7th December 1995: It was the end of an era. But before the murders, the torture, the beatings and the ecstasy, before all of that there was football. You see football is where the hatred and the spite first come from. Rise of the Foot Soldier 2007 starring Ricci Harnett & Terry Stone & Craig Fairbrass & Roland Manookian & Billy Murray & Frank Harper & Neil Maskell & Dave Legeno & Kieran Bew & Jason Maza Coralie Rose& et al, director Julian Gilbey, Carlton Leach’s commentary
I was West Ham. For us football, fighting and fucking was our way of life. ibid.
Football was my mistress, and I played away every weekend. ibid.
We started calling ourselves the ICF, the Inter City Firm. ibid.
In my world kindness is mistaken for weakness. ibid.
You didn’t get work on my door unless you could seriously handle yourself. ibid.
People started coming to me for all sorts. ibid.
The first time I’d ever touched drugs and got as close to God as chemically possible. ibid.
Peace by ecstasy. ibid.
This stuff really was going to change the world. ibid.
We started doing punishment as well as protection. ibid.
The steroids left my whole body shaking. Crying out for food. I couldn’t think straight. They don’t just make your muscles big they fuck your head up. ibid.
Tony ran security at some of the top nightclubs in Essex. I had some of the toughest doors in London. Joining forces seemed like a good idea. ibid.
Heroin. Mug’s game. I told everybody on my firm to stay well clear. ibid.
One of my boys was dead, and those Turks were about to find out what it felt like to be on the wrong end of a kebab knife. ibid.
Everybody knew who Pat Tate was. He was a legend in the Essex underworld. ibid.
It had been almost a year since Pat went back to prison. Tony and Craig had become increasingly powerful in the drug world while he was inside. ibid.
Pat, Tony and Craig were out of control. ibid.
The bodies of three men have been discovered in a Range Rover on a farm in Rettendon in Essex. It’s thought these were victims of a gangland slaying. ibid. news report
Who murdered Tony, Pat & Craig that night? ibid. Leach’s commentary
On 6th December 1995 Anthony Tucker, Patrick Tate and Craig Rolfe were murdered in a Range Rover in Workhouse Lane, Rettendon, Essex. On 20th January 1998 Michael Steel and Jack Whomes were found guilty of the murders and are both serving triple life sentences. Their guilt was based on the testimony of Darren Nicholls, a convicted thief and self-confessed liar. Michael Steel and Jack Whomes protest their innocence to this day. Darren Nicholls has disappeared into the witness protection programme: his whereabouts are unknown. The ICF though long since disbanded had an old boys’ reunion in 2001 – it was a peaceful day. Carlton Leach attended. Carlton Leech currently lives in Essex with his family. ibid. caption
It’s an old federal textbook; we’ve replaced them with the corrected version. Explaining how the Apollo missions were faked to bankrupt the Soviet Union. Interstallar 2014 starring Matthew McConaughey & Anne Hathaway & Jessica Chastain & Mackenzie Foy & Ellen Burstyn & John Lithgow & Michael Caine & Casey Affleck & Timothee Chalamet & Wes Bentley & Bill Irwin & Topher Grace & David Gyasi & Josh Stewart et al, director Christopher Nolan, woman in office to father
We’re not meant to save the world; we’re meant to leave it. ibid. Caine