The murder conviction of a hitman hired by notorious property tycoon Nicholas van Hoogstraten has been deemed potentially 'unsafe' and referred to the Court of Appeal.
A Case Under Review
Robert Knapp, now 78, was found guilty of murder and jailed for life with a minimum term of 20 years in 2002. He was convicted alongside David Croke for the killing of 62-year-old businessman Mohammed Raja in 1999.
However, the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) announced on Friday that Knapp's conviction may be unsafe. Their central concern is that the trial jury was not given the option to return an alternative verdict of manslaughter.
The CCRC stated: 'The concern is that if manslaughter is not left as an alternative, a jury may convict someone of murder because they are responsible for a death, when manslaughter might be more appropriate. That suggests a real possibility that the Court will find that manslaughter should have been left and since it was not, the conviction of murder is unsafe.'
A Brutal Killing and a Complex Legal Saga
Mohammed Raja was stabbed five times and shot in the face at point-blank range at his home in Sutton, Surrey, in July 1999. The attack happened in front of one of his grandsons. At the time, Mr Raja was engaged in legal action against van Hoogstraten, attempting to sue him for fraud.
The court heard that Knapp, from Abbeyfeale, County Limerick, contacted fellow ex-convict David Croke. The pair disguised themselves as gardeners to gain access to Mr Raja's home. It is believed Mr Raja, fearing for his safety, armed himself with a knife before answering the door.
Knapp remains in prison, having been refused parole in March 2025. His co-defendant, David Croke, was found dead in his cell at HMP Whitemoor in 2007.
The Notorious Figure at the Centre
The case has long been linked to the controversial figure of Nicholas van Hoogstraten, a slum landlord who once boasted a fortune estimated at £500 million. He was tried separately for Mr Raja's murder.
An Old Bailey jury initially cleared van Hoogstraten of murder but convicted him of manslaughter in 2002. That conviction was later overturned in a retrial where he was found not guilty. However, in a subsequent civil case in December 2005, the High Court found van Hoogstraten civilly responsible for the killing and ordered him to pay £6 million to Mr Raja's family.
Mr Justice Lightman ruled that, on the balance of probabilities, van Hoogstraten was involved in the death, stating he was satisfied 'the recruitment of two violent thugs with a shotgun' was for the purpose of murder. The court heard claims that van Hoogstraten, who now goes by Nicholas Adolf Von Hessen, was a psychopath who arranged an 'assassination'.
Sentencing Knapp and Croke in 2002, Mr Justice Newman described them as 'plainly very dangerous men indeed' with 'appalling' criminal records, motivated solely by greed.
