Three men jailed for life after murdering doorman

Three men have been jailed for life for the "calculated and cold-blooded" murder of a nightclub doorman in Liverpool.

Bahman Faraji, 44, was blasted in the head with a sawn-off shotgun after being lured to his death by gangland rivals.

Gunman Edward Heffey, 41, was jailed for a minimum of 35 years and Jason Gabbana, 29, who ordered the shooting, was ordered to serve at least 33 years at Liverpool Crown Court.

Simon Smart, 33, who arranged for Mr Faraji to be at the scene, received a minimum term of 31 years.

Former Brookside actor Brian Regan, 53, who admitted being Heffey's getaway driver, was cleared of murder but convicted of perverting the course of justice earlier this year and has already been sentenced to four years and 10 months.

Mr Faraji, accused by Gabbana's defence of drug dealing and running an illegal protection racket, was gunned down at close range after he was lured to the Belgrave pub in Aigburth on the evening of February 24 last year.

Heffey, Gabbana and Smart, all from Liverpool, were convicted of murder by 11 to one majorities.

Mrs Justice Nicola Davies said: "The murder of Bahman Faraji was as calculated as it was cold-blooded. This was a carefully planned and executed killing carried out upon the instructions of Jason Gabbana."

Ex-actor Regan, of St Mary's Road, Liverpool, admitted driving gunman Heffey to and from the scene of the hit but told the jury he did not know his passenger was carrying a sawn off shotgun and planning to kill Mr Faraji.

Gabbana, who stood trial separately to the others because he was arrested only last August, showed no emotion as he was jailed.