Hitman convicted of murdering T2 Trainspotting actor Bradley Welsh

Bradley Welsh was shot from close range

A contract killer has been found guilty of murdering T2 Trainspotting actor Bradley Welsh outside his flat in Edinburgh.

Sean Orman, 30, was also found guilty of the attempted murder of David McMillan, 50, the month before.

Mr Welsh, 48, was fatally shot in the head from close range in the city's Chester Street on 17 April 2019.

Orman was sentenced to life and told must served a minimum of 28 years for the murder.

He was given a 10-year sentence for the attempted murder of Mr McMillan.

Judge Lord Beckett described the shooting of Mr Welsh as a "premeditated and meticulously planned assassination".

Police Scotland's Assistant Chief Constable Judi Heaton said it was a "brutal, pre-meditated and targeted murder".

Orman had denied both charges at the High Court in Edinburgh.

'Meticulously planned assassination'

A witness told the jury that three weeks before the murder Orman told him he was going to shoot Mr Welsh and showed him the gun he was going to use.

The shotgun used was thought to have been made in the 1890s.

The trial heard evidence that Orman gunned down Mr Welsh outside his flat after being paid £10,000 by gangland figures to carry out the attack.

Mr Welsh ran a boxing gym and appeared in Danny Boyle's 2017 sequel to Trainspotting.

He was shot whilst his partner and young child were inside the property.

The shooting happened in April 2019 outside Mr Welsh's home

Judge Lord Beckett told Orman: "The degree of planning which went into this might have seen you get away with this if it weren't for the courage of the citizens of Edinburgh coming forward to speak up about what you did.

"To shoot an unarmed man as he approached his own house was a cowardly as as a wicked thing to do.

"I have read the impact of all this on his partner who describes the traumatic impact that what you did and have lost their home and no longer feel safe."

He added: "The court must do all it can to deter contract killings by imposing severe punishment."

The court heard Orman was also paid to attack Mr McMillan at his home in Pitcairn Grove, Edinburgh, on 13 March 2019.

Orman went to the house masked with other men and struck Mr McMillan on his head and body with a machete.

A forensic team near the scene of the shooting

Orman claimed at the time Mr Welsh died, he was riding a bike alone in Kirknewton, West Lothian.

Orman was caught after driving a high powered Audi Q3 through the streets of Edinburgh at speeds exceeding 123 miles per hour.

The court heard that Orman has nine previous convictions for assault, many of them aggravated, between 2006 and 2019.

On Friday, defence advocate Ian Duguid told Lord Beckett he could not offer any mitigation on behalf of his client.

Assistant Chief Constable Heaton said: "Our thoughts today are with Bradley's family who have lost a much-loved father, partner, brother and uncle.

"Police Scotland carried out a thorough, robust and professional investigation into Bradley's murder and I hope today's conviction and sentence helps to bring his family some degree of comfort.

"The Police Investigations and Review Commissioner (PIRC) carried out an independent, Crown-directed investigation into the actions of the police in relation to Bradley's death, which we fully assisted, and their report was submitted to the Crown for consideration.

"We will be contacting Bradley's family in the near future to discuss those matters and to offer our support and condolences."