Essex Boys killer Michael Steele's release blocked

The Parole Board said Michael Steele, who is now in his 80s, had made progress in prison

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood is trying to stop the release of a killer convicted of carrying out the so-called Essex Boys gangland murders.

Michael Steele, 82, was given a life sentence in 1998 after drug dealers Craig Rolfe, Tony Tucker and Pat Tate were found shot dead in a Range Rover at Rettendon, near Chelmsford, three years earlier.

In February, the Parole Board announced Steele - who has never admitted the killings - could be freed.

But Mahmood has asked it to reconsider. Steele's release will now be blocked while the decision is reviewed.

Craig Rolfe, 26, Tony Tucker, 38, and Pat Tate, 37, were all shot in the head and found in a Range Rover near Chelmsford, Essex

The case became known as the Essex Boys killings, and has been the subject of countless TV dramas, films, documentaries and books, which examined its links to other high-profile homicides and the 1990s rave scene.

Mahmood wants Steele's release looked at again on the grounds that the Parole Board's decision was "legally irrational".

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "Our thoughts remain with the families of Tony Tucker, Pat Tate and Craig Rolfe.

"Public protection is our first priority.

"After careful consideration, the Lord Chancellor has asked the Parole Board to reconsider its decision to release Michael Steele from prison."

Three victims were found shot dead in the Range Rover on isolated farmland in 1995

Jack Whomes, who previously lived in Brockford, near Stowmarket, Suffolk, was also given a life sentence for the murders, but his prison term was reduced in 2018 and he was released in 2021.

Steele's trial in 1998 heard how the three victims were ambushed in a row about drugs on 6 December 1995.

Then aged 55, and from Great Bentley, near Colchester, he was found guilty of murder as well as conspiring to import drugs into the UK.

His minimum prison term was set at 23 years, which expired in 2019, but the Parole Board had been worried about his risk of reoffending.

A spokesperson for the Parole Board said an application for the reconsideration of Steele's release had been received from the justice secretary.

They added: "If the application is granted, the case will be sent for another parole review, which will be arranged as a priority."