DETAILS of the horrific last few hours of a murdered Blackwood businessman were revealed by police yesterday.

Kingsley Monk, 45, of Maesygarn Road, Oakdale, was among four men held captive by a gunman at Driverline 247, New Inn, for several hours before emergency services were called on Monday.

Police said they believed the gunman lay in wait at Driverline 247 before staff arrived at the New Road site at 9am.

He tied up father-of-two Mr Monk, a director of Driverline 247, and three members of staff, using cable ties, and threatened them, although it is not thought any shots were fired. Police are still searching for a handgun.

The terrified men were held captive in the building for several hours and during this time they were beaten by the gunman. An iron bar was recovered from the scene and police are trying to establish whether it was used during the attack.

In a chilling twist, police say something was then thrown over the men. Police called it a "substance" and say forensic tests have not yet proved what it was. Police last night refused to reveal whether the substance was a liquid or a powder.

Then, a fire was set inside the building. Workers at a business next door were alerted to what was going on when one of the men who had been tied up managed to get away and stumbled into their offices.

Gwent Auto Factors owner Allan Styles, 42, told the Argus: “We saw the smoke coming into our building and one of them came running into my place with his hands tied. He started screaming “Kingsley’s dead”.

“I then ran into the unit next door."

What he found was an horrific scene.

Mr Styles, from New Inn, said: "I could see the office desk was on fire, so I ran back into my place to get a fire extinguisher. Although the fire was quite big, it went out quickly.

“Kingsley's body was on the landing and I could see he was dead. His hands were tied and he had been gagged.

“I tried to resuscitate him but it was too late.

“They (the three other men) had all been tied up. I had to cut the men free because they had been tied with cable ties and they were quite tight.

“One of the men was just in shock, jumping around, and one of the others was face down with his hands behind his back. There was blood everywhere.”

Three local men, aged 26, 45 and 55, all employees of the company, who were taken to Newport's Royal Gwent Hospital, have since been released.

Mr Styles has now returned to work at Gwent Auto Factors, which he has owned for 18 years, but said it will take some time to get over what he saw.

He added: “It was absolutely horrendous. I am trying to get back to normal but it is very difficult at the moment.

“Kingsley was a nice person, always smartly dressed and a real family man.”