Man of Maltese descent jailed in Britain

A British citizen of Maltese descent and another man from London have been jailed for life in the UK for murdering a businessman who starred on TV giving tips on buying second-hand cars, after a massive international hunt.

Mercieca had been arrested in Malta in December 2000 and extradited the following month.

Detectives, releasing details of the case for the first time, said they had trawled the globe from the United States, across Europe, to Israel to trace the killers of businessman Mark Levy, dubbed a "wheeler-dealer" by police.

Father-of-four Levy, 43, who once fronted a comedy segment on "The Big Breakfast" called "Steals on Wheels", was murdered after being lured to an appointment by his killers in January 2000 on the pretence of buying Rolex watches at a knockdown price from businessman David Checkley.

Instead, Levy was confronted by his killers, Londoners Patrick Smith, 36, whom he owed £40,000 from a cigarette deal that went wrong, and Smith's best friend Mercieca.

Levy was bound, gagged, and thrown in the boot of a car, before being driven to secluded woodland just outside London. The jury was told he was shot and buried in a shallow grave. His car was driven to Dover and dumped to make it appear as if he had fled the country.

But coincidentally two of those involved in his kidnap and murder, prolific drug smuggler Smith, and his driver Arpit Patel, were under surveillance by the National Crime Squad (NCS) at the time as part of a probe into a million pound cannabis deal.

The day after the murder, and before it was known what had happened to Levy, the men were arrested and questioned by NCS officers. Patel confessed he had taken part in the kidnap, and told officers he suspected Smith had killed Levy.

While his accomplices were being held, Mercieca is thought to have returned to the scene of the crime, dug up Levy's remains and disposed of them. The body has never been found.

Hertfordshire Police, who said the investigation had been their largest, most complex and most expensive of all time, said the inquiry then took officers to Italy, the United States, Jamaica, Israel, Ireland, Switzerland and the Netherlands.

They learnt of the involvement of Mercieca and chased him across Europe from Ireland, to Greece, Turkey, Cyprus, France and finally to Malta.

He was detained while dining at a Marsascala restaurant with his partner and flown out on an RAF jet sent purposely to collect him.

During their trial at the Old Bailey, detectives said forensic and DNA evidence proved that packing tape and cable ties discovered in the boot of Smith's car had been used to bind Levy's hands and legs.

Smith and Mercieca, 32, were given life jail terms on May 30, while Checkley, who was found guilty of false imprisonment and later admitted conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm, was jailed for five years on June 14. Patel, who admitted kidnap and became the prosecution's key witness, will be sentenced later this month.

The judge had banned reporting of the cases until the conclusion of a separate trial involving members of Smith's drugs gang.