Wanted Briton shot in Spain 'contract killings'

Police believe that a Briton shot dead in a Costa del Sol bar was the victim of a contract killing, it was revealed today.

Dan Smith, 26, from Billericay, Essex, was on the run from detectives in Britain for an attempted gangland murder.

Drinkers watched in horror as he was gunned down in Mijas, near Malaga, in southern Spain on Saturday night.

According to reports, the killer was on the back of a motorbike driven by another man and fired several shots in the Lounge Bar, a British-run drinking spot.

Smith was shot three times in the face, and the gunman fired three other rounds which missed.

A regular told The Sun: "He kept firing at Dan even though he was on the ground. It was horrible."

Police in Britain had been seeking Smith over the shooting in 2007 of an Essex businessman, who survived but lost three fingers.

The Times reported that Smith was the third Briton to be murdered on the Costa del Sol in the last six weeks in what was thought to be a struggle between British gangs for control of the drug trade.