
Ex-brookside star Brian Regan drove the getaway car for a gunman who blasted a bouncer in the face from point blank range, a Liverpool court heard.
The former soap actor is accused of taking Edward Heffey to and from the scene where doorman Bahman Faraji was shot in an execution style killing in February this year.
Liverpool Crown Court heard how Regan, 53, picked up the gunman in his Ford Escort before dropping him off near the Belgrave Pub in Aigburth, Liverpool.
Wearing headphones and dressed in a grey fleece and black t shirt, Regan showed no emotion as the case against him was outlined to the jury.
The prosecution said the murder was carried out on behalf of another man, who cannot be named for legal reasons.
Prosecuting, Brian Cummings QC, said: "On the evening of 24th February, Bahman Faraji went to the Belgrave public house in the Aigburth area of Liverpool.
"He went in the company of three men and spent about ten minutes inside during which time he made a number of phone calls.
"The three of them then went outside and stood on the pavement near to the front entrance. A short while later a man approached and said Faraji something like 'are you ben?'(nickname)
"He nodded and the man raised what appeared to be a shortened double barrelled shotgun and fired it into his face.
"There was a cloud of smoke and Faraji fell to the ground.
"The gunman left the scene on foot and witnesses saw him carrying a gun under his arm.
"The prosecution allege that he got into a waiting vehicle driven by Brian Regan."
Mr Cummings said Faraji was lured to the pub following a series of phone calls he received from a pay-as-you-go mobile phone.
It is alleged the 44-year-old, was enticed to the spot by Simon Smart who orchestrated the murder from a safe distance feeding the gunman information about the doorman's whereabouts.
Mr Cummings added: "All the indications were that this was a dirty phone obtained for the purpose of luring Mr Faraji to his death and used in a disciplined way that was designed to leave no clue as to the identity of its user.
"Heffey was in telephone contact with Smart on the night, in the lead up to the shooting.
"And of course the prosecution allege that Smart, using the "dirty" phone, was in contact with the victim."
The court heard how the following day Regan and his girlfriend Christine Line were stopped by police driving a vehicle similar to one spotted at the scene.
Regan denied being in the area when the murder took place in a witness statement, but were arrested later that evening.
On the way to the station Regan told police: "I want to help you but I'll be shot."
Following questioning, Line, who is charged with perverting the course of justice, admitted that she had lied about being with Regan on the night.
She also revealed that Regan had visited her at work the morning after the murder and asked her to dispose of a pair of black fleeced gloves, which she threw in a dustbin.
A fourth man, Lee Dodson is accused of putting Regan in touch with the gunman. All four men deny murder.
The trial continues.
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