Oil executive brought up in Leicestershire is shot dead in Belgium

An oil executive, who was brought up in Leicestershire, has been shot dead in front of his wife in Belgium. Nicholas Mockford, 60, an executive for ExxonMobil, was gunned down in what has been reported as assassination-style killing as he left an Italian restaurant in a suburb of the capital Brussels. He was shot three times, once as he lay on he floor. He died on the way to hospital. Witnesses say they saw the couple walk across the street to their car before shots were fired. Reports suggest two men were spotted running away from the scene, one holding a motorcycle helmet. The shooting is understood to have happened on October 14, but news about the attack has only emerged now after Belgian police imposed a news blackout, reports said. His wife, Mary, was left beaten and covered in blood, cradling her husband and shouting for help. A Foreign Office spokesman said: "We can confirm the death of a British national in Brussels on October 14 and we are providing consular assistance." Mr Mockford is understood to have worked for ExxonMobil since the 1970s and was head of marketing for interim technologies for ExxonMobil Chemicals, Europe, promoting new types of greener fuel. He was brought up in Leicestershire and had moved abroad from Chichester some years ago, living in Belgium and Singapore. He was married to his Belgian wife for 15 years and has three grown-up children living in Britain from his first marriage.