Corrupt officer fed data to Gunn

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A corrupt detective searched Nottinghamshire Police computers for intelligence about a couple killed in a gangland execution, an inquest heard.

John and Joan Stirland were killed in a revenge attack in Lincolnshire in 2004 after Mrs Stirland's son shot a friend of crime boss Colin Gunn.

The inquest heard former Dc Charles Fletcher was feeding Gunn information.

Jurors have been asked to consider if police corruption played any part in the deaths.

No witnesses

Fletcher pleaded guilty to corruption charges and was jailed for seven years at Birmingham Crown Court in 2006.

The inquest at Lincoln Crown Court heard Nottinghamshire Police checked their computer systems to find whether Gunn could have used police intelligence to trace the Stirlands.

There was no evidence of any searches of the Trusthorpe address where they were killed but just two days earlier Fletcher searched for intelligence about Gunn.

Fletcher also searched for intelligence about the Stirland's previous address in Nottingham after shots were fired through their front windows.

The inquest heard Fletcher was paid in designer suits after passing on information, destined for Gunn, to the manager of a Nottingham fashion store.

The Stirlands' bodies were found by police at their home at Trusthorpe, in Lincolnshire, in August 2004.

No forensic 'footprint'

Retired Det Supt Graham White, who led the Stirlands murder inquiry, told the inquest there were no witnesses to the shootings but a number of witnesses saw two people walking away and a large dark car parked outside.

He said: "We believe the door (of the house) was wide open as August 8 was a hot day. John Stirland was sitting on the settee watching TV. He had been shot six times.

"The evidence from the forensic scientists was that those shots had come from two guns.

"Joan's body was lying on the floor next to the bed. She had been shot on four occasions, again from both guns."

Mr White told the inquest the killers left no forensic "footprint" at the scene.

Coroner Karon Monaghan has also told the jury they must consider if police failed to properly protect the Stirlands.

Gunn has since been jailed for 35 years for conspiracy to murder the couple.

Co-defendants John Russell, 29, and Michael McNee, 22, were jailed for 30 and 25 years respectively, in 2006.