ESSEX Boys films are two-apenny in the gangster genre, with somewhere in the region of seven films having been made about the ill-fated drugs gang.

Some of the most well-known include Essex Boys, starring Sean Bean, Rise of the Footsoldier and Bonded by Blood – all of which centre on the Rettendon Range Rover murders of 1995, in which the original Essex Boys drugs gang was shot dead down a small farm track.

Bernie O’Mahoney was one of the members who survived, having got out early, and his since written books about the gang.

His new book, Essex Boys: the New Generation, focuses on the murder of Dean Boshell at the Manchester Road allotments in Leigh in 2001 and is the basis on new film Bonded by Blood 2.

But for Dean’s mum, Beverley, 57, who lives in a small cul-desac in Basildon, the film is yet another reminder of her son's death.

She said: “I still think about my son and I still get upset a lot over him. It’s something which still hangs over our family and none of us see why people should still be going on about it.

“It’s happened, someone’s been killed and someone else has been locked up, is how we see it, but I suppose it’s because it’s got a lot to do with the Essex Boys and that’s been going on for years.”

Mr O’Mahoney told the Echo last week he believed Ricky Percival – who was jailed for Dean’s murder in 2006 after original defendant Damon Alvin turned crown witness against him – was innocent and said he hoped the film would “give oxygen”

to his persistent denial of the crime.

But Beverley said she was convinced of Percival’s guilt and said she was angered by what she saw as money being made from her son’s murder.

She said: “They’re cashing in on my son’s death and it seems to me that, as long as they get their money, they don’t care.

“They don’t care whether they tell the truth or not, so long as it tells a good story that’s buttered up how they want, they’re happy – and it worries me what films like that encourage because you get people thinking ‘that could have been me.’”

Dean was shot in the head three times in a gangland-style killing. Damon Alvin, formerly of Rushbottom Lane, Benfleet, was arrested three times on suspicion of murder and eventually charged.

However, he was cleared when he agreed to give evidence implicating Ricky Percival.

Beverley says she was never under any illusions that Dean was an angel – as his numerous prison stints attested – but says that doesn’t lessen the pain of losing her son in such a horrific way.

She added: “I’ve never hid the fact Dean had been a little git with his thieving and he even used to nick his brother’s stuff.

“But I do miss my visits from him.”

The new film will star Danny Dyer’s daughter Dani and former EastEnders heartthrob, Sam Strike.

 

Mr O'Mahoney wrote the following response to this article;

"I was rather surprised to read that Mrs Boshell has condemned people for allegedly cashing in on her son’s death.

"I wrote Essex Boys the New Generation which is a book that details events surrounding Dean Boshells murder. I sold the rights to that book so the film Bonded by Blood 2 could be made.

"I want it made because it will give the case much needed oxygen. I say I am surprised by Mrs Boshell's reaction because she assisted me in writing the book and in return I paid for a memorial stone to be erected for her son.

"Mrs Boshell is not the only person to suffer loss in this case. The Percivals have lost their son to what they claim, and I believe, is a gross miscarriage of justice.

"Legal history was made when Damon Alvin halted his trial for the murder of Dean Boshell to claim his friend Ricky Percival was in fact guilty.

"Alvin then became the prosecution’s star witness and his word alone sent a young man to prison for a minimum of 26 years.

"Surely Mrs Boshell wants to know the truth about her son’s murder? Locking the story away will prevent that and prolong the misery of the Percivals.

"This story will not go away until the truth, whatever that may be, is out.

"The film has already spawned a documentary, Faces of the Underworld, about the case which will be shown later this year.

"I am hoping that there will be many more until justice is seen to be done because justice delayed is justice denied."