David "Noddy" Rice murder: Reward over fugitive Allan Foster

David "Noddy" Rice was shot nine times while in his car in South Shields

A reward of up to £5,000 has been offered for information leading to the gunman who "executed" a father of seven in a gangland killing 15 years ago.

David "Noddy" Rice, 42, was shot dead in a seafront car park at Marsden Grotto, South Shields, on 24 May 2006.

One man was jailed for murder but police are still hunting suspect Allan Foster, who is believed to be in Spain.

Speaking on the 15th anniversary of her twin brother's death, Shirley Rice said her family needed "closure".

She said: "It's just been heartbreaking, we are no further forward.

"It's just like life is not moving on, everything is just the same as far as I am concerned until I get some justice."

Mr Rice, who was a known criminal, was shot nine times after he was lured to the car park on the pretext of discussing a debt.

Corrupt detective

Mr Foster, now aged in his mid-40s, is one of the UK's most wanted criminals and is also suspected of drugs smuggling and theft.

Police previously referred to him as "the Mr Big behind the killing" and launched an international appeal to locate him in 2008.

The fugitive is also known to use the alias Shaun Michael Wilkinson and has links to the Canary Islands and Majorca, the National Crime Agency said.

In the months following the murder, a number of Mr Foster's associates were jailed, including a corrupt police detective who served as his "eyes and ears".

John Jones was jailed for five years in 2008 for misconduct in public office after he repeatedly accessed Northumbria Police's computer records to pass on intelligence to Mr Foster in return for cocaine and prostitutes.

Steven Betts admitted luring Mr Rice to his death but denied firing the gun and was sentenced to life in prison in 2007.

The driver of the getaway car, Derek Blackburn, was jailed for four years.

Police issued a previously unseen picture of Allan Foster, who is believed to have fled to Spain

Det Ch Insp Graeme Dodds, of Northumbria Police, said a team of detectives has continued to investigate Mr Rice's murder and the whereabouts of Mr Foster.

"Someone who knows Allan Foster may hold the key to allowing us to move this forward," he said.

"David Rice was executed in a horrific fashion but also David Rice was a son, he was a twin as well as a sibling, he was a father and a partner, and nobody deserves the death that he met."

A reward for information to find fugitive Allan Foster, who fled the UK in 2006, has been issued

Ms Rice, who spoke to her brother the afternoon he was killed, knew he had a criminal past but said he was a much-loved family man.

"It doesn't matter what you do in life, nobody deserves to be murdered and shot nine times, it's absolutely disgusting," she said.

"There's never going to be a closure until he [Foster] is found dead or brought to justice.

"My poor mother died just wanting him caught, she wanted an end to it and me and my brother are hoping that doesn't happen to us."

The reward for information has been offered by Crimestoppers, which operates in anonymity.