EASTENDERS star Jessie Wallace enjoyed a VIP night out watching an Elvis tribute concert with notorious road rage killer Kenny Noye.
The actress, 52, partied at London’s O2 arena with the gangster, 76, who also once stabbed a cop to death.
Angry detectives hit out at Noye’s celebrity lifestyle after he was seen partying with EastEnders actress Jessie at the concert.
The 76-year-old, freed from jail in 2019 after murdering a motorist in a road rage row, enjoyed VIP hospitality in a corporate box alongside the 52-year-old, who plays Kat Slater.
The soap star was arrested last year for kneeing a policeman in the groin during a drunken night out.
One disgusted retired officer said: “You’ve got the police killer and the police batterer together in one box.”
READ MORE ON KENNETH NOYE
They were among £200-a-head guests as champagne flowed at London’s O2 arena as they watched the Royal Philharmonic Concert Orchestra perform Elvis tracks.
The unlikely pair are understood to have been introduced to each other at the event by a mutual pal.
A source said: “They were both in the corporate box living it up. Seeing Kat Slater swaying along to Elvis beside Kenny Noye was surreal to say the least — not to mention incredibly uncomfortable.”
It is believed to have been known before Tuesday night’s concert that the notorious criminal would be in the box — owned by City trading group OSTC.
A source added: “Boxes at the O2 have to be signed off in advance, and names and contact details given. People were aware who else was in attendance and Kenneth was gossiped about in advance — everyone was pretty stunned he was going.”
Noye fatally stabbed cop John Fordham, 43, in 1985, but was acquitted on grounds of self-defence. In 2000, he was jailed for life for murdering electrician Stephen Cameron, 21, during a road rage row in 1996 at Swanley, Kent.
However, he was freed on lifer’s licence in 2019, and is now believed to be developing properties and living in Kent.
Cameron’s fiancee Danielle Cable, who was 17 and at the scene when Noye murdered her husband-to-be, is still on witness protection.
Retired detective superintendent Nick Biddiss, who led the murder investigation, said: “He’s out and about enjoying his life. It doesn’t feel like justice to me.”
Former Flying Squad detective Barry Phillips added: “Families of Noye’s victims and police officers will be dismayed to learn he is living a celebrity lifestyle given his heinous crimes. Many colleagues believe Noye should have been convicted of John Fordham’s murder. If he had, he’d never have been out at the time he stabbed Stephen to death. It is galling to hear he’s out with celebrities.”
Noye, jailed in 1986 for his part in the Brink’s Mat bullion robbery, was controversially dramatised on screen earlier this year as a wisecracking wide boy in BBC serial The Gold.
Ex-detective chief inspector Mick Neville said: “Perhaps Jessie was treated to the chirpy cockney charm which the BBC portrayed him with.
“They showed him as more of a Del Boy type than a vicious knife-wielding killer. Ms Wallace would do well to stay away from a violent criminal who has brought nothing but misery to the world.”
Jessie, who has played gobby Kat Slater on the BBC soap on and off for 20 years, was a constable in her first TV role, in The Bill in 1999.
She has also had her share of run-ins with the police off-screen.
In June last year she was cautioned for kneeing an officer in the groin during a bust-up outside a club in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk.
Footage obtained by The Sun appeared to show Jessie assaulting him as he tried to calm her down.
She was hauled into a police van and later expressed her “deep regret”.
The BBC called her behaviour “unacceptable”. In 2003 she got a three-year road ban for drink-driving.
Last night a spokesman said she did not know Noye, adding: “If he was in the shared public box, it’s a genuine coincidence.”
Box owners OSTC declined to comment.
THIEVING AS A CHILD TO KILLING AS AN ADULT
By John Lucas
KENNETH Noye’s career as a criminal saw him rise from child bully to gangster and murderer.
He was first in trouble aged five, dipping into a till at Woolworths. He also ran a school protection racket.
Noye left at 15 and became a stolen goods fence who tipped off cops about rivals.
He gained infamy when he stabbed and killed DC John Fordham, who was keeping surveillance on Noye after the 1983 Brink’s-Mat bullion raid.
Noye was cleared of murder in 1985 but got 14 years’ jail in 1986 for conspiracy to handle the gold.
On May 19, 1996, he stabbed Stephen Cameron, 21, to death in a road rage attack on an M25 slip road.
Noye fled and was Britain’s most wanted man.
Police nailed him in 1998. Stephen’s girlfriend Danielle Cable travelled to Spain with them to identify Noye.
Noye, born in Bexleyheath, then Kent, got life for murder and was let out in 2019.
James Parker is a UK-based entertainment aficionado who delves into the glitz and glamour of the entertainment industry. From Hollywood to the West End, he offers readers an insider’s perspective on the world of movies, music, and pop culture.
