David Gunn has lifted the lid on how he and his brother Colin used to run the Bestwood area of Nottingham where "police didn't come". Gunn has urged people to stay away from a life of crime and avoid making the mistakes he did, while also sharing memories from his life which led to him spending around 20 years of his life in prison.
The brothers ran the Bestwood Cartel crime gang and are still extremely well-known across the city as well as the estate where they ran their empire. Gunn spoke to Shaun Attwood, another ex-prisoner who now runs his own true crime podcast, following his most recent release from prison. Colin remains incarcerated after being sentenced in 2006 to 35 years for conspiring to murder Joan and John Stirland in Trusthorpe, near Skegness.
David Gunn says that growing up he got "very handy" with his fists and used to fight other schools, then went into burglaries, robbing garages and eventually drugs, which is where the money was at the time. He added that his mum used to hit policemen with shoes when they came over to try and talk to her sons.
David Gunn urges people to 'keep away' from life of crime - read more here.
He told Mr Attwood: "There was us Bestwood lot - we were only 15, 16 - but you think you are the big man at that age. Then you were fighting Edwards Lane, Arnold, Bulwell, you just went round all different schools fighting them. That's how it was.
"We were prominent at 19 or 20, we were well known. I went back to work with the council and things were nice but you need more money than they can pay so you get people on your estate at the time selling drugs who are absolute [inaudible]. I said to our kid 'what are these lot doing?'"
He says after his release from prison at an early age, he noticed others were selling drugs on the estate and so the decision was made to return to criminality and tell existing dealers that they were no longer allowed to supply Bestwood with any drugs.
Gunn said: "We just took it off them and started doing it ourselves, that's how it's been. I'll talk about it because I've done the jail for it. You've got to fill the cupboards, by hook or by crook at that age, your family needs feeding. I had four children."
He continued: "We just told them you're not doing it anymore, we're doing it and you're off the scene. The only people who sell this stuff around her is our firm, this is our job and if anybody else does it there is going to be serious consequences. And, obviously, serious consequences happened. People got serious beatings and people were put in hospital."
Talking about his brother Colin, David said that his reputation preceded him as a fighter, earning him a nickname and meaning people often avoided any potential confrontation with him.
He said: "Colin used to be known as 'knuckles' because he's got massive hands and he used to snore them, he used to put them to sleep in one punch. No-one used to talk to Colin, when they had problems with Colin they used to come to me, 'Dave can you sort this out'. Because if you go to him he'd just pull a face and belt you.
"That's how he's always been. He's goof stuff, Colin man, but they've just gone to town this time and stitched him up.
Talking about one incident in a local bar, Gunn admitted to biting off one man's eyelids and lips, after he had drunkenly knocked into a table with his nine-year-old daughter on before "belting her in the eye". His family had been having a Sunday lunch at the time and, when Gunn was told about what happened over the phone, he headed straight there and scarred his victim for life. He was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison for the attack.
He also recalls a time one of his firm got thrown out of a New Year's Eve party and so he and others went round with baseball bats and "stoved him in". Speaking about the control they had in that area of the city at the peak of their powers, Gunn said his firm acted as a makeshift police force, using extremely violent measures to deliver justice.
"At the time, police didn't come on Bestwood," he said. "We policed Bestwood at the time. Police didn't come or park up or anything. We did it.
"If someone got burgled, they wouldn't phone the police, they'd phone me and Colin and our lads would find out who done it, get our people to tread on their heads or smash their hands in with hammers. That was the sort of thing that went off in those days. There was no joyriding on the estate because of the children, anyone who did had their legs done. Anybody who stole would have their hands done. That is what would happen.
"We weren't no mafia, just people looking after our own. If someone is burgling your neighbours, let's get the stuff and make them feel embarrassed and beat them. And they're not going to grass you because they'll grass on themselves. So we'd just put them to sleep."
Gunn had previously been given three and a half years in prison for killing a man with one punch outside Boots in Nottingham, after he says he allegedly tried to grope his wife shortly after they were married at the age of 19. Gunn admits he was "always locked up" with his most recent stint being eight and a half years for drug-related offences.
In 2006, he was found not guilty by jury relating to the murder of the Stirlands in a high-profile trial which went on for months. He told the podcast that his life had been "horrific but brilliant", but that he would not do it again.
Nottinghamshire Police statement in full
Assistant Chief Constable Rob Griffin, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “I’m really pleased to say the stories people will have heard in this podcast are almost 20 years old.
“Back then Nottingham did attract the unhelpful nickname ‘Shottingham’ but those days when Nottingham had a gun crime reputation are way behind us and are now in the distant past.
“Since then firearm discharges have massively reduced across Nottingham and Nottinghamshire and are now incredibly rare, while the number of illegally-held firearms we have proactively seized and taken off the streets has increased significantly.
“Nottingham and Nottinghamshire are really great and safe places to live and visit. The positive difference has been made due to all the hard work done by our officers over the years and also the work that we have done together with our partners to keep people safe.
“This includes our ongoing relentless work to manage and disrupt organised crime groups which has developed over the years. This work is really sophisticated and has helped us put local criminals firmly on the back foot as well as in prison.
“We have also implemented the Operation Reacher initiative which was actually piloted on the Bestwood Estate in 2018 and which saw very quick and significant results, involving officers proactively targeting local criminals as well as building stronger community relationships.
“This approach has been replicated across all of the neighbourhood policing areas within Nottingham and Nottinghamshire where the specialist teams have been seeing similar successes and where the activities of organised crime groups have been massively disrupted.”
In their first full year alone the Operation Reacher teams arrested or dealt with 2,026 suspects, seized £619,000 in suspected illicit cash, and made 874 different drug seizures.
They also took 423 weapons and 569 illegal cars off the streets, and also carried out 672 searches at the homes and hiding places of suspected offenders.
ACC Griffin added: “All of our success in combating organised crime groups is also reflected in our general reduction in crime and specifically in the type of crime that Mr Gunn talks about in the podcast.
“As a force we remain committed to keeping people safe and targeting those who cause most harm in our communities, to make life as uncomfortable as possible for criminals and to establish stronger, more trusting links with the public which I’m delighted to say we have been successful in achieving.”
You can listen to the entire podcast - which contains very strong language - by clicking here.
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