CLAIMS in a TV documentary that Freddie Mills was killed by the Mafia have been dismissed by an MP who wrote a book about the boxing hero.

The Bournemouth-born world light-heavyweight champion was found dead in his car outside his Soho nightclub on July 25, 1965, aged 46.

A BBC Four programme, Murder In Soho: Who Killed Freddie Mills?, aired claims that he had been killed on the orders of American gangster Meyer Lansky.

But MP Chris Evans, who wrote Fearless Freddie: The Life and Times of Freddie Mills, said the programme repeated “myths” that were easily rebutted by documents in the National Archive at Kew.

These included the idea that Mills had been shot through the right eye when the eyelid was still open, and that he was found with the gun beyond his reach.

Mr Evans believes Mills – who borrowed the fairground gun days before his death – took his own life.

The former sportsman was known to suffer depression and the MP believes years of boxing may have caused a degenerative condition, chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE)

“Freddie was fighting eight times a day in the boxing booths when he was younger, fighting people 3-6 stone heavier than him. My theory is he was probably suffering from CTE,” he said.

Mr Evans said the scene of Mills’s death was disturbed when his wife Chrissie and stepson Don Jnr arrived. They said to a nightclub doorman that Mills had shot himself, and the gun was removed before being put back in the car.

Freddie Mills, who was born in Terrace Road, Bournemouth, was a hugely popular figure, appearing in films and presenting the pop music programme Six-Five Special.

But his Soho club was in financial trouble when he died, and there have been claims that his death was arranged by the Kray Twins, or even that Mills was himself a serial killer.

“His reputation was in the gutter and he was really worried and couldn’t get show business work,” Mr Evans said.

In last week’s documentary, Roger Huntman – the son of boxing manager and agent Benny Huntman – claimed to reveal the truth about Mills’s death.

He said Mills was desperate for money and had asked his father for £2,500, threatening to tell the police about his connections with American gangsters if he refused.

Roger Huntman said he was asked to take a message to Mills, telling him to collect his money in person on July 25.

That night, Roger Huntman said he was at a club when his father walked in with an Italian American man. “All of a sudden, this massive guy has come over to my father and he whispered in his ear. He’s turned round and told the table ‘Mills is dead, he’s gone, he’s finished’.

“And this old guy, there was like a smirk on his face. Later, I found out it was Meyer Lansky."

Chris Evans, Labour MP for Islwyn, began researching the case because of a family connection, and insisted there was no evidence Mills’s death was murder.

“I went through that file thousands of times and couldn’t find a link to anybody,” he said.