Hitman jailed over pub shooting

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A hitman who gunned down two men in Nottinghamshire on the orders of a criminal gang has been jailed for life.

Patrick Marshall, 46, was shot dead outside the Park Tavern in Basford in February 2004. Derrick Senior was shot on his driveway but survived.

John McSally, 50, of Plaza Gardens, Basford, was convicted of murder and attempted murder at Leicester Crown Court on Thursday.

McSally, who denied the charges, was ordered to serve a minimum of 35 years.

Even by the warped standards of those who enforce their will by violence these were evil offences Mr Justice Pitchers

Mr Marshall was gunned down in the car park of the Park Tavern pub on 8 February 2004 - three months before Mr Senior was shot.

The court heard Patrick Marshall, who was wrongly suspected of being an informant, had arranged to meet his killer, who he thought was going to sell him a gun.

Youth worker Derrick Senior was shot days after he helped to jail four men who carried out a racist attack on him in a pub.

The court was told the convicted men were part of a gang, who then wanted revenge by ordering McSally to "send him a message".

He was shot five times through the window of his car as he reversed down his driveway on Harmston Rise, Basford.

'Playing dead'

Prosecutor Timothy Spencer said Mr Senior survived the ordeal by "playing dead" and slumping forward on to the wheel of his car.

Mr Justice Pitchers, said McSally was an "incredibly dangerous" man.

He said: "Even by the warped standards of those who enforce their will by violence these were evil offences.

Patrick Marshall was shot dead outside the Park Tavern

"Patrick Marshall has done nothing to deserve any sort of attack, let alone to be summarily executed by you with a firearm.

"Derrick Senior is a thoroughly decent, law-abiding member of the community who had done nothing more than wish to see justice done in a case where he had been subjected to a racial attack."

McSally, who did not react to the verdict told the judge the sentence would be "no problem".

Craig McKay, 33, of Derby Road, Stapleford, was cleared of Mr Marshall's murder on Friday.

Mr McKay's girlfriend Sally Weetman, 37, also of Derby Road, Stapleford, was also cleared of perverting the course of justice.