This case is being discussed on red for some reason. Its easy to work out.
Patrick Tate and Tony Tucker were planning or at least threatning to kill Steele (Patricks girlfriend testified this at trial). So Steele engineered a trap to lure them into Rettondon under false pretences then kill them.
Patrick, Tony and Rolfe suddenly liked Steele as he had promised them riches. We know this because Craig Rolfe was so exited about it he couldn't keep his mouth shut and told his girlfriend.
Here is what Craig Rolfe's girlfriend told the police BEFORE Darren Nichols was even thought of by the police.
"I understood that STEELE had been asked by a London based drugs firm to import 30 kilos of Charlie (Cocaine) and I believe that he was going to bring it in by plane from Holland. He had told Pat TATE that he was going to be given fifty thousand pounds as an up front payment to take to Holland and he was going to bring the Charlie back in company with a member of the London firm.
"The idea was that Pat TATE and Tony TUCKER would rob the firm of the Charlie when it arrived over here. STEELE had stated that he wanted to share it between them and had told the firm that he was going to land near to Clacton. Craig told me that STEELE was planning to actually land in South Essex but I never knew exactly where this was likely to be. Craig, Tony and Pat had previously obtained a machine gun from a man called Mad Mick BOWMAN and the details of this are subject of a previous statement."This is how Steele ended up on the police radar. Not Darren Nichols. Notice how Patricks GF fails to mention Wholmes and Nicholls. Thats because Steele would not mention their involment to Patrick because Wholmes part is to shoot them and Nicholls being the getaway driver. Once they focused on Steele, they then homed in on Nicholls as he worked for Steele's drug business and was the weakest link.
And so, Patrick Tate, Tony Tucker and Craig Rolfe drive to the middle of nowhere (along with the guy they had not so long ago threatened to kill) in the middle of the night to plan/rehurse the robbery of the aircraft. Did Steele tell them it was best to do this at night to familairise themselves for a night time assault on the aircraft or were Tate and Tucker just stupid and too exited about the money? I will let Craig Rolfe's girlfriend answer that question
"We were going out because they believed they were coming into money and they were going to have a pre-celebration. Craig phoned me at work in the afternoon and told me that Mickey STEELE had contacted Pat TATE and said that he wanted to meet with TATE and TUCKER to go and look at somewhere they could land a light aircraft."
When all is said and done and Nicholls pics up Wholmes and Steele after the shootings. Nicholls overhears two important details said between Wholmes and Steele in the car.
One being that Steele got worried when Patricks girlfriend (Sarah) called him on his mobile when he was in the range rover with Patrick. We know this phone call happened and we know that Steele would be worried since Steele and Patrick both told Sarah they had it in for eachother. Thus if Patick had told Sarah that Steele was with him in the car, she could have raised his suspicions.
The other import thing Nicholls overhears from them is that Patrick "squealed like a baby". This also corroborated by the crime scene. Tony Tuckers body was looking straight ahead with his hands in his lap while Craig Rofle was also looking straight ahead, feet still on the pedal. They had been killed more or less instantly. Patrick on the other hand was found in the corner leaning in a fetal like position with his hands covering his face. Hence he reacted and "squealed like a baby" and who wouldnt in that situation? So Wholmes and Steele revealed things to Nicholls that only the killers would know. Nicholls testimony matches what Craig Rolfe told his GF also.
This is what happened
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wv1z844XDgc&feature=youtu.be
Case closed.