A British lawyer who represented Albanian gangsters has been gunned down, provoking fears he was executed after losing several high- profile criminal cases.
Ravik Gurra, 50, was shot three times in the head by a hitman armed with a pistol fitted with a silencer as he sat outside a cafe with friends in the Albanian city of Elbasan.
The murder sent shockwaves through the leafy Hertfordshire town of Harpenden where Mr Gurra lived with his wife, Nina, and two teenage daughters.
Mr Gurra, who is understood to have previously worked as a Home Office interpreter, had represented several Albanian gangsters, including members of the Capja crime family, but had lost a number of cases.
In November he represented Emiljano Shullazi, who was found guilty of extortion and running a criminal organisation and sentenced to 14 years. There is no evidence Shullazi was involved in, or knew of, the attack on Mr Gurra.
An Albanian lawyer, who asked not to be named, told The Mail on Sunday: ‘The assassination of Ravik Gurra has made all criminal barristers take notice. We are not safe to represent the mafioso.
‘The criminal gangs operate across all borders. If they kill lawyers in Albania because they lose a case, they could kill them in places like Germany and England too.’
The murder took place in March but has only now been revealed. A stolen getaway car was later found burnt out but no arrests have since been made.
A source said that Albanian police have two theories about the killing – either that it was punishment for Mr Gurra losing cases or that it was carried out by rivals to the Capja gang.
‘It is a working theory that those behind his murder were angry about perceived legal failures,’ said the source, adding: ‘It’s well known that Ravik Gurra was close to the Capjas and connected members of the gang in Britain to those in Albania.
‘The Capjas are very difficult to get at, so it may be a rival clan murdered Mr Gurra to send a message and because he was an easier target.’
Albanian-born Mr Gurra moved to the UK in the 1990s where he settled with his solicitor wife and gained British citizenship. His neighbours last night described him as a friendly, family man.
One said: ‘He always came over for a chat and he would talk about the football.’