On October 24th, 2001, in broad daylight in Hastings, East Sussex, England, twenty-seven-year-old Jimmy Millen was gunned down in a calculated drive-by shooting while working on his car. The attack, carried out by two men on a black motorcycle, left Jimmy shot four times at close range. Despite his grave injuries, he crawled from Tile Barn Road to nearby Carpenter Drive, where passersby found him and called emergency services. He was rushed to Conquest Hospital but died from his wounds.
The killers, described as wearing black clothing with blacked-out visors, fled toward the Castleham industrial estate. Police immediately treated it as a carefully planned execution linked to the criminal underworld.
Jimmy Millen was born in Kirkby, Merseyside and had moved to Hastings seeking a fresh start. A former boxer, he worked as a doorman at a local venue near his home in Taylor Close. He was married with three young children and maintained ties to the local criminal scene, particularly drug-related activities. His family later described him as a loving father whose life had taken darker turns.
Jimmy was not a peripheral figure. He was directly involved in a violent criminal conspiracy that would ultimately claim his own life. His murder was widely believed by police and Jimmy’s own family to be an act of revenge tied to the earlier abduction and murder of Jason Martin-Smith, a twenty-eight-year-old man originally from the Kingston upon Thames/Camberley area who had relocated to Hastings around 1999.
In mid-2001, Martin-Smith, Jimmy Millen, Mark Searle, Frank Torpey, and Steve McNicol were involved in a burglary at Price Attack pawnbrokers in Farnborough, Hampshire. Martin-Smith, who had briefly worked at the store, provided keys and took a larger role under threat. The gang escaped with approximately £36,000, but Martin-Smith received only £25 (“petrol money”).
Martin-Smith was arrested on July 10th, 2001 after police searched his girlfriend’s home in Catsfield Close, Hastings. In a second police interview, he identified other gang members. A friend later recalled that Jimmy Millen had threatened Martin-Smith, believing he had “grassed them up.” Martin-Smith reportedly carried a gun and chisel for protection, telling an acquaintance the weapons were “not for you, it’s for Jimmy.”
On August 21st, 2001, Martin-Smith was spotted outside a friend’s house on Wilmington Road in Hastings. Steve McNicol reportedly made a phone call stating, “He’s outside… You’d better get here quick, he’s going.” Jimmy Millen and Mark Searle (along with others) confronted him. Martin-Smith was beaten, forced into the front passenger seat of a black car, and abducted. Witnesses heard Jimmy yelling “Jason.”
The following day, witnesses saw Jimmy, Searle, and a third man in a lock-up garage on Battle Road, Hastings. They heard the sound of an axe striking concrete and saw what appeared to be a torso on the floor; Searle had blood on his legs. Martin-Smith had been shot multiple times (possibly including the eye), strangled with wire, and dismembered. His body has never been found; parts may have been burned in a garden dustbin or buried.
During the investigation into Jimmy Millen’s October shooting, police received information that Martin-Smith had been murdered. Jimmy’s family revealed his direct involvement in the abduction and killing. Jimmy had even confessed details to his brother.
Police immediately linked the two cases. Jimmy Millen’s execution-style killing two months after Martin-Smith’s murder was widely viewed as retaliation by associates or members of the same criminal circle. Jimmy’s family publicly named individuals they believed responsible and criticized what they saw as insufficient police action early on, citing his criminal record.
Sussex Police launched a major inquiry (Operation Darnel). A £10,000 reward was offered for information leading to conviction. Sketches of the motorcycle suspects were released. Despite extensive house-to-house inquiries and forensic work, no breakthrough came in the immediate months.
Searches continued over the years, including a 2012 dive at Clive Vale fishing lakes for the murder weapon (nothing found) and a major 2023 woodland search near Marley Lane, Battle, for Martin-Smith’s remains, which was also fruitless.
In February 2015, following an internal review, Sussex Police arrested four men in connection with both murders, including Mark Searle and Steve McNicol. At Lewes Crown Court in 2015, Mark Searle was convicted of the murder of Jason Martin-Smith, conspiracy to kidnap, and perverting the course of justice. He received a life sentence with a minimum term of twenty-nine years. Steve McNicol was convicted of conspiracy to kidnap and sentenced to four-and-a-half years (the murder charge against him was discontinued). Frank Torpey, another participant in the original robbery and revenge plot, had died before proceedings.
No one, however, has been convicted of Jimmy Millen’s murder. The 2015 arrests included suspicion of conspiracy to murder him, but as of 2026, the case remains open and unsolved, and the original reward still stands.
Crime Immemorial 