How a cold-blooded Sutton murder remains unsolved nearly 25 years later
It’s nearly a quarter of a century ago now that an act of pure evil wrecked the lives of a Sutton family and sent shockwaves through the whole community.
Businessman David Draycott (40) was killed on the driveway of his Woodlands Way home on 7 October 2002 in a brutal crime which is still to be solved.
David, who police believe had connections to the criminal world, had just arrived home when he was shot and sadly died four days later in King's Mill Hospital.
Police believe his killer may have been a professional hitman hired to assassinate the father-of-two.
Following the horrifying murder David’s grieving widow Andrea spoke of the devastating impact the killing had had upon her and her family.
"No child's last memory of their father should be of him being wheeled into an ambulance riddled with bullets," she told the BBC during an appeal for witnesses at the time.
"This mindless act of pure evil has sent our lives into an emotional turmoil, to which we feel we need answers as to why."
A 25 person police investigation team was immediately mobilised to look into David’s background and anything that could point to the shooter of the former business director.
Witnesses reported seeing two white men in a small Peugeot vehicle parked outside Mr Draycott's home for around two hours before the killing.
It all pointed to the cold-bloodied killing being a calculated and pre-planned act.
"This was a premeditated killing, we have no doubt that Mr Draycott was the sole target," said Detective Superintendent Ash Parfremen, the lead investigator at the time.
"The reason behind this killing is from his past and from his background in general.
"We believe that local people who may not be directly involved will know something about his background and about who may have carried out this killing."
But, despite an extensive police investigation and media appeals, no leads cropped up as the case went cold.
Five years after David’s death Mrs Draycott again spoke to the media in a desperate bid to get her husband’s murderer brought to justice, in an appeal that also included a £30,000 reward for information leading to a conviction.
"There isn't a day that goes by that we do not think or talk about him. We all miss him terribly," she said. "He didn't deserve to die the way he did."
Police revealed they were re-examining the case using a detailed computer reconstruction of the murder scene in 2010.
Det Ch Insp Kate Meynell, lead investigator in April of that year, said she hoped advances in forensic science would help them find his killer.
“No matter how long it takes, Nottinghamshire Police will not rest until it brings murderers to justice, and David's brutal murder is no different," she said.
It led to the arrest in April 2010 of two men aged - 22 and 33 - who became the first people to be arrested in connection with the killing. The pair were eventually released.
Further arrests followed later that year when a 36 year-old man from Sherwood, Nottingham, was arrested on 14 December on suspicion of murder. He was released on bail and returned to prison pending further inquiries.
It came just five days after a 54-year-old man was also arrested at HMP Whitemoor on 9 December before being questioned and released.
The case remains unsolved.
Related content