Officers were blocking off the road next to Dave Courtney’s home on Monday after the famous ex-gangster was found dead.
Police were pictured at a cordon near the house on Chestnut Rise, in Plumstead, south-east London, which was dubbed “Camelot Castle” by Courtney
The 64-year-old "tragically took his own life in the early hours of Sunday with a firearm”, according to a statement posted to his social media accounts.
The reformed criminal’s body was reportedly found by his friend and lodger.
His death came just hours after Courtney had spent the day watching his beloved Charlton beat Reading 4-0 with his friends.
A friend quoted by The Sun told how they had all “stayed up until 4am drinking” before they went to bed.
The source reportedly said the lodger made the grim discovery after he went to check on Courtney at around 11am, because his bedroom was “very quiet”.
A tribute on behalf of Courtney’s family has been posted on X, formally known as Twitter.
His loved ones wrote: “He had lived an incredible, colourful rock’n roll life in which he touched the hearts of so many."
They went to reference his struggle with the "physical pain of both cancer and arthritis in his later years".
Courtney was pronounced dead at the scene.
The death is currently being treated as unexpected and is under investigation by the Metropolitan Police. No arrests have been made.
Courtney has starred in gangster films The Dead Sleep Easy and Clubbing To Death.
He was jailed in the 80s for attacking five men with a meat cleaver, and has claimed he was the model for Vinnie Jones's character Big Chris in Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels.
Courtney often focused on his links with gangsters such as Reggie Kray and Lenny McLean and has claimed to have been shot, stabbed and had his nose bitten off as part of his dark past.
He also claimed to have been involved in debt-collecting, minding clubs, assault, contraband, and murder.
He wrote several books, including F**k the Ride, in which he claimed to have been found not guilty in 19 separate trials.
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