Dutch police have arrested a 27-year-old British man in connection with the murder of gangster turned blogger Martin Kok last week.

The man is suspected of being involved in the death of Kok, who was shot dead in his car outside the Boccaccio sex club in Laren late on Thursday night. Police said he was not the gunman but did not go into further detail about what role they believe he played.

Police spokesman Bernhard Jens told NOS: ‘At one point the victim left the club on foot together with another person who turned out to be this 27-year-old British man. The victim ended up getting into his car while this man carried on walking.

‘He must have heard the explosions and realised shots were being fired. He just walked away and he needs to explain to us what his reasons were for doing that. It could be he was hugely shocked.’

Kok, 49, ran an escort agency as well as a news website, Vlinderscrime, which carried reports based on information his extensive network of sources in the underworld. Kok angered members of the criminal community by including their full names and information about their families on his site.

Before turning to blogging Kok spent a total of 15 years in prison for offences including murder and extortion. He was the target of several attempts on his life, including a bomb planted under his car in July.