Dave King & Tony Tucker ran the door at a bar/club at the end of the road when I lived in Essex with MrsEY(Mk1).
Was called Bellini`s when we moved out, might have had a different name at the time but it was a long time ago.
Dave, who I knew better, was known locally as Rolex Dave - proper Essex/London lad - flash cars, watches, bundles of cash etc. Nice enough chap but you wouldn`t want to be on the wrong side of him or any of his friends. Most of them were pumped body builder types who consumed too much muck like steroids, coke etc.
When they all got together at Raquel`s in Basildon it was all private rooms and the like.
Rumour was that £500k (at the time) worth of gear had gone missing after an airdrop, and that the suppliers sent someone over to investigate and meet them, hence they had no concern about turning up for the meet.
Essex police ran an operation to find out what was going on, IIRC it was called Centurion or the like. From that rumours of IRA involvement were spawned.
I would agree that the convictions are very likely to be unsafe and the evidence, especially from the police and Nicholls is far from sound.
Ergo - the alleged perpetrators wouldn`t get the ultimate sanction.