Dave Courtney: Ex-gangster struggled with cancer diagnosis, court hears

The actor and author was found dead at his home last month

London gangster-turned-author Dave Courtney recorded a video which seemed to refer to a suicide attempt following a cancer diagnosis, a court has heard.

The video, made in July, also mentioned the pain he suffered from arthritis.

The 64-year-old, who was an associate of the Kray twins, was found dead at his home in Plumstead on 22 October.

At Southwark Coroner's Court, coroner Dr Julian Morris said the circumstances of his death reached the threshold to open an inquest.

Det Sgt James Robinson, attached to Lewisham Police Station, told the court that two of Mr Courtney's friends were at the address when his body was discovered.

Both told police they had gone with Mr Courtney to watch Charlton Athletic win 4-0 against Reading the day before.

"Both stated... David seemed quite happy and chirpy. They went to the pub on the way home," Det Sgt Robinson said.

"They spent the evening at Chestnut Rise as they quite often did talking, drinking. They left and went to bed at some point in the evening, approximately 10pm, and they both saw Dave go into his bedroom."

One of the two friends told police he woke at about 03:30 BST to use the bathroom and heard Mr Courtney on the phone but "thought nothing of it", the court was told.

Det Sgt Robinson said Mr Courtney apparently "would quite often spend a lot of the night on the phone to various people".

Courtney dubbed his home Camelot Castle

The next morning the same friend went into the former gangster's bedroom and "found him slumped on the bed, apparently dead".

The court heard they then called various family members to let them have "some last few minutes" with Mr Courtney before calling police.

Det Sgt Robinson said that attending officers initially thought the circumstances were "not suspicious but unexplained", and required investigation.

As part of their work police obtained Mr Courtney's phone and found eight videos created in the early hours of 22 October, with each "appearing to say goodbye to a different family member", the court heard.

Following his death, Mr Courtney's family had paid tribute to his "incredible, colourful, rock 'n' roll life", but 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."

The date of the inquest will be fixed at a later date once police have completed their investigation.

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