Man guilty of ‘gangland style execution’ murder
THE man accused of killing a popular HGV driver from Bolton in a gangland style execution shook his head in the dock as he was found guilty of murder.
Nathan Daniels, of Nottingham Avenue, Brinnington, was convicted of the murder of Michael Blake following a trial at Manchester Crown Court.
The jury had spent six hours deliberating before returning a guilty verdict.
Daniels will be sentenced on Wednesday morning, alongside four other defendants who have already admitted their role in the incident.
Mr Blake, 29, was shot in the back of the head and dumped near his home in Manchester Road, Westhoughton, Bolton, on November 3 last year.
The dad-of-one, known to friends as Blakey, was at his home when there was a knock at his door, just before 11pm.
His partner witnessed Mr Blake get into a light coloured van, which drove off.
Mr Blake shouted to his partner: ‘I’m just going out. Won’t be a minute.’
But ten minutes later, his partner heard another knock on the door and found Mr Blake lying on the floor in a nearby alleyway in a pool of blood.
The trial heard that Mr Blake was taken by three men in a Transit van, before being driven to an isolated spot on an industrial estate in Long Lane, Bolton, where he was then shot twice with a 9mm handgun.
The jury was told that the incident was as a result of ‘drugs, money, or both’.
They heard how Daniels, 28, was with Joe Wilson, 27, of Romney Way, Brinnington, and Nathan Quigley, 31, of Cleworth Walk, Hulme, in the van. Quigley and Wilson had both previously admitted manslaughter.
The other men, Brendon Fallon, 36, of Whitbury Avenue, Gorton, and John Edwards, 47, of Farley Way, Reddish, have admitted assisting an offender by being involved in a bid to clean up the van afterwards.