Drugs lord jailed for ordering gun murder

A crime boss who ordered a hitman to kill an innocent schoolteacher in the Netherlands has been jailed for life.

Nottinghamshire-born Robert Dawes arranged for Gerard Meesters, 52, to be shot dead at his home in Groningen in 2002 over suspicions his estranged sister had hidden money or drugs.

Dawes, a petty criminal who became an "international drugs kingpin", was described by the Public Prosecution Service (OM) North Netherlands as the "intellectual mastermind" behind the killing.

Dawes, also 52, was sentenced on Friday after prosecutors demanded a life sentence, following his conviction for "inciting the murder" in November.

Mr Meesters had no connection to the criminal organisation led by Dawes, according to the OM, and he was killed "solely to instil fear in others, a fact apparent from the case file," it added.

"The suspect allegedly led a criminal organisation involved in drug trafficking, of which the gunman was a member," said the OM.

Former Dawes foot soldier Daniel Sowerby was jailed for life in the Netherlands in 2006 for shooting Mr Meesters - but prosecutors suspected Dawes had ordered the killing - and the investigation reopened in 2017.

The countdown to the murder on 28 November 2002 began four days earlier when five men showed up at Mr Meesters' door and made it "unmistakably clear" that he must call a Spanish number to report his sister's whereabouts, said the OM.

The gang threatened to return if he did not comply - and he followed their orders and called the number despite having no idea where his sister was.

Mr Meesters went to police - suspecting the threat might relate to his sister's involvement in hiding money or drugs.

"Beyond that, he, like the police at the time, had no idea who these persons were," said the OM.

"A few days later, two men returned, and one of them shot him dead.

"Following thorough investigative work, this British individual was sentenced to life imprisonment in 2006.

"Most other individuals involved did not evade punishment either; sentences of up to eight years were eventually imposed."

At the time, there was also an investigation into who ordered the murder.

Despite various efforts, nothing came of it, which has "weighed heavily" on Mr Meesters' family, added the OM.

"It's fair to say that, without the relentless urging of Gerard Meesters' children, this case against the suspect likely would not have come to court," added the OM.

Dawes started as a small-time criminal in Sutton-in-Ashfield and was first convicted of a crime aged 11.

In June 2008, another court was told that Dawes was one of three "drugs generals" who had been at the head of a multi-million pound empire in Nottinghamshire.

He was jailed for 22 years after a trial in Paris in 2018 for trafficking 1.3 tonnes of cocaine into Europe.

Dawes operated at the "top international level", the drugs trial had heard, and British detectives had tipped off the French authorities about him.

His home in Benalmadena, Andalusia, was searched after the discovery of suitcases of cocaine on a flight to France, from Venezuela, in 2013.

He was arrested in Spain in 2015 and convicted in 2018 after a judge-only trial in Paris had heard he used corrupt officials in Venezuela and supplied several criminal gangs.

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