By . Chris Greenwood and Rebecca Camber . Last updated at 7:45 AM on 10th November 2011 . Born into a family of respected lawyers and academics, Rupert Ross had all the advantages his privileged background could provide. But the former public schoolboy turned his back on his fortunate past to embrace the underworld and become a gangster. Today he faces life in prison after being convicted with an accomplice of murdering a rival drug dealer in a daylight assassination at the gates of Britain’s largest prison. Convicted: Rupert Ross, left, and Leon St Aubin, right, have been found guilty of murdering Darcy Austin-Bruce . Senior detectives said Ross ‘lost sight of reality’ as he plunged into the violent depths of West London’s criminal underworld. His mother, who runs the Ad Hoc . boutique on Chelsea’s King’s Road where clients include Katie Price and . Megan Fox, has been left reeling by courtroom revelations about the . bloodthirsty killing. They included a diary in which Ross . said he ‘lived a fast life, hectic, lots of wars over drugs and money, . one or two shoot-outs’. His aunt, a prominent criminal QC who . offered a large cash surety to get him bail, had no idea of the scale of . his violent lifestyle. But his grandfather Herbert Lank, a retired Cambridge don and internationally respected art restorer, has cast him adrift. Darcy Austin-Bruce was shot five times outside Wandsworth prison in south London . Ross, 30, shouted ‘I love you Mum, be . strong’ to Diana Lank, 55, as he was led to the cells after being . convicted of murder at the Old Bailey. She was duped into storing a . bullet-proof vest at her £700,000 Fulham home that proved to be a vital . part of the case against her son. Forensic tests revealed it was covered . in gunshot residue with the same chemical composition of the bullets . used to kill 20-year-old Darcy Austin-Bruce. Police never recovered the stolen scooter, murder weapon or distinctive smart suits used by the killer and his accomplice. Ross dressed like a lawyer when he approached his victim outside Wandsworth Prison in south-west London in May 2009. He pulled out a handgun and fired five times at close range. Ross, who was also wearing a crash . helmet, then ran to a waiting moped ridden by 34-year-old fireman and . convicted drug dealer Leon De St Aubin. The two men sped away as Austin-Bruce, a former Fulham FC academy player, bled to death in the arms of prison medics. The Old Bailey heard the men had once been friends but had fallen out and the shooting was the culmination of a drugs feud. The assassins took revenge days after . Mr Austin-Bruce and another man fired a gun at a car in which they were . travelling. The opportunity for murder was set up by a prisoner who used . an illicit mobile phone to tip off Ross that Mr Austin-Bruce was due to . visit a man on his wing. Fatal shooting: Police at the scene of the shooting on May 1 2009 outside Wandswoth prison . A picture taken following the shooting. Leon De St Aubin and Rupert Ross dressed up as lawyers to gun down their former friend Darcy Austin-Bruce . Detectives later found notes that . Ross, a former pupil at £30,000-a-year Dulwich College, wrote as part of . his treatment during a stay at a luxury drug rehabilitation centre, . paid for by his family. He wrote: ‘I still want the gangster . life and end up dealing again. My dealing was making good money and I . was living a fast life. Life was very hectic. Lots of wars over drugs . and money one or two shoot-outs.’ Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC said: . ‘Here is Rupert Ross, out of his own pen, admitting being involved in . drug dealing – and not small scale cannabis supply but drugs of . sufficient importance to engender “lots of wars”.’ Gunman Ross was a one time pupil at the prestigious Dulwich College in south east London, pictured. He was found guilty of murder . Mr Aylett said the killing of Austin-Bruce was a ‘murder of quite breathtaking audacity’. Fellow pupils at Dulwich College, from . which Ross was expelled, remembered him as a ‘wannabe gangster’ who . adopted a strong London accent and hung out with minor criminals. In a shocking symbol of the culture of . violence surrounding the men, a second victim was shot dead on the eve . of Mr Austin-Bruce’s funeral. No one has ever been charged with the . murder of Anthony Otton, 28, a close friend of Ross and De St Aubin. Acting Detective Chief Inspector Brian Lucas, of the Met’s Trident gun . crime unit, said: ‘These men were living violent and criminal lives to . the extent that they believed they could get away with killing a man in . broad daylight as revenge for a petty argument. ‘They had lost sight of reality and . now face the consequences of their sad and violent choices. They can no . longer delude themselves of their “gangster” status.’ De St Aubin and Ross, both of Fulham, face life imprisonment when they are sentenced by Judge Martin Stephens QC today.
Detectives said Rupert Ross had 'lost sight of reality'
His mother duped into storing a .
bullet-proof vest at her £700,000 Fulham home that proved to be a vital .
part of the case against her son .
