George “G” Williams
During the 1990’s and early 2000’s, George “G” Williams carried out a murderous vendetta against Suge Knight and his Death Row Records.
Share Now:
Craig Rolfe, a name synonymous with the infamous ‘Essex Boys’ gang, remains an intriguing figure of mystery in the annals of British true crime. His life, marred by criminal activities and a violent end, paints a picture of the darker side of Essex’s underworld in the mid-1990s. This article delves into the life of Craig Rolfe, exploring his rise in the criminal world and his crucial role in the Essex Boys’ drug gang.
Craig Rolfe
1970
Essex, England
Essex Boys, a notorious drug-dealing gang
Driver, enforcer, and loyal member of the Essex Boys, involved in drug trafficking and violent enforcement activities.
December 6, 1995
Public Perception: Rolfe, along with Tate and Tucker, has been immortalized as a symbol of the violent and dangerous lifestyle of the Essex Boys gang.
Details about Craig Rolfe’s early life and family background are shrouded in obscurity, with little known about his upbringing or the circumstances that led him down the path of crime. However, what is clear is that Rolfe’s journey into the criminal underworld was both rapid and impactful. His name would soon become feared and respected in equal measure across the Essex criminal circuit.
Craig Rolfe’s notoriety in the criminal underworld is largely due to his involvement with the ‘Essex Boys‘ drug gang. This gang, known for its ruthless approach and control over the drug trade in Essex, saw Rolfe rise as a significant and important member of the gang. His activities were not limited to drug dealing; but included a range of criminal activities, earning him a reputation as a well-known figure in the Essex criminal underworld.
Born in London’s Holloway Prison, Rolfe’s criminal activities extended beyond the drug trade, and he became involved in various criminal acts that served to bolstered his reputation. While detailed records of his crimes are limited, it is known that his influence in Essex’s criminal underworld was substantial. His dealings often put him in the crosshairs of police attention, yet he always managed to evade significant legal repercussions for most of his criminal career.
While much of Craig Rolfe’s life was shrouded in the activities of the Essex Boys gang, there was another, more personal side to him. His relationship with Donna Jaggers, his long-term girlfriend, and their child, whom he left behind, reveals a different aspect of Rolfe. Donna Jaggers, who had been in a relationship with Rolfe for seven years, was the mother of his child, just six years old at the time of the murders. Her emotional response to the tragedy, breaking down in tears in front of journalists, highlighted the profound personal loss behind the publicized criminal facade
The current whereabouts of Donna Jaggers are unknown. In her statement to police, Jaggers detailed Rolfe’s involvement in drug dealing and weapons transactions, including the acquisition of a machine gun shortly before his death. After the murders, she discovered the gun in a holdall and eventually turned it over to authorities. Beyond her statement, little is publicly known about her life after the events surrounding the case.
Donna Jaggers police statement is available on social media. Here is the transcript below.
“08/02/96 – STATEMENT of DONNA LYNN JAGGERS
Statement 1
NAME: DONNA LYNN JAGGERS
AGE / DATE OF BIRTH: 26 27101969
I am the girlfriend of Craig ROLFE and have known him for fifteen years. We first met when I moved to Basildon with my parents. I started going out with Craig when I was 18 but that was quite a casual relationship.
In 000088, just after my 19th birthday, we started a serious relationship and soon after that I moved in with his parents at *** , Basildon. I fell pregnant and in 001289 I gave birth to our daughter Georgie. We had moved into a hostel and were then given 105 Spurriers, Laindon.
During this time Craig was working on building sites doing dry lining. We then moved to 21 Bardfield, Vange but I can not be sure of dates or when this was. In 000394 Craig bought 8 Calshot Avenue, Chafford Hundred, Grays. The house at Bardfield was in my name and I managed to swap this house through the council for my current address.
The neighbours at Bardfield were very nosey and I wanted to avoid problems due to the fact that I only went back there once a week to collect mail etc. I took my current address with a view to buying it and then renting it out. My reationship with Craig was strong.
He trusted me and told me most things that he was up to. In 000595 I had had enough of the drugs. He was using them himself and involved with them and dealing. I moved out of the Calshots address and went to my current address. After about three weeks Craig came back and told me that he was going to make an effort to kick his drug habit.
I knew instinctively that he meant this and we went away on holiday to the Norfolk Broads for a week. When we came back he had one lapse but stuck to it. Most weekends Craig used to go out and I knew that he took smaller amounts of cocaine and used ecstasy but not on the scale that he had been.
