EX-VIKINGS star Ryan MacDonald has spoken of his hatred for his former nightclub bouncer colleague David Bieber who was sentenced to life imprisonment for shooting dead PC Ian Broadhurst on Boxing Day last year.

In an exclusive interview with the Weekly News, Mr MacDonald claimed Bieber once told him that he needed to obtain a gun as 'he had fallen out with some people'.

Mr MacDonald, 26, gave evidence against the gunman in Newcastle Crown Court last week where the prop forward spoke about his relationship with Bieber when Mr Mac-Donald, now playing for Halifax, used to work as doorman alongside the killer at the Leeds night club Heaven and Hell.

Mr MacDonald said: 'When I knew him he was called Nathan Coleman, I later found out that he had been using a fake identity after pinching it from somebody who had died back in America.

'He always used to be all right with me but even then he did act strange at times. He used to talk about his bodybuilding and all he used to do all day was weights and go to bed.

'There has been talk about his steroid abuse - but nobody can ever condone what he did to that poor man. I'm still shocked.

'I once got into a conversation with him after I enquired about his eye which was black as a result of a fight that he got involved in. I asked him what had gone on and he told me that he had fallen out with some people and needed a gun.'

Mr MacDonald decided to testify in court, after talking to his wife and a former teammate, to 'make sure justice was done'.

He said: 'You don't expect to see an old work colleague on the pages of every newspaper in Britain wanted for murder, so it was a bit of a shock.

'The thing my wife said to me was that the policeman who was killed could have been a family member or friend and she asked how I would feel if it was me.'

Mr MacDonald testified under the watchful eye of armed guards.

He added: 'I was nervous giving evidence but the police were really helpful and made things a little easier. I'm glad he is now behind bars for the rest of his life as what he has done is disgusting and cannot ever be condoned.'

A jury found Bieber guilty for the murder of PC Broadhurst and the attempted murder of his colleagues PC Neil Roper and PC James Banks.