Convicted ‘hitman’ who shared cell with Johnny Mercer moved jails after ‘fight’

A convicted “hitman” who shared a cell with Tory MP Johnny Mercer in the Channel 4 programme Banged Up, which simulated life in jail, had to be moved prisons due to a “fight” since he was recalled, it has emerged.

In February Express.co.uk exclusively revealed that Kevin Lane was recalled to prison that month for an unspecified “breach of his licence conditions”.

It was less than four months after he appeared in the series with Mr Mercer that simulated life in jail.

Mr Lane was released from jail after serving 20 years for the 1994 murder of Robert Magill.

He has always maintained his innocence and the case was the subject of a BBC Panorama documentary in 2015, the same year he was released and lost an appeal against his conviction at the Court of Appeal.

Mr Lane published the book Fitted up and Fighting Back in 2020, the same year he was returned to prison in connection with a common assault, and later released.

For the past 20 years Mr Lane, 56, has insisted that Roger Vincent and Dave Smith, both 52, were the hitmen who murdered Mr Magill.

Now, it has emerged that after being recalled earlier this year, Mr Lane was placed in the same prison as Vincent, despite their differences, and there was a fight in early July, which police are now investigating.

On the Facebook page of Fitted up and fighting back, which campaign’s for Mr Lane’s murder conviction to be overturned, it said at the time: “Kevin is in segregation there’s been an altercation today he’s fine but will be being shipped out again soon where? To follow once we know.”

Supporters of Mr Lane said on social media that the two should never have been placed in the same prison.

But, according to a Ministry of Justice (MOJ) source there had been no order in place to ensure they were in separate prisons despite their issues being known about and the claims to the contrary.

The source said: “This has now been put in place and they are no longer in the same prison.”

A Prison Service spokesperson said: “Violence is not tolerated in prisons and anyone found responsible will be punished.

“It would be inappropriate to comment further while the police are investigating.”

Mr Magill was shot dead in Hertfordshire in 1994.

Witnesses saw two masked men flee in a red BMW, which was later traced and one of Mr Lane’s palm prints was found on a bin-liner in the boot.

Yet among gangland circles, the the names of two men, Vincent and Smith, as being responsible were spoken of.

In 1995 Vincent and Mr Lane were charged with Magill’s murder. The first jury could not reach a verdict, but at the subsequent trial later the same year, Vincent was acquitted and Mr Lane was convicted of the murder.

Ten years into his murder conviction, in 2005, Vincent and Dave Smith were convicted of another gangland execution, that was remarkably similar to that of Mr Magill.

David King, 32, was hit by five bullets from an AK-47 assault rifle as he came out of a gym in Hoddesdon, Hertfordshire in October 2003.

In August 2005 Vincent was convicted of murder as the gunman and told he would serve a life sentence of at least 30 years after he was unanimously convicted at Luton crown court.

Smith was convicted of the murder as his driver and sentenced to a minimum of 25 years.

Vincent and Smith deny any involvement in the Magill murder and Mr Lane continues to try to clear his name and is still pursuing a further appeal with the Criminal Cases Review Commission.

It is not clear why Mr Lane was recalled to prison in February, but supporters have said online it resulted in no further action, but he was still not released before the fight with Vincent.

Mr Lane had been due to hold a meet and greet “true crime” event at the Cambridge Country Club on the Friday after he was recalled.

The planned show on Friday, An Evening with Kevin Lane, was to be an opportunity for true crime buffs to question him about his time in prison.

A report about the event was published by The Guardian on the relevant Monday morning.

He had also featured in a number of YouTube video interviews over the two weeks before his recall, including one with Tommy Robinson that was published on Sunday and another with YouTuber Shaun Attwood, who was due to host Friday’s event, on Monday.

During the videos he spoke about his past of kidnapping people as a “vigilante” and his regret in once case, where he took and severely hurt the wrong person.

Viewers of Banged Up last year saw a shocked Mr Mercer watch as Mr Lane showed him how to conceal contraband in prisons.