David John Courtney was an English self-proclaimed gangster who became both an author and an actor.
What is Dave Courtney famous for?
He was jailed in the 80s for attacking five men with a meat cleaver and has claimed he was the model for Vinnie Jones’s character Big Chris in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Does Dave Courtney own Camelot Castle?
He claimed to have swapped his life of crime to become a recognized author and celebrity. Courtney, 64, lived in a home dubbed ‘Camelot Castle’ in a quiet South East London street.
It was a former school-turned-mansion and was decorated with golden lions and Union Jacks. There was also a statue of a sniper peering over the wall, a replica of King Arthur’s Sword in the Stone, and a bust of his own head.
Walking around the ‘castle’ you would also see a mural that shows Dave sitting on a throne in the form of a knuckle duster. Around him are Lenny McLean, Freddie Foreman, the Krays, Howard Marks, Al Capone, and Al Pacino.