British investigator was blown up in car bomb by Aden crime gang who feared he would expose their Somali pirate ship fraud scam

A British marine expert blown up in a car bomb attack was murdered by a fraud gang who had claimed Somali pirates attacked their ship, an inquest heard yesterday. David Mockett, 65, was working for a shipping company when he died in a car bomb explosion in Yemen almost a year ago. His death was ordered by a gang running a scam making fraudulent insurance claims for ships apparently attacked by Somali pirates, the hearing was told. Mr Mockett had stood up to the 'bully boy' gang but was later killed because of his investigation into their tanker, it was claimed. The inquest in Plymouth, Devon, heard that he had survived another attempt on his life in 2001, which was believed to have been linked to his work. The father-of-two, who was employed as a marine shipping surveyor and consultant, had grave doubts about one insurance claim. The hearing was told that Mr Mockett doubted that an oil tanker, the Brillante Virtuoso, had come under attack from Somali pirates armed with guns and grenades. Mr Mockett's widow, Cynthia, 66, told the inquest that part of her husband's work was assessing insurance claims submitted by owners and agents. 'The last job David did before his death was to survey a ship called the Brillante Virtuoso, an oil tanker which had allegedly been attacked by Somalian pirates,' she said in a written statement. 'The ship was anchored about 20 miles off the Yemen coast to the south of Aden. 'In an email David sent to the agent of the ship, which he sent a copy to me with photographs, David states he could not find evidence of bullet holes or from explosions from grenades.

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