Dave Courtney wanted some of his estate to be distributed among charities he had a close personal connection to (Picture: Rex)
Dave Courtney will continue supporting causes close to his heart after his death — with some of his estate going to charity.
The gangster-turned-celebrity will provide the funds from beyond the grave as his final wishes are carried out.
A representative told Metro.co.uk that between 5% and 10% of his estate will go to charity once it has been settled, depending on how much some of his possessions sell for at an online auction.
The actor and author asked for some of the money — expected to be in the tens of thousands of pounds — to go to Autistic Inclusive Meets (AIM), where he had been a patron since 2020.
As a neurodivergent person himself, the cause was one he related to and he even held a disco in his home to raise funds for the charity, which is headquartered in his home borough of Plumstead, south-east London.
Gangster-turned-author Dave Courtney at the funeral of great train robber Bruce Reynolds in London (Picture: Andrew Cowie/AFP via Getty Images)
The representative told Metro.co.uk: ‘Dave had become very involved with charities and had a personal connection to AIM and to the people and aid workers in Ukraine who he met on several aid runs to the country.
‘In life, he always went out of his way to support people with less than him, and it’s the same now he is no longer with us.
‘Those that didn’t like him had never met him.
‘Dave also organised fundraisers himself, including for military charities he was involved with. He had a big heart and he was all about giving.’
The Bermondsey-born Charlton Athletic fan also left instructions for some of his estate to go to other charities he supported via a fundraiser being undertaken by his friend Sujan Katuwal.
Katuwal, who owns a Nepali restaurant in Lewisham, is taking on a 3,000-mile walk in support of Combat Stress, a charity for veterans with mental health conditions.
Dave Courtney pictured in Cannes on his Harley Davidson motorbike (Picture: PA)
He kicked off his challenge with Dame Joanna Lumley at the Nepalese embassy in west London on January 16, aiming to raise at least £250,000 by walking more than 10 miles every day for 200 days.
The prolific fundraiser will distribute 60% of the funds to Combat Stress and the rest among five other charities, including Charlton Athletic Community Trust and aid to Ukraine.
Courtney had taken part in a series of aid runs by road to provide essential humanitarian aid for displaced people in the war-torn country following Russia’s full-scale invasion a little over two years ago.
In conversation with film director Liam Galvin, Courtney told of being deeply affected by the plight of refugees he encountered on the road trips with long-term friend Brendan McGirr.
‘I genuinely feel for them,’ he said.
‘Everyone loves the underdog… and if I can do anything to help the underdog in any walk of life, way, shape or form I will do that.’
Courtney was found dead at his London home with a gunshot wound on October 22 last year. He was 64.
A statement on his Instagram account at the time said the former Kray associate had taken his own life.
His family said he had lived an ‘incredible, colourful, rock ‘n’ roll life in which he touched the hearts of so many’.
But his loved ones added that the physical pain of living with cancer and arthritis had become too much to bear.
Dave Courtney watches a game at Charlton Athletic in one of the final pictures of the reformed character on social media (Picture: Facebook)
Courtney’s final act brought the veil down on a rollercoaster life.
He claimed to have been shot, stabbed and had his nose bitten off during his time in the British underworld.
Courtney appeared as a gangster in a series of crime films including Six Bend Trap and The Dead Sleep Easy and was said to have been the inspiration for Vinnie Jones’ character, Big Chris, in Guy Ritchie’s gangster tale Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
He had written books including his autobiography, Stop The Ride, I Want To Get Off, and had been on his 10th work.
The representative did not disclose the expected amount to be donated to the charities. Shortly after his death, estimates of Courtney’s wealth were put at between £4.1 million and £24.7 million.
The auction is due to be launched online in the next few days.
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Do you have a story you would like to share? Contact josh.layton@metro.co.uk
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