By . Chris Greenwood and Rebecca Camber . Last updated at 7:45 AM on 10th November 2011 . Born into a family of respected lawyers and academics, Rupert Ross had all the advantages his privileged background could provide. But the former public schoolboy turned his back on his fortunate past to embrace the underworld and become a gangster. Today he faces life in prison after being convicted with an accomplice of murdering a rival drug dealer in a daylight assassination at the gates of Britain’s largest prison. Convicted: Rupert Ross, left, and Leon St Aubin, right, have been found guilty of murdering Darcy Austin-Bruce . Senior detectives said Ross ‘lost sight of reality’ as he plunged into the violent depths of West London’s criminal underworld. His mother, who runs the Ad Hoc . boutique on Chelsea’s King’s Road where clients include Katie Price and . Megan Fox, has been left reeling by courtroom revelations about the . bloodthirsty killing. They included a diary in which Ross . said he ‘lived a fast life, hectic, lots of wars over drugs and money, . one or two shoot-outs’. His aunt, a prominent criminal QC who . offered a large cash surety to get him bail, had no idea of the scale of . his violent lifestyle. But his grandfather Herbert Lank, a retired Cambridge don and internationally respected art restorer, has cast him adrift. Darcy Austin-Bruce was shot five times outside Wandsworth prison in south London . Ross, 30, shouted ‘I love you Mum, be . strong’ to Diana Lank, 55, as he was led to the cells after being . convicted of murder at the Old Bailey. She was duped into storing a . bullet-proof vest at her £700,000 Fulham home that proved to be a vital . part of the case against her son. Forensic tests revealed it was covered . in gunshot residue with the same chemical composition of the bullets . used to kill 20-year-old Darcy Austin-Bruce. Police never recovered the stolen scooter, murder weapon or distinctive smart suits used by the killer and his accomplice. Ross dressed like a lawyer when he approached his victim outside Wandsworth Prison in south-west London in May 2009. He pulled out a handgun and fired five times at close range. Ross, who was also wearing a crash . helmet, then ran to a waiting moped ridden by 34-year-old fireman and . convicted drug dealer Leon De St Aubin. The two men sped away as Austin-Bruce, a former Fulham FC academy player, bled to death in the arms of prison medics. The Old Bailey heard the men had once been friends but had fallen out and the shooting was the culmination of a drugs feud. The assassins took revenge days after . Mr Austin-Bruce and another man fired a gun at a car in which they were . travelling. The opportunity for murder was set up by a prisoner who used . an illicit mobile phone to tip off Ross that Mr Austin-Bruce was due to . visit a man on his wing. Fatal shooting: Police at the scene of the shooting on May 1 2009 outside Wandswoth prison . A picture taken following the shooting. Leon De St Aubin and Rupert Ross dressed up as lawyers to gun down their former friend Darcy Austin-Bruce . Detectives later found notes that . Ross, a former pupil at £30,000-a-year Dulwich College, wrote as part of . his treatment during a stay at a luxury drug rehabilitation centre, . paid for by his family. He wrote: ‘I still want the gangster . life and end up dealing again. My dealing was making good money and I . was living a fast life. Life was very hectic. Lots of wars over drugs . and money one or two shoot-outs.’ Prosecutor Crispin Aylett QC said: . ‘Here is Rupert Ross, out of his own pen, admitting being involved in . drug dealing – and not small scale cannabis supply but drugs of . sufficient importance to engender “lots of wars”.’ Gunman Ross was a one time pupil at the prestigious Dulwich College in south east London, pictured. He was found guilty of murder . Mr Aylett said the killing of Austin-Bruce was a ‘murder of quite breathtaking audacity’. Fellow pupils at Dulwich College, from . which Ross was expelled, remembered him as a ‘wannabe gangster’ who . adopted a strong London accent and hung out with minor criminals. In a shocking symbol of the culture of . violence surrounding the men, a second victim was shot dead on the eve . of Mr Austin-Bruce’s funeral. No one has ever been charged with the . murder of Anthony Otton, 28, a close friend of Ross and De St Aubin. Acting Detective Chief Inspector Brian Lucas, of the Met’s Trident gun . crime unit, said: ‘These men were living violent and criminal lives to . the extent that they believed they could get away with killing a man in . broad daylight as revenge for a petty argument. ‘They had lost sight of reality and . now face the consequences of their sad and violent choices. They can no . longer delude themselves of their “gangster” status.’ De St Aubin and Ross, both of Fulham, face life imprisonment when they are sentenced by Judge Martin Stephens QC today.
. Senior detectives said Ross ‘lost sight of Bailey. She was duped into storing a . bullet-proof vest at her £700,000 Fulham home that proved to be a vital . part of the case