A PUB shooting victim who later mounted a revenge plot of extreme violent proportions was jailed for life at Preston Crown Court yesterday.

Gang leader Stephen Lydiate, of Vestris Drive, Salford, was found guilty of conspiracy to murder, conspiracy to kidnap and also to falsely imprison.

Four other men - also from the Salford area - were convicted and sentenced to a total of 41 years on a series of charges including conspiracy to murder and conspiracy to kidnap, following a three months trial held in tight security.

Judge Peter Openshaw QC said: "In a city where shootings have become common this is a case set apart by its savagery and brutality."

The jury heard how he miraculously survived after being gunned down in the Ship pub at Salford in April last year. It happened in front of his 12-year-old son.

Rather than rely on the police, Lydiate and his associates set out to identify and kill those involved in the shooting.

The court heard how one victim, James Kent from Lane Head Avenue, Lowton, was shot in the legs, pistol whipped and kidnapped from his home.

Another man, Anthony Shenton of Stafford Road, Eccles, was held captive for 14 hours after he had part of his leg blown away.

A third victim was shot after his car was chased through the streets of Salford.

Reliving the horror Mr Kent told how he was asleep in the early hours of Saturday, May 22 last year, blissfully unaware of the ordeal he was about to suffer.

As he lay dreaming next to his girlfriend in the living room of his detached house on quiet Lane Head Avenue, in Lowton, Leigh, a gang of men from Salford were seconds away from turning his life into a nightmare which included kidnapping him.

The 38-year-old said it was 4am when the masked men burst into his home and pointed a sub machine gun with a silencer in his face.

The terrified man attempted to escape, but the armed men showed they meant business by blasting him in his right leg.

Mr Kent said: "I still tried to get my way to the window and was shot again in the other leg. There was a commotion. I ripped the living room door off its hinges trying to get out. I was told - 'stop, or we shoot your girlfriend'."

His partner shook with fear as the man was then thrown into a van and driven to a farm on Astley Moss, Tyldesley.

On the way he was pistol whipped.

His ordeal lasted for three days as the four masked men held him hostage. They put guns inside his mouth and pulled the triggers. He also had a tree branch thrust into the gunshot wound to see if it would come out the other side. On another occasion salt was poured into the wounds.

In the meantime, the kidnappers contacted a member of Mr Kent's family, saying they wanted a ransom of £50,000.

He was finally released at 9.30am on Tuesday, May 25.

He was dumped in Northallerton Road, Kersal, Salford, barefoot and covered in blood.

Mr Kent was put under police guard at a local hospital where detectives questioned him while the search for the evil gang was launched.