Robert Dawes: Jailed drug smuggler charged with gun murder
- Published
Robert Dawes is currently serving a prison sentence in France
A British drug smuggler has been charged with ordering the murder of a man in the Netherlands.
Robert Dawes, 49, from Nottinghamshire, was jailed for 22 years in 2018 for trafficking 1.3 tonnes of cocaine into Europe.
Prosecutors say he ordered the shooting of a 52-year-old teacher in 2002 over a relative's alleged drug debt.
Dawes is currently serving his sentence in a French prison.
His 2018 trial heard he started as a small-time criminal in Sutton-in-Ashfield and was first convicted of a crime aged 11.
A statement from prosecutors in the Netherlands said while the gunman involved in the murder of Gerard Meesters was jailed in 2005, the person behind the killing was unknown.
In 2018, a new investigation was launched and after Dawes was interviewed in France, he has been charged.
Follow BBC East Midlands on Facebook, external, Twitter, external, or Instagram, external. Send your story ideas to eastmidsnews@bbc.co.uk, external.