Four men have been charged in connection with a foiled plot to spring two convicts from a prison van in England, during which a man was shot dead by police.

A man was shot dead after armed police officers foiled an attempt to spring two would-be hitmen from a prison van as they made their way to court.

Those who knew him well saw globe-trotting millionaire John O’Connor as a dynamic, complex, mercurial, and generous man and paid their due tributes yesterday.