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Christopher Little

Age: 31

Sex: male

Date: 22 Jul 1994

Place: Stockport Road, Marple, Stockport

Christopher Little was shot in his black 500 SLE Mercedes sports car as he stopped at some traffic lights in Stockport Road outside a pub on the night of Friday 22 July 1994 at about 11.20pm.

He was shot twice in the head with a 12-bore double-barrelled shotgun and it was said that he had died instantly.

The police said that he had been shot in a carefully planned attack.

As he pulled up at the traffic lights a stolen white Ford Granada pulled up beside him and someone shot him through an open window. His Mercedes was an automatic and after he was shot he put his foot down on the accelerator and sped off but crashed into two vehicles including a Ford Escort van and a wall outside the Bowling Green pub about 125 yards further down the road.

Four people that had been in the van at the time were treated at the scene by paramedics and later taken to Stockport Infirmary, three of them suffering from whiplash and back and chest injuries and the fourth man suffering from a severe fracture of the thigh bone.

Christopher Little was a known gang member and was called, 'Devil Dog Mobster' because of the way that he used to terrorise his rivals with his rottweiler dogs. He had been a nightclub bouncer before he became what was described as a drugs baron and a racketeer and was also said to have been involved with intimidation. He was described in one newspaper report as a gangland drugs godfather.

A man was charged with his murder in 1999 and 2010 but cleared both times. The man was also charged with two other separate murders but also similarly cleared. At one of the murder trials the man was described as a man who had built a crime 'empire' using 'ruthless violence'. However, the man said that the police had had a vendetta against him.

Christopher Little was from Stockport and it was said that around the time of his murder he had described himself as a 'self-employed builder', but it was said that in reality he was a feared racketeer. It was said that one person that had betrayed him had been put in a room alone with Christopher Little's Rottweiler dog. He was also said to have provided 'security' at nightclubs around Stockport and was also suspected of organising a gun attack on another club that was using rival bouncers.

He was also said to have been behind fourteen arson attacks in Stockport in April 1994 that had targeted schools, shops and vehicles which was said to have been carried out as a show of force against the police and to send the message that Stockport belonged to him. It was reported that although no one was hurt, that the arson attacks were calculated to have caused over £1m worth of damage. It was said that he had arranged the attacks but had gone abroad shortly before.

He was also said to have been behind a number of threatening phone calls to local journalists and magistrates.

It was also said that he had assaulted the head of a door firm and that the man had sent some people to deal with him but that the police had become aware of the plan and intercepted the group and charged them all with conspiracy. However, it was said that Christopher Little had given evidence on their behalf in order to calm the situation down and reduce the heat against him.

It was said that shortly before his murder that he had been attempting to grow his drugs empire by expanding into Stretford.

Christopher Little was said to have owned a nice house in Stockport and after his death it was said that the sound of his dog barking could be heard coming from it.

His car was described as being worth £50,000.

On 20 September 1999 an associate of Christopher Little, David Barnshaw, was burned to death in the back of a black Ford Orion car on an industrial estate in Lower Bredbury, Stockport. The same man that was tried for Christopher Little’s murder was also tried for David Barnshaw’s murder but similarly acquitted. It was said that David Barnshaw had been murdered for attempting to set up his own independent drug dealing business  in Stockport.

Christopher Little was said to have started his career in crime by selling drugs at school to other pupils. He was then said to have started boxing, first as an amateur and then later turning professional under the guidance of a well-known promoter who was said to have had links with the 'Quality Street Gang'.

However, he later moved into running doormen and it was said that he organised a raid on a club in Manchester, attacking the doormen there and then fleeing just before the police arrived. However, they were later arrested and Christopher Little was convicted for his part in the raid and sentenced to 18 months.

It was said that after his release he continued with his career in violent crime and would deal harshly with anyone that crossed him, it being said that he had some of his associates throw a man off of a bridge over the M63 motorway resulting in the man spending ten weeks in a coma and it later being found that it was a case of mistaken identity. He was also said to have thrown another man out from a block of flats and to have filmed himself beating someone viciously so that he could show it to people to intimidate them.


*map pointers are rough estimates based on known location details as per Place field above.

see en.wikipedia.org

see Manchester Evening News

see Independent

see Warrington Guardian

see Case Mine

see Wolfie Wiseguy

see Aberdeen Evening Express - Saturday 23 July 1994

see Aberdeen Evening Express - Saturday 13 August 1994

see Aberdeen Press and Journal - Tuesday 26 July 1994

see Sunday Mirror - Sunday 24 July 1994