Gatto pays tribute to hitman Bazley

Melbourne identity Mick Gatto has paid tribute to hitman James Bazley, who was convicted of conspiring to murder NSW anti-drugs campaigner Don Mackay.

Bazley - who served jail time for conspiring to murder Mr Mackay at the order of the Griffith-based Calabrian mafia - reportedly died last week in a Melbourne nursing home.

In a newspaper tribute on Wednesday, Mr Gatto, one of the few survivors of Melbourne's gangland wars, described Bazley as "a very loyal, staunch friend".