A MAN from Bridgwater has been found guilty of conspiracy to murder for his role in an “assassination” plot.

Simon Webber, 31, of Sydenham Close, Bridgwater, was one of five men convicted of conspiracy to murder following a trial at Ipswich Crown Court.

Because of legal restrictions the guilty verdicts at Ipswich Crown Court could not be reported when their trial ended in May, but those restrictions have now been lifted.

The others convicted were Andrew Seaton, 40, of Frome View, Maiden Newton, Paul Baker, 35, of Neil's View, Maiden Newton, Frank Warren, 51, of Victoria Road, Dorchester, and Colin Deferia, 59, of Battisford Road, Barking, Suffolk were all convicted of conspiracy to murder.

During the trial, the court heard how Webber, Seaton, and Warren had burst into the home of Jonathan Catchpole in Forum Court, Bury St Edmunds on August 4 last year.

The jury heard that Webber was carrying a sawn-off shotgun when Mr Catchpole was shot at point-blank range, suffering a chest wound from which doctors removed 42 shotgun pellets after he was airlifted to hospital.

During the trial, the jury heard that the incident had amounted to an “assassination plot”.

It was alleged that Deferia, a Suffolk businessman, had agreed to pay £12,500 for the attack and that Baker had acted as a go-between to help organise it.

Prosecutor Andrew Jackson said Baker, Seaton, Webber and Warren had "lent themselves readily" to the plan.

The jury heard that following the shooting, a car used by the attackers was found burned out and attempts we made by Deferia to falsely claim that Mr Catchpole was involved in drug offences.

Prior to the attack, Deferia had made a number of threats to Mr Catchpole and falsely suggested that he had been involved in drug offences, said Mr Jackson.

While Baker and Deferia gave evidence in their own defence, the other defendants declined to enter the witness box.

Deferia claimed that while he had wanted to "scare" Mr Catchpole, he never had any intention for him to be harmed and the first he had known about the attack was when he heard the news on the radio the following day.

All five defendants, who are remanded in custody, will be sentenced at a later date.