Leonard Naylor murder: Man guilty over driveway shooting

A man who fled to Spain following the fatal shooting of a drug dealer more than 16 years ago has been found guilty of conspiracy to murder.

Terence Barry, 44, was convicted by a jury at Blackfriars Crown Court of being behind Leonard Naylor's death.

Mr Naylor suffered multiple gunshot wounds when a masked man opened fire on the driveway of his home near Gravesend, Kent, in April 2001.

Three others were charged and released, following a cold case investigation.

On 18 April 2001, Mr Naylor drove home to Bracondale Avenue, Istead Rise, parked his car on the driveway and got out. A masked man approached him from a small van nearby, and shot him four times at close range.

The killer returned to the van, which was driven away by an accomplice. The vehicle was found burnt out nearby.

Barry, who used the last name Richardson at the time, moved to Spain shortly after the murder. It was when he returned to the UK in 2013 that the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate restarted their investigation and arrested him.

Det Insp Ivan Beasley said: "This has been a very difficult and complex investigation and I am pleased that the long hours and hard work put in by the cold case team has paid off with the conviction of Terence Barry.

"I am pleased for the family of Mr Naylor that Barry will now spend a considerable length of time in prison, having spent the last 16 years not knowing if anyone would ever be held responsible."

Barry is to be sentenced on Thursday.

Robert Blackwell, 52, from Plaistow, east London, and David Carvell, 52, from Colchester in Essex, were both found not guilty by the jury of the same charge, while the case against a fourth suspect was dismissed at an earlier hearing.