DETECTIVES investigating the brutal murder of a well-known Suffolk man have hit back at critics by saying forensic tests on the bullet involved will be complete next week – more than three months after the killing.

DETECTIVES investigating the brutal murder of a well-known Suffolk man have hit back at critics by saying forensic tests on the bullet involved will be complete next week – more than three months after the killing.

Captain Ogie Britz, of the serious crimes unit in South Africa, said yesterday that officers hunting the car-jackers who killed 41-year-old Gary Toleman were still working on the case.

He was speaking after Gary's twin brother Michael, who lives in Bacton, attacked the country's authorities, claiming no tests had been carried out on the cartridge used in the killing and accusing the police of apparently losing interest in the case.

“We have not received the report back from the forensic laboratory and are still waiting,” said Cptn Britz. “We are looking at another case which we think might be the same suspects, but unfortunately the guy who handled that is on sick leave and I have been on other big cases.

“I will be talking to him next week and will be able to say more then.”

Cptn Britz said he expected to receive the forensic report by Friday, and vowed to release further details of the investigation at that point.

Former powerboat champion Gary, who used to live in Gedding, near Stowmarket, was shot in the mouth by car-jackers on a petrol station forecourt in Hazy View – a two-hour drive from Johannesburg – on October 13.

He was dragged from his vehicle by four youths and murdered in cold blood in front of his fiancée Marlett. His car was later discovered abandoned after its immobiliser kicked in.

The family had moved to South Africa to run a banana plantation, but Gary's brother Michael returned to Suffolk fearing for his children's safety.

“Car-jackings are happening all the time out there, and these are situations you can't control,” he said. “I came back because of my children as it just seems there is an acceptance when someone dies in South Africa.”

At an inquest held into Gary's death in Bury St Edmunds on Thursday, Dr Peter Dean, coroner for Greater Suffolk, recorded a verdict of unlawful killing in relation to the case.

He said inquiries into the incident were continuing in South Africa, and described the circumstances surrounding the murder as a “tragedy.”