How Scotland Yard helped snitch who was gun suspect in PC murder case get soft sentence Calls for Cressida Dick to launch independent inquiry

support and co-operation of the MPS, and to account to us and the public as to whether there has been an institutional cover-up.”

Retired Met detective sergeant Steve Morris, who confirmed Lindop’s link to the Dunne murder weapons, echoed the family’s sentiments.

He said: “I find it repugnant that Lindop was never brought to justice for supplying the weapon that killed PC Dunne and Mr Danso.

“What message does this send to those risking all on the frontline of policing? The only way to resolve this very serious issue is to have a full independent public inquiry with teeth into the actions of the Metropolitan Police.”

Mr Morris said it “was an open secret” that Lindop was supplying guns but police “took no action”.

PC Dunne was a former maths teacher who had retrained just four years before he was shot dead.

As well as hearing Nelson laughing, witnesses reported seeing him firing shots into the air “in apparent triumph” after the killings.

The hitman – nicknamed Tyson after US boxing legend Mike because he shared his physique and notorious short fuse – was arrested weeks later. In November 1993, Richard Watts, 34, was charged with the two murders. Nelson and Anthony Francis, 28, were accused of conspiracy to murder Mr Danso.

The charges were dropped due to lack of evidence in February 1994 – though justice would eventually catch up with Nelson.

Around the same time a Browning semi-automatic and an Italian-made Tanfoglio self-loading pistol used in the attack were discovered in a Wandsworth cemetery, close to Nelson’s home. Detectives claimed they had received an anonymous tip-off from a woman and were guided to the stash by lipstick crosses on gravestones.

Separately, Finchley Flying Squad was working on Operation Carlagg – a probe into the guns.

Officers raided Lindop’s yard in Dagenham, East London, in March 1994. Lindop and his friend, former police driver Norman Fallows, later pleaded guilty at the Old Bailey to the possession of 10 illegal firearms.

But according to court documents the pair were caught with far more.

Fallows, 51, also feared a long sentence but was jailed for just 15 months despite possessing assault rifles, telescopic sights and silencers and 44 boxes of ammo. He also took

TIP-OFF