Lester Divers Sheffield: 20 years since dramatic scenes unfolded after trial over notorious murder

It is 20 years ago this year that a 'ring of steel' encircled Sheffield Crown Court as two men were tried following the execution of Lester Divers.

And the security got even tighter when those found guilty were sentenced.

Armed police surrounded Sheffield Crown Court as Michael Ullah, then 47, and Kevin Smith, 42, were sent down for their involvement in the 'well planned and cold blooded' killing.

Ullah had already admitted murder, and Smith was found guilty of driving the getaway car used by the gunman who fired at his victim with a sawn-off shotgun.

But Craig Allen, 39, who was accused of organising the killing, was found not guilty - and there were dramatic scenes as jurors returned their verdicts in July 2003.

Spectators in the full public gallery jumped to their feet and began shouting abuse at Smith and Allen.

Police officers guarding the courtroom and trying to block off the main door had to grapple with intruders who attempted to get down the stairs and into the chamber.

One man was prevented from getting any further after managing to open the courtroom doors - and proceedings were suspended for 10 minutes while order was restored.

Ullah and Smith were eventually sentenced to life imprisonment, with a minimum term later set down by the Lord Chief Justice of 16 years for Ullah.

Lester Divers, a music promoter and charismatic character well known around Sheffield, was shot in the head on New Year's Day, 2003, in a gangland style execution.

He had just left his girlfriend's home on Freedom Road in Walkley when he was assassinated as he sat in his Lexus car. Neighbours were alerted by the blaring of his car horn as he slumped forwards in the driver's seat.

The 32-year-old was originally from the Burngreave and Pitsmoor areas of Sheffield, and was a popular and well known music promoter and Blades fan.

But Sheffield Crown Court heard there was a sinister side to Mr Divers' life. It was said he was part of a gang responsible for a series of sickening crimes against other dealers of hard drugs, and his murder was the consequence of a turf war between rival drugs gangs.

Ullah, it was said, opened fire because he feared his own life was in danger. His barrister told the court that three men - among them Divers - had tried to kidnap, torture and kill Ullah to get information about a rival Sheffield drugs dealer he was working for.

And what of Craig Allen, the accused who was acquitted?

He is in jail today too - convicted nine years later, by then aged 50, of running an international drug dealing ring from a mansion in Thailand that he shared with his Thai wife and child.

Dubbed the 'ginger ninja' and 'little fella', he was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 2014 after being arrested outside Ikea in Amsterdam.

Armed police found three kilos of cocaine, a kilo of heroin, nearly half a million Euros and a cash counting machine in his Dutch flat.

Allen was caught after South Yorkshire Police linked five Class A drugs operations to him through evidence found on mobile phones. They discovered that, in each case, Allen was at the helm, directing the delivery of drugs and the exchange of cash in the UK from his pile in Thailand.