Ethsham Ul Haq Ghafoor

Ethsham Ul Haq Ghafoor was shot dead in his taxi near some playing fields by Lambley Lane in Gedling, Nottinghamshire.

Eight people were arrested following his murder, but no one was charged.

He had been shot twice at close range, once in the head, whilst sat in his Ford Sierra taxi. When he was found, he had his hands tied and bound to the steering wheel.

His murder was described by the police as an execution.

He had earlier sent a letter to the police asking for police protection and it was thought that his shooting was a targeted attack. The police said that they thought that he was being targeted before he was shot in the early hours of 22 November 1994.

A timeline of his movements around the time of his murder was built up from midnight 21 November into the early hours of 22 November 1994 when he was shot at about 3.30am.

• 12.15am: Ethsham Ghafoor had bought petrol from the Hilltop Service Station in Mapperley Plains and either shortly before or after he bought water from another petrol station in Huntingdon Street.
• 2am: Ethsham Ghafoor was seen driving along Colwick Loop Road.
• 2.40am: Ethsham Ghafoor was seen by another taxi-driver in Carlton Square with three Asian passengers.
• 3am to 3.30am: Ethsham Ghafoor's taxi was seen parked up in Lambley Lane car park.
• 3.30am: A shot was heard fired.
• 4.30am: Ethsham Ghafoor was found dead in his taxi by a milkman.

The gun used to kill him was never found but it was thought to have been a semi-automatic handgun.

It was heard that Ethsham Ghafoor would often use the parking area by the playing fields off Lambley Lane to have a rest.

Ethsham Ghafoor had also been assaulted a few weeks before his murder.

The police said, 'Ethsham Ghafoor was targeted. Somebody hunted him down and they have shot him in such a way that they absolutely intended to kill him. He was having some disputes at the time of his death, he was probably being followed, but do we have someone specific in mind? No we don't. So we want to know, why was he shot? We want to hear from people who perhaps saw him on the night, saw his car parked. But, in addition to that, people who might have heard, credibly, what happened'.

However, the police said that whilst Ethsham Ghafoor had some financial and personal problems, they did not think that there was any obvious motive for his murder.

During an appeal in 2024 the police noted that Ethsham Ghafoor had probably been associating with members of the criminal fraternity.

An Assistant Chief Constable said:

During the investigation, police received two letters and a card.

An extract from the first letter read: 'I am currently on the move because I have been threaten by his people. I require police protection and NO publicity. You will be notified as soon as he is arrested'. The letter had been written with a stencil.

An extract from the second letter started: Regarding the murder of the taxi driver found near Gedling Pit. I wrote telling you what I heard about it some time ago', but the police did not released the rest. This letter was written in block capital handwriting.

The card was a greeting card featuring the television animated characters Wallace and Gromit, but the content is not known.

It was said that the letters and card were all written in 1995.

It was later reported in 2012 that when Ethsham Ghafoor was buried, he was buried without his brain which upset his family. His brain was later discovered at the Queen's Medical Centre amongst human tissue retained from historical investigations. It was heard that his brain had been removed for analysis before the Human Tissues Act came into force in 2004 which tightened control of the use of human body parts during autopsies and investigations.

Ethsham Ghafoor was known to his friends and family as Shami and had been expecting a baby daughter at the time.

Two men were arrested on suspicion of his murder in 2014 but nothing more is known.

On 28 November 2024 it was reported that five people were arrested on suspicion of his murder. They were four men aged 51, 52, 57 and 64, and awoman aged 47. The arrests followed a fresh appeal and the offer of a £50,000 reward. The poice said they had recieved numerous calls from the public since making the new appeal.

A sixth person was arrested on 19 December 2024.

A home was searched in January 2025 for ammunition.