Nottingham's Notorious Gang Leader Colin Gunn Campaigns About 'Incorrect Cost Of Stamps'

Notorious Gang Leader Campaigns About 'Incorrect Cost Of Stamps'

An underworld gang leader who built up a multi-million pound drug empire has been reduced to moaning about the cost of a stamp.

Colin Gunn jailed for life in 2006 for conspiracy to murder an innocent couple in their seaside bungalow to gain "revenge" on their son.

The violence, extortion and drug dealing built up as part of his criminal empire played a large part in Nottingham being given the dubious accolade of Britain's gun crime capital.

Violent criminal Colin Gunn has been reduced to complaining about stamps

However Gunn is now urging fellow prisoners at the maximum security Belmarsh Prison, in south east London, to complain that they have been overcharged for sending A4 size mail.

The prison has been treating all letters in A4 envelopes as packets and charging prisoners £2.70 for postage, regardless of its weight, he told the prisoners' newspaper Inside Time.

"I would like to inform all prisoners at Belmarsh that they have been overcharged by post room staff when sending out A4 size mail and above, using a cash disbursement form," he wrote.

"A large letter which includes A4 and above has four different weights starting at 0-100gm = 90p and ending at 501-700 gm = £2.30.

"Belmarsh have totally ignored these guidelines and have charged any A4 envelope as a 'packet' with a starting price of £2.70.

"When I raised this I was told I was wrong and an A4 letter is a packet! Unbelievable!

"They now concede I was in fact correct but what is worrying is how long this practice has been going on. Belmarsh were oblivious of their mistake.

"I suggest anyone with concerns should submit a Comp 1 (complaints form)."

Along with his letter, the former gangster even included a table showing fellow inmates exactly how much they should be paying for stamps.

Gunn's latest correspondence from behind bars comes after he announced he had won the right to be addressed as "Mr" by prison staff two years ago.

Gunn, from Nottingham, was jailed for at least 35 years in 2006 for conspiracy to murder John and Joan Stirland, who were found shot dead at their bungalow in the Lincolnshire village of Trusthorpe on August 8, 2004.

The shooting was a "revenge" attack after Mrs Stirland's son, Michael O'Brien, shot 22-year-old Marvyn Bradshaw dead outside a Nottingham pub in August 2003.

Gunn, who had persuaded police officers to provide him with information, and two other men were convicted of conspiring to murder the couple in 2006.

Born and bred on the Bestwood Estate, Gunn, with the help of his brother David, built up a powerful empire of drugs, extortion and violent crime that eventually spilled over the neighbourhood boundaries and resulted in some of the most high-profile crimes in the city's history.

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