Fugitive shot dead in Spain

Daniel Smith, 26, of Coxes Farm Road, Billericay, was cut down in a hail of bullets as he drank outside a bar on the Costa Del Sol.

Smith, who had been on the run from police for almost three years, was outside the British-run Lounge Bar in Mijas, near Malaga.

It is reported a motorbike approached him at 10.10pm on Saturday and six shots were fired by the male pillion passenger. The bike then sped off.

As shocked drinkers ran for cover, three of the bullets hit Smith, one of them in the head, killing him instantly.

A spokesman for Spain’s emergency services said: “Local police, the Civil Guard and two ambulances attended the scene, but they were unable to save the man’s life.

“He died at the scene from gunshot wounds and was not taken to hospital.”

Floral tributes for Smith have already been left at the scene of the shooting.

He is believed to have been working as a builder at the time of his death.

He had gone on the run following the shooting of businessman Douglas Turner outside his home in Kings Head Road, Stock.

Mr Turner lost three fingers and was blasted in the arm and stomach, but survived.

Last December, detectives in Essex probing Mr Turner’s attempted murder released a picture of Smith, saying he was their prime suspect.

The attempted doorstep assassination of Mr Turner rocked the quiet community of Stock.

During a hearing at Chelmsford Crown Court in October 2008, it was revealed the shooting, in July 2007, was a revenge attack.

A judge heard how the day before, a friend of the then 39-year-old Jason Steele was beaten up at the Crown pub, Billericay, by Mr Turner’s son John and his pal Patrick Flanigan.

Steele, then of Celandine Close, Billericay, found out the pair were responsible and, it was claimed in court, decided to take revenge with his pals Smith and Wayne Perrey, then 44.

The trio drove to the Turner’s home where John Turner, his parents Douglas and Linda and Patrick Flanigan were inside.

Barrister John Caudle, prosecuting at the time, told the court Mrs Turner went outside to speak to the three men.

It is then that Smith pulled out the double-barrelled shotgun. He tried to shoot Mrs Turner, but the gun failed to go off.

He reloaded the gun as Mrs Turner fled and fired twice.

The shot struck Douglas Turner, blowing off three of his fingers and injuring him in the arm and stomach.

Steele and Perrey, formerly of Brackendale Avenue, Billericay, then helped Smith flee the scene.

He then went on the run and is believed to have spent time in northern Cyprus and Portugal, before settling in Spain.

Perry and Steele were both sentenced to four-and-a-half months for their part in the crime.