IN the seedy underworld of drugs and crime where life comes cheap, Darren Bell's price tag read a mere £1,000.

It was a price paid for crossing three notorious drug dealers over an unpaid debt.

Police say Bell's killers, Paul McWilliams, Anthony O'Reilly and Imtiaz Chopdat were all heavily involved in drug-related crime.

All three were Blackburn-born and bred, known to one another through their involvement in drugs and familiar to the police, though killing was something different for all of them.

The trio were known by their street names, McWilliams was Ped, O'Reilly was Toz and Chopdat, Chops -- and dealing Class A drugs was their trade.

The price of cocaine meant a fast buck was there to be made, even if it meant making enemies.

Pub doorman Bell became one of those enemies and was shot dead almost a year ago to the day as he enjoyed a party with friends at a house in Mona Road, Blackburn, in the early hours of Thursday, February 22.

The dispute started after a friend of Bell, Mark Wareing, supplied Chopdat with an ounce of cocaine, worth around £1,000. Chopdat refused to pay and Bell became entangled after offering to help his friend get his money back.

The dispute began to spiral out of control with threats and intimidation on both sides. At one point both sides arranged to meet for a fight in Witton Park. Police turned up and they were forced to flee.

The animosity continued and three weeks before the shooting a fight broke out at the Dog Inn, in Revidge Road, Blackburn, between Bell and McWilliams.

Bell, who was due to appear at Blackburn magistrates on affray charges, stabbed McWilliams in the face.

Ped, Toz and Chops decided to teach Darren Bell a lesson. They arrived at the Mona Road house and fired the guns --O'Reilly through the back door hitting Bell in the stomach and McWilliams through the front door, hitting Mark Wareing and another man, Stephen Bashir, as they ran up the stairs.

Despite the efforts of paramedics at the scene and surgeons at Blackburn Infirmary, Bell died on the operating table.

The shooting shocked the residents of Mona Road, many of whom heard the gunfire.

One man, who asked not to be named, said: "I woke up at about 3am and heard a loud bang but it sounded just like a car backfiring. I didn't think any more of it until I saw the police."

A woman added: "I've lived here for years and never known any trouble round here. It's always been very quiet."

A man in his 40s who lives in Mona Road and also asked not to be named said today: "People still talk about it round here because its such a quiet area. You hear about these things on the news but you never expect it to happen on your own doorstep. I know people who won't let their kids go out after dark because of this."

The Rev Andrew Raynes, of Christ Church, Moseley Street, said he had kept in close touch with Bell's widow.

He added: "This was an incident which sent shockwaves through the local community because you just don't expect anything like this to happen. A lot of people have been very supportive to Darren's family in the past year and it's clear he had a great many friends in Blackburn."

More than 30 detectives were assigned to the squad set up to investigate the shooting.

It was a thorough and painstaking inquiry with a fingertip search of the area around the house and door-to-door inquiries in the area.

It was these inquiries that led police to McWilliams, O'Reilly and Chopdat. The guns have never been found. Bell, 31, lived with his wife Kirsty and baby daughter Olivia in a spacious and modern semi-detached house in York Road.

He had grown up in Barrow-on-Furness and moved to Canada when he was three, spending five years there before returning to England. He moved to Blackburn when he was about 18.