A national newspaper today claimed the two Rettendon killers were innocent of the bloody crimes and blamed an East End cartel.

Reporter Jo-Ann Goodwin, writing for the Daily Mail, believes the wrong men are languishing in jail, convicted of the brutal slaying of three drugs dealers down a country lane.

The bodies of Pat Tate, Tony Tucker and Craig Rolfe were found blasted to death inside a Range Rover by a farmer and his pal on a snowy morning in December 1995.

Michael Steele, of Great Bentley, Essex, and Jack Whomes of Brockford, Suffolk, were convicted of the killings and given three life sentences each in January last year.

The bulk of the prosecution evidence was provided by supergrass Darren Nicholls, who said he was the unwitting getaway driver for the pair.

He claimed the murders were prompted by a falling-out over a drugs deal and Steele decided the trio had to die after he heard Tate had made threats against him.

Nicholls has since been given a new identity by police.

Ms Goodwin's article points to the lack of forensic evidence against Whomes and Steele and highlights the claims of a man called Billy Jasper, who was called by the defence during the long-running trial.

Just over a month after the killings, Jasper made a statement to police that he drove the getaway car for the killer, who he said was based in Canning Town.

Ms Goodwin claimed underworld sources told her a well-known villain and a man she refers to as Suspect X, were involved in a drugs deal with the dead men and had heard they were going to be double-crossed.

She says the villain dropped Suspect X at a country lane in Rettendon on the evening of the murders and when he later heard about the deaths on the news he confronted X, who grinned and told him not to ask questions.

The villain died in a car crash in May 1998 and his former associates have apparently claimed he was murdered by friends of Tate and Tucker.

Both Whomes and Steele maintain their innocence.

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