A GUNMAN who masterminded a botched gangland execution in which an innocent pensioner was shot dead as he enjoyed a quiet pint was yesterday jailed for 15 years.

Retired miner Fred Fowler died in a hail of bullets after Robert Fox and hired hitman Robert Chapman opened fire in the crowded Tap and Barrel pub in Hendon, Sunderland, in July 2004.

After repeatedly escaping justice, Fox was yesterday convicted at the third attempt of the manslaughter of the likeable 72-year-old. Accomplice Chapman had earlier been convicted of murder and was jailed for life.

Retired Detective Chief Inspector Brian Dawson said: "The plan was bungled and, tragically and horrifically, a completely innocent life was taken."

Newcastle Crown Court heard that Fox, who in 2003 was acquitted of using a sawn-off shotgun to shoot another rival in the leg, became involved in a long-running feud with a gang known as the Hendon Mad Dogs and had hired a Hartlepool hitman.

Shortly before 10pm on a quiet Sunday, Fox and Chapman, both wearing Halloween masks, were driven to the Tap and Barrel by Chapman's lover, Lee Francis Hay.

Fox was armed with a shotgun and fired once through the window of the pub, sending the 30 or so terrified customers diving for cover.

The pair then burst in and Chapman levelled his revolver at head height and fired five shots in quick succession.

Grandfather Fred Fowler, who was sitting at the bar, was hit twice, while innocent teenager Michael Nixon, who had been mistaken for Fox's intended victim, Alan Miller, was shot once in the head.

The gunmen then fled and were picked up by accomplice William Tobin, who drove them to east Cleveland, where they disposed of their guns before Chapman and Hay went on the run to Blackpool.

Speaking after the verdict, Mr Dawson, said: "This was an appalling incident -a calculated and evil plan was hatched to satisfy Robert Fox's thirst for revenge."

The first trial against Fox, in June last year, was stopped by the judge after only four days. A jury in a second trial failed to reach a verdict.

But yesterday, 38-year-old Fox, of Rotherham Road, Sunderland, was found guilty of manslaughter.

At an earlier hearing, he had been found guilty of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life and possessing a firearm without a firearms certificate, and had been jailed for nine years, to run concurrently.

Three other men were convicted of their part in the killing at a hearing in August last year.

Chapman, 36, of no fixed address but previously from Hartlepool, was found guilty of murder, attempted murder, possessing a firearm with intent to endanger life and possessing a firearm without a firearms certificate. He was sentenced to life, the judge recommending he serve at least 27 years.

Hay, 20, of Patterdale Street, Hartlepool, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit an affray and was jailed for 18 months.

Tobin, 48, Kilwick Street, Hartlepool, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit affray and assisting offenders and was jailed for two years.

Fred Fowler's daughter, Trish Anderson, 39, said last night: "It has been very hard telling my son about what has happened.

"How do you explain it, how do you make it sound right to a young boy that his granddad has been killed? We all miss him very much."

Julie Nixon, the mother of 20-year-old Michael, said her son had not been the same since the shooting.

She said: "No amount of words can describe how this shooting has changed Michael's life and that of his family.

"We can only hope that the people responsible are suitably punished and that they realise that their actions have had such a huge impact on all our lives."