The gun-toting gang who killed father-of-three Shaun Godfrey have been sentenced to a minimum total of 68 years in custody.

Nathan Sargent, 24, Michael Hodge, 20, Mark Starr, 20, and Jason Williams, 18, hatched a plan to shoot and beat up Mr Godfrey after an argument in a Hartcliffe pub in December.

Armed with a rifle and a baseball bat, they ambushed the 26-year-old carpenter as he walked home after Starr, Hodge and Williams had clashed with him in the toilets of the Fulford House pub.

At Bristol Crown Court yesterday, Justice Roderick Evans sentenced Sargent and Hodge to life terms with a minimum of 24 years before parole, and Starr to life, with a minimum of 20 years.

Williams, who was deemed unfit to stand trial because of his severe learning difficulties, was found guilty of manslaughter by a jury yesterday morning.

He was sentenced to an indefinite Hospital Order under the Mental Health Act.

Before sentencing, it was revealed Sargent, of Lynton Road, Bedminster, had a list of previous offences running into the hundreds.

He was also wearing a criminal tag, was subject to a suspended sentence and was on bail when he carried out the fatal shot on the Friday before Christmas.

Prolific offender Hodge, of Fulford Road, Hartcliffe, was also tagged at the time.

During a trial lasting several weeks, the jury heard that after Sargent was contacted about the plan to beat up Mr Godfrey, he went to retrieve what he referred to as a "community gun" that everyone knew about.

The loaded .22 calibre, bolt-action rifle was hidden in bushes near a subway in Hartcliffe. The gang waited until Mr Godfrey was alone before Sargent approached him in Pavey Close, Hartcliffe, with the gun.

The pair struggled and Sargent claimed the gun went off as it slipped out of his hand.

Mr Godfrey, who had three young children, was shot through the heart and collapsed as he tried to flee.

Sargent, Hodge and Starr, of Pavey Close, admitted manslaughter but were all found guilty of murder.

Passing sentence, Judge Evans said: "What appears to have been a relatively minor falling out in the toilets of the pub developed quickly into a plan to seek physical revenge.

"I accept that none of you intended to kill Mr Godfrey.

"My concern is the ready availability of a firearm in your community and the speed with which each of you were prepared to have recourse to it.

"I have no doubt that Sargent was the driving force behind this act and that it was Hodge that recruited him so that the gun could be used and he had access to it."

A statement from Mr Godfrey's devastated mother, Caroline, was read in court, describing him as her "rock".

She said: "In a split second all of our lives changed.

"He was a fantastic dad. Kate, his girlfriend, has lost her soul mate, her whole being and the love of her life.

"Losing Shaun left a big hole in all our lives. I shut myself away every Friday because the memory of Friday, December 21 is still so vivid.

"We used to look forward to Christmas and now it is a time that we dread."

In mitigation for Sargent, Michael Hubbard QC said he had not intended to kill Mr Godfrey, just "disable him" so the others could attack.

Hodge's barrister, Simon Morgan, said the events had been drink and drug-fuelled and that his client "was not the author of the trouble".

Starr, who had far fewer previous convictions than Hodge and Sargent, was described as a "secondary party" by his barrister Ignatius Hughes QC.

Williams, of Whitland Road, Hartcliffe, was not in court for his sentence.

Speaking outside court, Detective Inspector Guy Turner, of Avon and Somerset police, said: "We are absolutely delighted that justice has been done for Shaun. It was a minor argument in a pub toilet that escalated into a murder that was carefully planned, as the court has heard.

"This will send out a clear message to people that consider using firearms that they too could face sentences of 20 or 24 years in prison."

"I do not accept it was a community gun, as Sargent testified, and would appeal to anyone in the community who knows the whereabouts of any firearms to hand them in or report them to police."