Sam Davies murder: Four guilty of Lincoln hitman killing

Sam Davies was found with serious knife wounds on 27 May and later died

Four men have been found guilty of murdering a man who was "executed in cold blood" in a Lincoln park.

Sam Davies, 23, was found with knife wounds to the chest in Coleridge Gardens on 27 May and later died.

Mr Davies was killed by 20-year-old Eimantas Gochman in a planned hit arranged by Daniel Heydari, 25, Joe Jameson, 24 and Billy Gill, aged 21.

Nottingham Crown Court heard Jameson and Heydari held a grudge against Mr Davies and involved others in revenge.

During the trial, jurors heard how Gochman was waiting in the park with a Rambo-style knife, which he used to kill Mr Davies.

All four will be sentenced at a later date

The court was told Mr Davies had moved to Nottingham about a week before his death, but had returned to Lincoln after being caught stealing from a friend of Heydari.

His move from Lincoln had also coincided with him falling out with Jameson, the jury was told.

Jurors heard how Jameson and Heydari had exchanged messages and phone calls before making contact with Gochman via a fourth defendant, Billy Gill.

Rachael Dean, from the Crown Prosecution Service, said: "This was a brutal killing, ordered and executed in cold blood, with its roots in wider criminal activity.

"While there was overwhelming evidence that Gochman carried out the attack itself, he was not acting alone and these defendants are every bit as responsible for Mr Davies's death."

Heydari, of Chestnut Street, Jameson, of Whitehall Terrace, Gill, of Beaufort Close and Gochman, of Sturton Close, who had denied murder, will be sentenced at a later date.

Three other defendants charged with murder were acquitted.

They are Eric Kesel, 19, of Browning Drive, Charlie Wakefield, 21, of Broxholme Gardens and a 17-year-old boy from Lincoln who cannot be named for legal reasons.