Fresh appeal to find Liverpool Sunday League gangster's killer

Police are making a fresh appeal for information two years after Sunday League football manager with gangster links was shot to death. Nicky Ayers was shot at close range outside his mother-in-law's home in Liverpool on 29th April 2010. The 46 year-old was shot at least seven times outside the property on South Cantrill Avenue and was pronounced dead at the scene by paramedics. At the crime scene forensic teams found at least six bullet-casings but despite the arrest of violent gangster James "Pancake" Taylor nobody has been charged with his murder. Mr Ayres was married with two daughters and two grandchildren and managed the Western Approaches Football Team in West Derby in the north of the city. But he was also connected to many of the city's top gangsters and his death allegedly triggered a turf war between rival gangs wanting control of cocaine and drug networks. Two years on Merseyside Police are appealing for anyone with fresh information about the murder of Nicky Ayers. The investigation has been complex and so far 17 people have been arrested in connection with the murder. A £20,000 reward has been offered that leads to the capture, arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible. At around the time of the shooting, a light-coloured, possibly silver car was seen leaving Snowberry Road into Princess Drive in the direction of Finch Lane. It did an immediate U-turn and drove back into Snowberry Road. Det Insp Rob Hill said: "We are still determined to catch the people responsible for this murder. "We are particularly keen for the person or people in this vehicle to come forward. "They may have seen something, no matter how small, which could help us with our inquiries. "We are also still keen to speak to anyone who may have seen a motorcycle being driven in the area around the time of the incident to come forward. "Community information is vital when investigating reports of this type and we need your help." He added: "Mr Ayers' family and friends still mourn his death as much today as they did when the news was first broken two years ago. "He left his wife Jackie, two daughters Lyndsay and Nicola, grandson Nicholas and granddaughter Ria Nicole - and they miss him greatly. "Two years on, people may have moved from the area or may be in a different situation from then and now feel in a position to talk to the police. "If this is you, I would urge you to come forward. You could provide vital answers which we want to give to Mr Ayers' family. "We are committed to finding those responsible." On what would have been his 48th birthday in September last year Merseyside Police detectives released information about the murder they think was a gangland execution. Ayers left his mother-n-law's house where he had spent the evening having dinner and watching Crimewatch at 9:30pm and went to meet a friend in the Meadow Lane area. The two men then visited a fish and chip shop and remained together until 11:30pm. Detectives believe Nicky Ayres may have been lured to his death when he mysteriously returned to his mother-in-law's house at 12:30am. After parking his green Landrover, Ayres was cornered and gunned down by his killer who then escaped. Notorious and ruthlessly violent mobster James "Pancake" Taylor, 30, was arrested a day after the killing but released after questioning on bail. Taylor is wanted by police for carrying out a kebab-shop machete attack on former boxer Lee Siner, 27, in October last year with Jennifer Ellison's ex-boyfriend Tony Richardson. Richardson was jailed for eight years in December but Taylor went on the run and is thought to be hiding in Amsterdam or Spain.