THE legacy of life which followed the murder of a former East Lancashire journalist's son has continued with a birth of a baby boy for the Italian woman who received his transplanted liver.

Seven-year-old Nicholas Green was shot in the head by Mafia gunmen in 1994 as his family drove through Southern Italy in their hired car.

His parents, Reg and Maggie Green, made the heart-rending decision to donate their son's organs, giving seven desperately ill Italian people a new lease of life.

Now Maria Pia Pedala Bettino, whose life was saved when she received Nicholas' transplanted liver, has given birth to a baby boy, whom she has named after the tragic youngster.

Maria, who was in a coma when she received the liver, said: "We believe this was a gift from Nicholas in heaven, so we decided to give our son the same name."

She said she now considers Mr and Mrs Green and his wife as part of her family.

Reg, who once worked for the Lancashire Evening Telegraph's predecessor the Northern Daily Telegraph, now lives in California with his wife and three children.

Two Italian men are back behind bars for murdering Nicholas.

Michele Jannello, 29, and Francesco Mesiano, 24, were acquitted after serving part of their jail sentences.

But an Italian court threw out the acquittal decision and the men have been returned to jail.

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