Wayne Basnett

Wayne Basnett was shot and killed in Hale Village, Cheshire just after midnight on 22 December 2010.

A man was tried for his murder but acquitted.

He was shot in the head. He was taken to hospital around 2am but later died.

He was the company director of a conservatory fitting company and had been visiting Hale, near Widnes.

Police said that his murder was a pre-planned ambush.

Wayne Basnett was described as a loveable rogue and lived with his two partners with whom he both had children. He had also recently been working as a male escort.

His mother said that in the weeks before his death he had lost a lot of weight.

Wayne Basnett had lived in Widnes in a detached house and had recently had a sophisticated CCTV system installed for both the interior and exterior of the property including floodlights and movement sensors. He had ordered two systems to be installed, a dummy to be installed in the living room and a live system to be hidden in the wall of his bedroom.

He also had his garage converted into a mini nightclub.

At the trial the court heard that Wayne Basnett had been seen on CCTV footage with a gun at his property which was later found under a paving slab.

Wayne Basnett had ordered tracking devices to track a man and had used the contact details of some relatives to do it. He also arranged for the relatives to collect them for him as well as collecting steroids.

Wayne Basnett had been arrested previously in relation to the murder of Lyndon Nowell in 2002 whose murder also remains unsolved.

Wayne Basnett was born in Belle Vale.