A blundering hitman who shot the man who hired him in the crotch was facing jail last night.

Three members of a family were also looking at a jail sentence for hiring hapless Arthur Pattinson to kill a business rival.

William "Ike" Anderson, his father William "Father Billy" Anderson and uncle Tommy Anderson hired the gunman to shoot Stanley Creswell.

But in a bizarre series of events, Tommy Anderson was accidentally shot by the bungling drive-by gunman.

The bullet passed through Mr Creswell's arm, through a garden gate and hit Mr Anderson in the groin.

Pattinson, 43, had been hired to kill Mr Creswell, 37, following a feud with Ike Anderson, 30, over £60,000.

All four men denied being involved in the assassination plot, but were found guilty by a jury at Newcastle Crown Court yesterday of conspiracy to murder.

They will be sentenced on Monday.

Christopher Knox, prosecuting, told the court how Ike Anderson fled to the Dominican Republic a few days before the shooting, after warning Mr Creswell he would be killed.

But Father Billy Anderson, 56, and Tommy Anderson, 48, continued the feud.

Pattinson, who was friends with another member of the Anderson family, had been recruited to carry out the hit.

On the day of the shooting, Mr Cresswell had arrived at his home in Clydesdale Street, Hetton-le-Hole, Wearside, from a trip to a local baker's shop.

The gunman arrived as planned and took aim as Creswell was standing at Tommy Anderson's garden gate.

Mr Knox told the court how Tommy Anderson had been acting as "spotter" to keep the gunman updated about the target's movement that day, but inadvertently found himself in the firing line.

Ike Anderson, of High Street, Easington Lane, Tommy Anderson, of Borrowdale Street, Hetton-le-Hole, "Father Billy" Anderson, of High Street, Easington Lane, and Pattinson, of Striding Edge, Washington, Wearside, all denied conspiracy to murder.

Ike Anderson had already admitted two charges of possessing an imitation firearm with intent to cause fear of violence relating to threats made to Mr Creswell and his friends, before the shooting.

All four were remanded in custody for sentence.