [http://www.policememorial.org.uk/Police_Memorial_Trust/PMT_Local_Memorials/PMT-Dunne-1993/PMT-Dunne-1993.htm Police Memorial Trust - Local Memorials - Patrick Dunne]