I was aware that Craig’s associates were Tony TUCKER and Patrick TATE. During the mid to end of 001195 I was aware that they had something going on which at this time I am not willing to discuss. Craig told me that he was going to pick up a machine gun with a silencer and ammunition for their business.
He told me that it was coming from a man I know as Mad Mick who comes from London. I do know that this person is Mick BOWMAN. I asked Craig how much the gun was going to cost and he told me that it was being borrowed and was going back to BOWMAN.
About a week after Tony’s birthday, which was 171100, I went with Craig and others, who I do not want to name, to Hollywoods nightclub in Romford. BOWMAN was supposed to have met us in the Global Net Cafe beforehand but he didn’t turn up. I then met him through Craig in the nightclub.
I recall thinking that he wasn’t what I had expected. Craig had told me stories about him. He was with a girl who I only know as Debbie. About a week after this, I can be no more precise than this, Craig told me that we were going to meet Mick at the Thurrock services to collect the gun.
I went with Craig in the blue Range Rover, F424NPE to the services and had something to eat in the Granada premises. I knew that we were supposed to meet BOWMAN about 1300 hours but he was about ten minutes late. Craig went outside and returned shortly and told me I was to go outside with them.
When I got outside I saw that BOWMAN was there with a white V.W. Corado car and there was another male with an old green Vauxhall Cavalier. BOWMAN was acting very paranoid and I took it that he was on cocaine and was acting hyper because of the situation with the gun.
I am aware how people behave when they have taken cocaine and that is how BOWMAN appeared to me. BOWMAN was trying to organise how they should drive off to a different location. Craig then suggested we should lead, the Cavalier should go in the middle and then BOWMAN at the end.
This only took a matter of minutes. Craig and I then got into the Range Rover and drove onto the A13 and travelled along to the Five Bells roundabout. We then came all the way round the Five Bells roundabout and Craig pulled up onto the Eastern Garages parking area.
The Cavalier parked behind us and BOWMAN parked the Coracle behind that. We all got out and I started to walk away to stay out of the way. I saw a blue/grey holdall come out of the boot of the Cavalier and go into the boot of the Range Rover.
The driver of the Cavalier was a small man about 5’6 tall, early twenties or early thirties, of thin build, he had short cropped hair and wore glasses. I did not hear him speak. I am unable to say who took the holdall out of the Cavalier but I believe Craig would probably have put it in the Range Rover because he was impatient like that.
Craig called me back to the car and I got into the front of the Range Rover. I recall BOWMAN got into the back of the car and told Craig that he wanted the Range Rover once Craig had finished with it. BOWMAN then got out of the car and Craig and I drove off and went to Patrick TATE’s bungalow in Gordon Road, Basildon.
Craig had told me that TATE had spoken with the garage proprietor at Eastern Garages a man called Barry DOORMAN, and told him that he had to buy BOWMAN’S Corado. I was aware that BOWMAN was going to stay behind at the garage and speak to DOORMAN about this.
I recall seeing the two men walking towards one another when I was in the Range Rover. When we arrived outside Pat’s house, Pat and Tony TUCKER were sitting in Anna WHITEHEAD’s (TUCKER’s girlfriend) Suzuki Vitara. I can not remember if Craig had spoken to them on his mobile phone prior to arriving at the house.
Tony and Pat got out of the Vitara and Craig took the holdall and gun from the boot and all three went into the house. Sarah SAUNDERS was at this time moving her stuff out of the house with the help of two friends. I didn’t want to get involved in what was potentially a difficult situation, so I stayed in the car.
Craig was in the house for about ten to fifteen minutes and then returned to the car with the holdall and gun. He put the items back in the boot and then drove to 108 Mill Green where the gun and holdall were put into the loft. On the way from Gordon Road Craig was saying how pleased they were with it and how much damage it could cause.
I did not see the gun at this time. A couple of days later Craig picked me up from work and told me that Tony, Pat and him had tested the gun. He stated that it was tested over at Tony’s Fobbing address in the field. He told me that he had cleaned it all and that he had put it back in the loft.
He told me that he had cleaned his fingerprints off the gun as I was concerned about this. The next thing that happened was that Craig, Tony and Pat were found shot dead. I had a lot of things on my mind but I realised the machine gun was a problem but I knew the Police didn’t know about the Mill Green address and I thought it was be safe to leave it here.
During the Christmas period of 000095 Craig’s brother moved my belongings from Chafford Hundred to the Mill Green address. First thing after New Year 000096 I moved into Mill Green. I had only been in the house for a couple of days when I decided that I was going to have to do something about the gun.
