A man who pressured his 14-year-old son to take the blame for a murder he committed has been jailed for at least 26 years.

Tree surgeon Matthew Moseley, 50, shot Lee Holt, 32, dead before he handed the firearm to son Thomas and told him to tell police he was the one who pulled the trigger outside their home in Oswaldtwistle last October.

Thomas made the fake confession and his father stayed silent as the teenager was arrested and led away in handcuffs last October.

The teenager later changed his account of the incident in Barnard Close and told police that his father was in fact the shooter but the defendant maintained his innocence.

Last week Moseley was found guilty of murder by a jury at Preston Crown Court following a three-week trial.

On Tuesday at the same court he was jailed for life and ordered to serve a minimum term of 26 years.

Mr Holt, from Accrington, went to Barnard Close with his partner Kate Phelan, 34, and her 15-year-son Wesley Metcalfe to confront Thomas over an ongoing dispute between the schoolboys.

Witnesses said Ms Phelan banged on the front windows and Mr Holt kicked the front door as they shouted for the Moseleys to come out.

On Friday, a jury at Preston Crown Court unanimously found Matthew Moseley guilty of murder.

Following the verdict, senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector Jill Johnston of Lancashire Police said: "Matthew Moseley has shown no remorse for his actions and instead allowed his own son, a 14-year-old boy, to go through the ordeal of being arrested and questioned by the police, for something which all along he knew he had done.

"If that wasn't wicked enough, he then also pressurised the boy to take responsibility for a crime that he hadn't committed and told the court during the trial that he was innocent and that the boy had fired the fatal shot.

"Moseley was a licensed firearm holder and should have known how dangerous these kinds of weapons are in the wrong hands. Instead, in the heat of an altercation he used one of them to take a man's life needlessly - all over a silly ongoing dispute between two boys.

"The impact of what all of the people at that front door witnessed, from both sides of the disagreement, cannot be underestimated. In some way, each and every one of their lives will have been hugely affected.

"I would like to thank the jury for their careful consideration and hope that today's result provides some comfort to Lee Holt's family."

In a statement, Mr Holt's mother, Marilyn Holt, said: "Lee was my son and I loved him dearly.

"Nobody should lose one of their children. But they certainly shouldn't be lost in these circumstances, gunned down on a doorstep in a quiet residential street.

"I'm not sure how the family will ever recover from this. Instead of having Lee the son, Lee the father and Lee the brother, we now only have our memories.

"He will never walk his daughters down the aisle. He will never meet his own grandchildren. Lee deserved so much more."