A KENT man found shot dead had said earlier this year that he feared for his life after being branded a police informer.

Matt Clements, a 41-year-old former gym owner and doorman, died after being shot in the chest in Canterbury Road, Chilham, near Ashford, on Sunday, November 18.

Last January Mr Clements, who had previously served a number of prison sentences, approached the Kentish Express newspaper to claim he had been labelled a "supergrass" in documents then circulating around Ashford's criminal underworld.

He added that he had been shot at since the documents were released.

The 26-stone bodybuilder, who was known in the town as Bigfoot and Mad Matt, told our reporter: “I don’t mind getting shot at, but I want the truth to be told. I am not a grass.

“I am not in hiding. I am 40 years old and I am done running. People know where I am and what I stand for.”

Mr Clements claimed the documents had formed part of a bundle relating to a trial at Maidstone Crown Court, in which he was accused of interfering with witnesses in a harassment case.

He alleged that the documents had nothing to do with the case, but were mistakenly inserted into the prosecution bundle and were shown to co-defendants.

At the time, Mr Clements made a formal written complaint to the police.

Speaking this week, Kent police spokesman John Parker said: “I have spoken to our professional standards department, and they said that the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) received a complaint from Mr Clements and investigated it.”

The Kentish Express contacted the IPCC on Tuesday to request the findings of their inquiry, but so far they have not been released.

On the night of Mr Clements’ death, police were called by a member of the public shortly before 1am.

His body was found on scaffolding to the side of a house in Canterbury Road, next to the Chilham Sports Cars garage.

A 49-year-old man from Chilham was arrested in connection with the shooting, and has since been bailed until January.

An inquest into the death has been opened. Mr Clements’ address at the time of his death was given as Wayside Avenue in Tenterden, but he lived at many addresses around the borough.