Gino DePinto for AOL
Ryan Donovan, the 22-year-old Able seaman and aspiring rapper who recorded under the name Reggie Moondogg, went to school with Tinie, whom he considered his music industry mentor and hero.
"Tinie will be gutted about this. They were friends at school and stayed in touch afterwards," a source told the Mirror. "Ryan used to phone Tinie for advice about the music industry. Music was Ryan's love and he was thrilled that Tinie had made it so big. Tinie was his hero."
Donovan was charged yesterday in the murder of Lieutenant Commander Ian Molyneux and attempted murder of three other crew members on the HMS Astute nuclear submarine.
According to eyewitnesses, the shooting occurred after Donovan was refused permission to leave the submarine, due to a crew shortage. The aspiring MC apparently then lost his temper, and began to fire his SA80 rifle at a group of officers, rattling off six rounds, he moved towards the submarine's control room, before he was tackled by several visiting local officials.
Before joining the Royal Navy three years ago, Donovan worked as a sound engineer and was attempting to launch a career as a lyricist. As Reggie Moondogg, Donovan had released several demo projects, one titled 'Unprovoked Outburst,' in which he threatens various acts of violence, and "murder sprees."
"Currently workin on 2 projects. First promo entitled 'Unprovoked Outburst' and a follow up promo entitled 'Verbal Arsenick,'" he wrote on his MySpace page. "Lookin for collabs, im not gona lie i have alot of faith in myself. im not in this for money im in it cos i love music an enjoy makin music."
Military police have already begun investigating Donovan's rap music and how thoroughly he was vetted before being allowed on the nuclear submarine, given his musical ambitions.
"Whatever the outcome of these charges I am surprised that this man was on a nuclear submarine -- calling himself Reggie Moondogg, joining the Navy, getting recruited to serve on a submarine and then being given a weapon to guard it," said MP and defense expert Mike Hancock.
Donovan is due back on court on April 13, his case will handled both internally by the armed forces and in the civilian courts.
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