Murder to order 'job for insiders': For anyone thinking of hiring a contract killer, the professionals have a word of advice: Don't. Adam Sage reports

GANGSTERS in London and other major cities 'do their own work', according to John McVicar. 'The people who do it are either running the show or hangers-on, close to the middle,' he said.

Wealthy criminals, such as drug barons, consider it too dangerous to bring in outsiders, because it can greatly increase the chances of being caught. 'People who can mount this sort of thing are not idiots - they know the game,' Mr McVicar, a reformed criminal, said. He is scornful of stories about teams of highly paid, freelance hitmen roaming London in search of work. If such teams exist, they are at the 'bottom end of the market', he said, and are often convicted.

Recent court cases serve to emphasise his point. Last year, at least 12 trials arose out of attempts to hire a contract killer to murder a wife, husband or partner. In three of them, the defendant had ended up 'contracting' an undercover policeman to carry out the work. In others, the killer was soon caught.

Defendants, in their efforts to find a killer, often alerted large numbers of people of their intentions, which became known to the police. Typically, the accused would contact a friend with a criminal conviction.

In some cases, contract killers can be hired for as little as pounds 3,000. In others, the fee is nearer pounds 100,000, although a price of between pounds 10,000 and pounds 30,000 is most common. Last month, a woman was jailed for life for hiring a hitman to kill her husband. Her lover and the killer received similar sentences for their part in the plot, which was uncovered when police checked the woman's telephone records. She had made a call to the hitman, who confessed during police questioning. He had been paid pounds 5,500.