An ex-detective who helped to catch road rage killer Kenneth Noye has spoken out against the "lionisation" of infamous crooks in true crime shows."

Nick Biddiss, who worked for Kent Police for 30 years, says he's been horrified to see the recent celebrification of murderers he helped to put behind bars decades ago.

The now-retired detective superintendent, 78, has spoken of his shock at seeing people shaking hands with M25 murderer Kenneth Noye since his release from prison.

Having helped convict Noye of the senseless stabbing of 21-year-old victim Stephen Cameron in 1996, Mr Biddiss said the murderer's newfound fame on the back of a BBC series about the notorious Brinks-Mat heist, which Noye also played a role in, had made his blood boil.

The grandfather-of-five says he's seen first-hand the impact the "glorification" of criminals through TV shows can have on victims' families and is against crimes being glamorised on screen. "

"Murders are all horrific, callous... I've never found one that's nice," Mr Biddiss, who began working for Kent Police back in 1968, said. "

"I've been retired 27 years now, and I would suspect that most if not all murderers my team and I were responsible for getting convicted are out now. "

"I know of some pretty horrendous crimes I dealt with where the perpetrators are now out in the same areas [where they offended]. "

"I don't think these people should be out. They all play the system. "

"Kenneth Noye was a classic example. "

"He knew if he ticked all the boxes and behaved himself, he would come out after his 17-year tariff. "

"Now, he's out in the area where he killed Stephen Cameron."

Noye, now 78, played a pivotal role in the infamous Brinks-Mat heist of 1983.

The heist was one of Britain's biggest ever robberies in which a total of £26m worth of gold, diamonds and cash was stolen.

Two years later, undercover policeman DC John Fordham, 45, was stabbed to death at Noye's £2.5m mansion in Kent.

Noye was cleared of DC Fordham's killing at trial, having successfully argued that he had acted in self-defence - despite stabbing his victim ten times.

However, he was jailed for 14 years in 1986 for his role in the Brinks-Mat heist.

Noye was released after eight years, before killing Cameron in a road rage incident on the M25 in 1996.

He fled abroad after the attack but was later extradited from Spain and jailed for life, with a minimum term of 16 years, in 2000.

However, since his release in 2019, Noye has enjoyed renewed notoriety after being portrayed by actor Jack Lowden in the 2023 BBC series The Gold, which dramatises the Brinks-Mat robbery.

Mr Biddiss says he was shocked at how Noye was treated as a "mini-celebrity" near where he lives in Sevenoaks, Kent, after the series came out. "

"People like Noye wandering around the area where they took people's lives - that's what annoys me," he said. "

"These criminals are being lionised as mini celebrities and seem to enjoy it, but they're not celebrities - they're murderers. "

"[The Gold], in my view, glorified these criminals as if they were not too bad. "

"They were bloody criminals who ruled in southeast London by fear, intimidation and blackmail - much like the Krays."

"These crime programmes, people absolutely love them. "

"It's a mini-industry now. It's compelling viewing, but they are almost glamorising these people."

"I understand that Noyes now does his shopping opposite the churchyard where Stephen Cameron is buried."

"[The show] annoyed me and it still does. It lionises these individuals who are shaking hands and having selfies taken in the very areas where they committed their crimes."

In 2023, Mr Biddiss recalled being told that Noyes and some of his friends planned a £200-a-head gala dinner, at which he would be a guest speaker.

He explained: "Somebody told me Noyes and his mates were doing an 'evening with...' where you could ask questions and get a selfie with him. "

"I said, 'You are having a laugh'. It just goes to show the arrogance and hubris these people have. "

"He's a career criminal who left Stephen Cameron dying in the gutter and didn't give a damn."

Mr Biddiss, a dad of three whose son and daughter both also worked in the force, said the event was cancelled after he reported it to the parole board.

He warns against the celebration of serial killers, murderers and criminals - saying they should never be allowed to leave prison and use the fruits of their notoriety to benefit themselves.

"I got out today's TV viewing guide and, of course, there's always something on about some murder," Mr Biddiss continued. "

"The genie's out of the bottle. There are so many programmes and you won't stop it."

"[Noye] left [Cameron] to die in the gutter, disappeared and was eventually brought back from Spain and convicted of murder."

"That was in 2000. He was out in 2019. Should that happen? In my opinion, no. "

"I am all for rehabilitation, but there are some people who are career criminals and I don't think they should ever come out."

"As far as I'm concerned, if you are convicted of murder - premeditated killing - you should go to prison for life. "

"A 'life sentence' is about 15, 16 years inside. That isn't life. "

"Life imprisonment should mean life. They should only come out in a wooden box. "

"I am only interested in public safety. Are these people capable of living a normal life? "

"My view is no. These people will always be a danger. They feel empowered by their infamy. "

"People like the Soham murderer, Ian Huntley - he should never, ever come out. "

"What's the difference between him and Wayne Couzens? Why is it that he gets a whole life sentence and Ian Huntley doesn't? "

"If it means we have to build super-prisons, so be it."

In another of his previous cases - the rape and murder of 17-year-old schoolgirl Cara Hepworth in 1994 - Mr Biddiss said the girl's parents were 'beside themselves' that their daughter's murderer, Michael Allen, is now out free to roam the same area, having been given a life sentence in 1995.