I spoke to Craig’s mum about it and she suggested that I took it round to her house. She was trying to get me to sort it out. I put the holdall on the dining room table and I opened the bag. Until this point I had not seen the gun. It was a dull silvery grey colour.
I only opened the top of the bag and did not see the silencer or ammunition, however I believed they were in there because Craig had told me. I was now in a position where I had to make a decision as to what I was going to do about it. I left the gun in the bag and left it with Craig’s mother.
A couple of days later I contacted D.I. FLORENCE who came to see me the next day. I only told him that I wanted to see him but didn’t tell him what it was about. About 1145 on Thursday 110196 D.I. FLORENCE came to see me at Mill Green and I told him about the gun at Craig’s mother’s house.
I then took Mr FLORENCE to 158 Beambridge, Basildon where I saw Craig’s mother. I asked her where she had put the holdall. I then went to the shower room which is on the ground floor and put the holdall on the dining table for Mr FLORENCE to see. He asked if any of us had touched it and he took it into his possession.
At this time this all I can say about the gun. Referring back to the V.W. Corado I am aware that from talking to Craig that the vehicle was purchased by Eastern Garages and I believe BOWMAN was given about seven thousand pounds. Craig told me that BOWMAN had payed about ten thousand pounds for it.”
A pivotal aspect of Craig Rolfe’s criminal life was his association with Tony Tucker and Pat Tate, fellow members of the Essex Boys gang. This trio formed a formidable and dangerous force in the underworld, with their names often mentioned together in hushed tones on the streets of Essex. Their partnership was not just professional but also deeply personal, bound by a shared ambition and a ruthless approach to their criminal enterprises.
He acted as a driver for his boss Tony Tucker, and was, according to his neighbours, a keen motorist who always had different cars on his drive as though he was a car dealer. “There were rumours that he was involved with stealing cars and selling drugs,” one said. “One time I saw the police literally dismantling a car on his drive.”
According to neighbours, they had little contact with Rolfe and his family, who seemed quite secretive. “They were rarely seen,” one resident said. It was through his addiction to drugs that Rolfe became acquainted with the other Essex Boys, who were heavily involved in dealing drugs.
The Rettendon murders, a term that intrigues anyone familiar with Essex’s criminal history, refer to the brutal killing of Craig Rolfe, Tony Tucker, and Pat Tate on December 6, 1995. This heinous crime occurred on a quiet country lane in Rettendon, marking a turning point in the history of organised crime in the area. The three men, well-known members of the Essex Boys gang, were found dead inside a Range Rover. The victims of a cold-blooded execution-style killing, each had been “blasted” by a shotgun at close range.
Sign up to see unblurred images
Detectives believe the killer fired off eight rounds, and left the spent cartridges where they fell, with no desire to retrieve them. The three shots were fired off in quick succession, hitting Rolfe first, then Tucker. It was surmised that before he could react, Tate was shot in the abdomen. The gunman then reloaded the shotgun, before shooting him twice in the head and for good measure then fired another shot each into the already dead Tucker and Rolfe.
Craig Rolfe had been taken by surprise, as both his hands were still on the steering wheel and his foot still pressed on the brake. There was a two-inch round entry wound behind his ear that exited out through his mouth, and blood seeped out of the car. Detective Superintendent Ivan Dibley who was leading the Rettendon murder investigation believed Tate was the target, the others were merely collateral damage.
The gruesome discovery of their bodies was made the following morning by local farmers, who found their blood spattered Range Rover. The sight of the lifeless victims, slumped inside the vehicle, sent shockwaves through the community and saw the start of one of the most extensive murder investigations in Essex’s history
A newpaper article covering Craig Rolfe made mentioned of the funeral “The funeral of drug baron Craig Rolfe, shot dead in a gangland ambush at Rettendon, was held yesterday. A cortege of 20 cars followed a horse-drawn carriage carrying the coffin from his mother’s house in Beambridge, Pitsea, to St Gabriel’s and on to the cemetery.”
“Mourners heard the Rev Laurie Blaney say words by Rolfe’s partner Donna Jaggers, 26, and his mother Lorraine. Rolfe, 26, of Chafford Hundred, was shot in a Range Rover on a remote track on December 6. The funerals of Patrick Tate, 37, of Gordon Road, Basildon, and Anthony Tucker, 38, of Fobbing – murdered with him – were taking place today.”
