Two jailed over assassination plot

Kieron Bryan was responsible for shooting the man in the chest and thigh in Blackley on 2 March 2011, and the victim only survived because he was wearing body armour.

The investigation also saw Greater Manchester Police bring in a specialist code-cracker to decipher a letter written by Bryan in which he detailed plans to pay the victim off.

23 year old Kieron Bryan was convicted of attempted murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. He was sentenced to 25 years following a trial at Manchester Crown Court, Crown Square.

23 year old Dean Fleming was also convicted of section 18 wounding and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. He was sentenced to 11 years.

The victim, 35 at the time, was shot following the culmination of a dispute between himself and Bryan.

Bryan enlisted the help of Fleming, who travelled up from St Albans in Hertfordshire where Bryan was from and they stayed in a city centre hotel on 1 March 2011.

The next day, about 7.30am, Fleming drove Bryan to the man's house and after a brief struggle, the man was shot in the chest and thigh with a 9mm handgun. The victim, who worked as a doorman, feared something like this would happen and was wearing his body armour as a precaution, which stopped the bullet that was heading for his chest.

Police were called to the victim's house and an investigation was launched. Bryan and Fleming were arrested that day.

Gunshot residue was found on the jacket and a single glove that Bryan had in his possession when he was arrested, along with a picture on his mobile phone showing Bryan posing with a 9mm pistol tucked into his waistband.

Also, while Bryan was on remand after he was charged, a letter he had written to his girlfriend was intercepted by the prison and later examined by a forensic linguist. On the back of the letter was a set of numbers. An expert in breaking codes was brought in and deciphered the numbers were in fact a code for Bryan's sister to approach the victim's employers with a view to paying them to persuade the man to drop the case.

Detective Sergeant Neil Haywood, from GMP's Major Incident Team, said: "Bryan enlisted Fleming to help him carry out the cold-blooded execution of this man after a fall-out.

"It was only by sheer luck the man was wearing body armour that he was not murdered.

"The Major Incident Team launched a thorough investigation which involved painstaking work and we even brought in a code-cracker to decipher Bryan's letter to his sister. The fact Bryan was prepared to go to such devious lengths to get out of jail shows he is a dangerous and calculating man but thanks to Greater Manchester Police, he failed to outsmart us and is now behind bars for a very long time.

"I can only hope today gives the victim some sense of justice at seeing the men who were prepared to kill him locked away."