A YOUNG man's life was snuffed out by a partygoer for the most trivial of reasons.

It is thought the man who shot 23-year-old Michael Vernon Hanley outside a Ravensthorpe club had claimed Mr Hanley jostled him inside.

The murder happened outside Sheridan's bar at Calder Wharfe Mills in Ravensthorpe at around 5am on Tuesday - shortly after Mr Hanley had been to a party in Huddersfield with a friend.

The friend fled back to Huddersfield in panic after the senseless killing.

The detective leading the investigation, Det Supt Phil Sedgwick of West Yorkshire Police's Homicide and Major Enquiry Team, said: "We believe this was a chance confrontation that resulted in Michael's murder and that he was an innocent victim in this.

"The man we are seeking had brought a weapon to the club and had shown no reluctance in using it. This person could simply have been looking for trouble or felt that Michael had slighted him in some way."

Mr Hanley, of Harehills in Leeds, had been to a party at a house in the Leeds Road area of Huddersfield on Boxing Day night.

He was with a 23-year-old friend from Leeds, who he had known from his schooldays, and they made the fateful decision in the early hours of Tuesday to travel to Sheridan's Bar tucked away on an industrial estate behind Johnsons Drive-in Dry Cleaning on Huddersfield Road.

At a press conference in Dewsbury yesterday police revealed the friends had been in the club for two or three hours when Mr Hanley became involved in a confrontation with a man who claimed he had jostled him.

Police said this led to a fight between Mr Hanley and the man, before Mr Hanley and his friend were asked to leave by door staff.

They did, but the other man and his gang were also told to leave which led to trouble flaring again on the access road outside.

Mr Hanley and his friend were both attacked by the gang and fled.

But the gang-leader, who had started the trouble inside the club, suddenly lifted his T-shirt and pulled out a silver handgun.

He fired the 9mm automatic gun once and the bullet hit Mr Hanley in the stomach.

He fell to the ground and died a short time later at the scene from his injuries despite frantic efforts by club staff and revellers to save him.

Mr Hanley's friend suffered a slight head injury during the attack and ran to a maroon BMW 316 car parked nearby.

He got into the passenger seat and shouted at the stunned driver to speed away.

But before he could, the attackers surrounded the car and the gunman smashed the front passenger window with the butt of his weapon.

The terrified driver got out and ran into the bar for safety while Mr Hanley's friend climbed into the driver's seat and drove off at speed towards Huddersfield.

He eventually stopped close to the KFC on Leeds Road and called a friend who drove him back to the bar.

Det Supt Sedgwick said: "He was so scared he did not stop at all until he reached Huddersfield, which must be four miles away.

"He assumed the police would have arrived at the club by the time he returned and so phoned a friend to take him back."

He suffered a slight head injury during the attack which may have been caused by flying glass when the car window was smashed.

Around 200 revellers were thought to have been in the club when the trouble started and then the shot was fired outside.

Many had fled by the time police arrived and detectives have appealed for them to contact officers - or they will be traced and interviewed.

Det Supt Sedgwick said: "The bar was very busy at the time of this incident.

"We understand that most people will have left the bar and the scene quite quickly as a result of this incident.

"We are appealing to them to get in touch with us in confidence to eliminate themselves from this inquiry.

"We are also appealing for anyone who witnessed the initial fight inside the bar, or the fight and the shooting on the access road at the side of the bar, to come forward with any information."

A postmortem examination showed Mr Hanley died from a single gunshot wound to his abdomen.