Gordon Hoppie – Norwich

Gordon Hoppie, 64, Norwich

**Also known to use the names Steve Hoppie & Silver Hoppie in efforts to try and cover up his past and gain employment as a Personal Trainer in gyms within the Norwich area**

A Clare’s Law application is strongly advised before having any involvement with this individual who was convicted and received a ‘life sentence’ after being used as a ‘hitman’ in the murder of a woman in 2003.

Article from 28/03/25:

GORDON HOPPIE SACKED FROM PURE GYM AND PHOENIX GYM

A hitman given a life sentence following the murder of a heavily pregnant woman has been accused of misleading employers about his past to gain work in the city.

Gordon Hoppie was jailed for life after being convicted of conspiracy to murder Soumia Cullinane, in 2003.

However Hoppie, now in his early 60s, has been accused of giving a different name – Steve – to get into multiple high-profile gyms around the city as a personal trainer.

Hoppie’s social media, Silver PT, shows him working and tagging himself at Pure Gym between December 2019 to July 2022 and then Phoenix Gym, in Oak Street, between February 2023 to January 2025.

However Mark Bone, managing director at Phoenix Gym, says Hoppie’s contract was terminated once his conviction came to light.

Mark said: “We were given the name Steve Hoppie, but once we were made aware of his previous history, we cancelled his contract with immediate effect.”

“Gordon no longer works at Phoenix Gym as a result of this.

“We give the care and safety of our staff and members the highest priority.”

Despite Pure Gym declining to comment, sources say Hoppie was dismissed from the company because he lied about his previous conviction.

Hoppie was one of two hitmen hired by businessman David Cullinane, to kill his wife, Soumia – who was seven months pregnant at the time.

The 27 year old’s “considerably disfigured” body was found in March 2002 at Dene Park at Shipbourne, near Kent.

Croydon Crown Court heard Cullinane left his wife in the hands of Hoppie and another hitman – after paying them £10,000 – at Marden railway station.

It added Cullinane hired the two men after being convinced his wife was carrying another man’s child.

Gordon Hoppie declined to comment when contacted by this newspaper.

 

Article from 05/03/03:

HUSBAND HIRED HITMEN TO KILL WIFE

A businessman who paid two hitmen to kill his heavily pregnant wife has been jailed for life.

David Cullinane, 34, of Rectory Close, Colchester, left Moroccan-born Soumia in the hands of two men at Marden railway station, in Kent.

Cullinane, who comes from Jersey, had become convinced his wife was having another man’s child, Croydon Crown Court was told.

Mrs Cullinane’s body was found “considerably disfigured” with serious head and neck injuries in Dene Park, near Tonbridge, on 16 March last year.

Mrs Cullinane was seven months pregnant
The court earlier heard that Mrs Cullinane, who was seven months pregnant, had been lured to Marden on the pretext that they would obtain a new forged visa for her passport there.

But after being left in a van with Gordon Hoppie, 41, of Hadlow Road, Tonbridge, and Michael Stapley, 21, of Turner Road, Tonbridge, Mrs Cullinane was murdered.

Cullinane told the court he had paid for his wife to be kidnapped and taken back to Moroccco – and that no harm was meant to come to her.

Hoppie and Stapley, who were paid £10,000 in total to kill Mrs Cullinane, were also found guilty of conspiracy to murder.

They were both given life sentences.

Two other men, Alex Woolston, 30, of Manor Fields, Putney, and David Ozorio, of Dawes Road, Fulham, were aquitted of the same charge.

All five defendants had denied conspiracy to murder.

Senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector David Gutsell said: “It is clear that Cullinane is a ruthless individual with no regard for the life of the mother of his young son or the life of the almost full term baby she was carrying.”

He said the failure of Hoppie and Stapley to dispose of the body as planned had led to the trio’s convictions.

“If Soumia had been buried in what we believe to have been the planned grave near Halfords at Tonbridge it is likely she would never have been found and this murder may never have come to light,” he said.

He praised the painstaking work of detectives in the 11-month murder investigation.