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John Henry Sayers has been cleared of ordering the Tup Tup Palace shooting - but will still face jail for getting a convicted killer to falsely confess to the crime himself.

Doorman Matthew McCauley suffered multiple wounds on June 6 2015 when a motorcyclist rode past the Newcastle nightclub and fired a sawn-off shotgun at the doors before driving off into the night.

Prosecutors claimed “historic hardman” Sayers had sent friend Michael Dixon to shoot at the Newcastle club “in revenge” for his son being thrown out and punched by door staff two weeks earlier.

But a jury found the 54-year-old not guilty of conspiracy to murder, and conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life.

(Image: Northumbria Police)

Dixon, 50, was cleared of conspiracy to murder but found guilty of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life by a majority verdict of 11 to one.

The pair gave audible sighs of relief in the dock as they were cleared of the offence of conspiracy to murder.

But Sayers is still facing a prison sentence after he and convicted killer Michael McDougall were unanimously found guilty of perverting the course of justice over a false confession by McDougall.

The court heard that McDougall told “a pack of lies” by claiming to be the gunman “to benefit John Henry Sayers”.

The two men met while Sayers was on remand awaiting trial in HMP Wakefield, where McDougall was serving a life sentence for shooting South Shields takeaway boss Tipu Sultan in April 2015.

In August 2017 - around a month after prison staff saw Sayers and McDougall talking in the exercise yard - McDougall contacted the Crown Prosecution Service and claimed to have been responsible for the Tup Tup Palace shooting.

The verdicts John Henry Sayers: Not guilty of conspiracy to murder, not guilty of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life, guilty of perverting the course of justice

Michael Dixon: Not guilty of conspiracy to murder, guilty of conspiracy to possess a firearm with intent to endanger life

Michael McDougall: Guilty of perverting the course of justice

Russell Sturman: Not guilty of assisting an offender

Prosecutor Simon Denison QC said: “He said he had been approached at the last minute and asked to act as a gunman in a drive-by shooting.

“He told police that he was offered £5,000 in cash and a substantial quantity of cocaine in payment, and that he was happy to do it.”

But the trial heard that “time and time again, he was unable to provide basic or checkable details about the shooting that he claimed to have carried out”.

The prosecution said McDougall’s account was “a pack of lies told to benefit John Henry Sayers”.

And jurors found both guilty of doing acts tending to pervert the course of justice.

During the trial, the court was shown footage of Sayers and McDougall in a prison holding cell looking at footage of the shooting.

And jurors were played phone calls between McDougall and his friend Paul Maudling, in which McDougall said he was going to be arrested again for “another shooting”.

(Image: Northumbria Police)

After telling him, “I’m getting blamed,” his friend replied, “Ah, you’re getting the blame are you.”

McDougall then said: “What are they ganna dee, take me telly off us?”

Former bouncer Russell Sturman, 26, was acquitted on the charge of assisting an offender by allegedly providing Sayers with CCTV footage of the scuffle at the club.

Sturman cheered as his verdict was announced by the jury foreman and hugged his three co-accused before being officially released from the dock.

Judge Mark Lucraft QC told the three convicted defendants they should expect to face a prison sentence.

“In your case Michael McDougall, I appreciate you’re already serving a life sentence.

“John Henry Sayers, you have been on remand for some time, but you must still expect to receive some custodial sentence.

(Image: Northumbria Police)

“Michael Dixon, one of the issues for me is the question of the length of the term you should serve, bearing in mind your previous conviction which occurred at a broadly similar time.”

Dixon is already serving a prison sentence after pleading guilty to a separate firearms plot, two months after the Tup Tup incident.

Police investigating the shooting were led to Dixon by exhibit PD/1 - a piece of wadding from the shotgun cartridge fired by the gunman and discovered about 10 minutes later on the club’s red carpet.

Scientists found DNA on the wadding, and ran a speculative search of more than six million DNA profiles in the National DNA database. The only one it matched was that of Michael Dixon.

A Northumbria Police spokesperson said: “This case was thoroughly investigated by a team of dedicated detectives.

“The evidence was subjected to careful scrutiny before a decision was taken to charge and it was only right that this evidence was put in front of a jury.

“We respect the decision the jury has made.”

The convicted defendants were remanded into custody to be sentenced at the Old Bailey on September 21.