He doesn’t have the kind of freedoms he once enjoyed at Swaleside, and there are few opportunities for him to play his beloved badminton. Much of his energies are now devoted to clearing his name.Noye is in Whitemoor prison, one of Britain’s highest-security jails. But he also believes his conviction for the murder of Tony Smith was a miscarriage of justice because he was acting in self-defence. He is now trying to rebuild his life in the Tottenham community, where there is still massive public interest in him.

Understandably, he still feels bitter about the way he says he was fitted up by the police. At his trial in 2000 he once again tried to claim self-defence, but the jury convicted him of murder and he was sentenced to life imprisonment.Silcott followed Noye to Blantyre prison and was finally released last year. But in 1998, Scotland Yard detectives caught up with him and he was extradited to Britain. In the ensuing fight, he stabbed 21-year-old Stephen Cameron to death Later he fled to Spain.

He also kept up his contacts inside Swaleside prison.His freedom was short-lived. In 1996, Noye got involved in a road rage incident on a M25 slip-road near his Kent home. “I got him to teach me how to play, and then I started beating him,” says Silcott who could now add badminton to the list of sports which he could claim to be prison champion.Noye was transferred to Blantyre open prison in Kent. He was finally released in the summer of 1994, but he continued to live in the area, where police suspected he ran various rackets. The men spent many months sparring until Noye was moved to another prison.

In the very next rally Silcott’s shuttlecock struck the net and dropped dead on to Noye’s side. He had fluked the point and won the crate of champagne.Says Silcott: “I didn’t take it because it was only meant as an incentive.” Silcott, who was not used to being beaten at any sport, set out to match his master and then avenge the defeat. Then he called for a pause in the game and, varying the terms of the bet, said he would give Silcott the champagne if he won just a single point. But in Swaleside prison gym, there was just a small gathering of prisoners and their warders to witness the event. As soon as the first shuttlecock left Noye’s racket it was clear Silcott would be no match for his opponent.Noye hit smash after smash down on to Silcott’s side of the net. So, when Winston Silcott approached him and challenged him to a game his response was both confident and flamboyant.Silcott recalls: “He said, if I won, he would make sure I got a crate of champagne.” Silcott accepted the wager and the two men prepared to square off on the court.Outside the walls of Swaleside prison, a sporting contest – even a badminton match – featuring two of Britain’s best-known criminals would surely command massive public interest.