Gillian Taylforth’s ex survived a shooting when gun ‘misfired’


The ex-fiancé of former EastEnders star Gillian Taylforth survived being shot in the stomach because gunman’s weapon misfired, friends claim.

Dave Fairbairn, 64, who is now stable in hospital, was confronting gangsters threatening to burn down his ex-fiancée’s house while he was on bail over a huge £850,000 cannabis factory. 

Fairbairn revealed to a friend that the bullet – which missed his vital organs – fired before he heard ‘lots of clicking’ during the incident in Enfield, North London. 

The Sun reports that he told a friend:  ‘All I can remember is this bang, then lots of clicking.

‘I think the trigger was being pulled again and again.

‘I was lucky some people found me and called the ambulance.’

Dave Fairbairn and Gillian Taylforth are pictured together above on November 21, 2015

He had been arrested three months ago over a drugs farm found in Arrington, Cambridgeshire, by police. 

He was detained by officers at the time on suspicion of cultivation of cannabis and handling stolen goods.

Two other man aged 32 and 37 attempted to run off when police arrived but were stopped and arrested on suspicion of cultivation as well as immigration offences. 

Authorities confirmed to MailOnline all three have now been bailed until later this month.

Fairbairn was shot on Sunday at close range near a Toby Carvery car park in Enfield. On Monday he was stable in hospital following surgery to have the bullet removed, The Sun reported. 

Ms Taylforth, 64, is said to be in shock following news of the shooting. 

She and Fairbarn have remained close despite calling off their wedding in December. 

Mr Fairbairn was arrested and bailed after police discovered this Cannabis factory in Arrington, Cambridgeshire

Mr Fairbairn was arrested and bailed after police discovered this Cannabis factory in Arrington, Cambridgeshire

Officers have been interviewing his neighbours following the shooting. 

One said police were ‘asking about Dave’, saying he was not in any trouble but officers could not reveal why they were asking about him. 

The car park of the nearby Toby Carvery had been cordoned off after the shooting, which is said to have taken place in the woodland next to it. 

Ms Taylforth split from fiancé Fairbairn after six years together in late 2019 (pictured: The pair together in May 2015)

Ms Taylforth split from fiancé Fairbairn after six years together in late 2019 (pictured: The pair together in May 2015) 

Close-knit family upbringing of EastEnders star

Gillian Taylforth was brought up in north London and lived in Islington, with her extended family all as neighbours.

She has spoken in the past about her father – who worked as a printer – being strict and how he had ‘ideas on what jobs the woman of the house should do’.

Taylforth lived at home until she was 26 and worked as a secretary, as well as taking on smaller acting jobs.

It was a tight family unit and her protective father would tell her what time she had to get in at night.

Taylforth said he would team up with her brother Ronnie to chase off muggers and thugs that might have their eye on her and her sisters.

She told the Independent in 1995: ‘My Dad was old-fashioned, very Victorian, a strong person in the family.’

Ms Taylforth split from fiancé Fairbairn after six years together in late 2019 after their relationship came under strain following a ‘string of disagreements’, reports at the time claimed. 

The pair were together since 2013 and Ms Taylforth, who is best known for playing Kathy Beale in EastEnders, originally parted ways with Dave two years earlier due to ‘fiery rows’ between the pair, but later rekindled their romance. 

Ms Taylforth’s relationship with him was her first following her split from her ex-partner of 23 years Geoff Knights. 

She shares two children with Knights, who tragically died of stomach cancer, aged 58, back in 2013. 

They had a stormy relationship but she once admitted in an interview ‘It was really tough as you don’t just stop having feelings for someone’.

Before his death Knights had been accused of breaching an order which barred him from contacting her directly.

But he had been too ill to attend court after collapsing and being sent to hospital as doctors discovered his cancer.  

In 2006, Taylforth needed three stitches in her scalp after Knights beat her up in front of their son while celebrating their 20th anniversary.

He was cautioned after Taylforth refused to press charges. 

In 1994 she was also involved in a high-profile court case when she sued The Sun for libel after they ran a story claiming she and Knights had performed sexual acts on a slip road on the A1 in their Range Rover.

Taylforth claimed that Knights had suffered an acute attack of pancreatitis and she was massaging his stomach to soothe his abdominal pain.

A police officer, however, claimed that she was performing a sexual act instead.

The jury returned a 10-2 majority verdict in favour of The Sun, after which Taylforth collapsed and was taken away by an ambulance.

The car park of the nearby Toby Carvery had been cordoned off after the shooting, which is said to have taken place in the woodland next to it

The car park of the nearby Toby Carvery had been cordoned off after the shooting, which is said to have taken place in the woodland next to it

The actress left EastEnders in 1988 and was cast as Jackie Pascoe-Webb in ITV’s popular televised drama Footballers’ Wives. 

She played the role for all five series, which made her the only cast member to appear in every series without taking a break.

In 2006, she played the role of Mandy Searle in Jane Hall and she also has appeared as a recurring panellist on ITV’s Loose Women.  

She won a regular part in police drama The Bill playing playing Sergeant Nikki Wright in 2006 before leaving two years later. 

In January 2013, Taylforth became a housemate on the eleventh series of Celebrity Big Brother. She was the fourth person to be evicted after 15 days.