Several theories have surfaced regarding the motive behind these murders. Some suggest their deaths were related to the drug underworld in which they operated, others point to internal gang rivalries, and a few even link the killings to the death of Leah Betts, a young girl who died after taking an ecstasy tablet rumoured to have been supplied by the Essex Boys
The investigation into the Rettendon murders was both complex and extensive, involving numerous police resources. In January 1998, after more than two years of working the case, police arrested Jack Whomes and Michael Steele, who were later convicted for the three murders. This conviction was largely based on the testimony of police informant Darren Nicholls, who was a former associate of the accused
Operation Century, conducted by Essex Police with assistance from the Royal Ulster Constabulary Special Branch (RUC), was a high-stakes sting operation focused on the infamous Rettendon murders involving Craig Rolfe and two other members of the Essex Boys gang. Initiated in response to these brutal killings in December 1995, this operation sought to apply pressure on individuals suspected of having knowledge about the murders, in an effort to gather evidence and incriminate the culprits
The operation, however, was marred by controversies and questionable tactics. Essex Police, under the pretext of the renewed Irish Republican bombing campaign, including the 1996 Docklands bombing, employed intimidating and threatening strategies. Undercover officers made harassing phone calls to the suspects and their families, posing as Republican drug runners from Belfast. These calls involved foul language and threats, which in some cases, could be construed as death threats
One particularly affected individual was Donna Jaggers, the girlfriend of Craig Rolfe, who was misled to believe that these terror tactics were being employed by Belfast-based Republicans. She turned to Essex Police for assistance, unaware that the police themselves were behind these calls. The impact of these tactics on Jaggers and other victims, already grieving and distraught, was profound and deeply criticized
The methods used in Operation Century were eventually deemed illegal and counter-productive. During the trial for the Rettendon murders, tape recordings of the threatening police phone calls were presented in court, revealing the increasing threats as the operation unraveled. The suspects did not believe the undercover officers’ claims of Belfast Republicans funding Essex criminal activities, leading to the operation’s failure
This operation drew significant media attention and criticism, particularly for its senior officer, Detective Superintendent Ivan Dibley. Comparisons were made to a previous controversial undercover operation, “Operation Edzell”, which involved the Rachel Nickell murder case. The tactics used in Operation Century, like those in Edzell, were criticized for their ethical breaches and inefficacy
Read more about Operation Century and its aftermath
Explore the controversies and tactics of Operation Century
Operation Century remains a contentious chapter in the investigation of the Rettendon murders, illustrating the complexities and ethical challenges faced in high-profile criminal investigations. The operation’s tactics, though intended to solve a heinous crime, crossed legal and ethical boundaries, affecting the lives of those connected to the case and stirring debate within law enforcement and the public.
Whomes and Steele were sentenced to life imprisonment after a trial at the Old Bailey. However, the reliability of the evidence, particularly mobile phone records used to corroborate the informant’s testimony, was called into question. Over the next two decades, both men challenged their convictions, albeit unsuccessfully
In a significant development, Jack Whomes was released from prison on licence in January 2021 after serving 23 years. His sentence was reduced by two years in 2018 due to his exemplary conduct while incarcerated
Read more about the Rettendon Murders
Craig Rolfe’s legacy extends beyond his life and the infamous Rettendon murders. His story has inspired several crime dramas and documentaries, reflecting the enduring fascination with the Essex Boys’ saga. Films like “Essex Boys” (2000), “Rise of the Footsoldier” (2007), and “Bonded by Blood” (2010) draw inspiration from the events surrounding Rolfe and his associates. These portrayals have kept the memory of the Rettendon murders alive in popular culture, illustrating the ongoing interest in this dark chapter of Essex’s history
Craig Rolfe’s journey from an obscure figure in Essex to a central character in one of the most notorious crime stories in British history is both compelling and cautionary. His life, marked by criminal exploits and a tragic end, offers a glimpse into the complexities of the criminal underworld. The Rettendon murders, his involvement in the Essex Boys gang, and the impact on his family and community continue to fascinate and horrify in equal measure.
During the 1990’s and early 2000’s, George “G” Williams carried out a murderous vendetta against Suge Knight and his Death Row Records.
In March 2005, body parts were found in an Irish canal that would lead to the arrest and conviction of the infamous Scissor Sisters.
Antoine Leger, known as the Cannibal of Cerny, committed one of the most grotesque murders in 1800's France.
The Nancy Guthrie Kidnapping occurred on February 1, 2026, when the 84-year-old mother of US News anchor Savannah Guthrie vanished.
The unsolved murder of a Swedish prostitute has become known as the Atlas Vampire case, because the killer drank the victims blood.
As the lead singer of Welsh rock band the Lostprophets, Ian Watkins had legions of fans, but few could know he was a prolific child abuser.
Copyright © 2025 The True Crime Database. All Rights Reserved.