Patryk Srutkowski and Pawel Bugajski were sentenced to life in prison, with a minimum of 25-years each at Nottingham Crown Court on Wednesday 13 August 2014.
The pair used a belt to strangle and kill Hama Faraj Noori, before trying to burn his body at his home in the Meadows area of Nottingham.
They denied the murder but were both found guilty following a two and a half week-long trial at Nottingham Crown Court which concluded on Tuesday 12 August 2014.
Mr Noori, 56, was found dead at his home in Uppingham Gardens in the Meadows area of Nottingham, on Saturday 25 January 2014. He had been killed the night before after drinking with Strutkowski and Bugajski.
Teenagers discover body
Two teenagers who knew Mr Noori had seen him on the day of his death and called round again the next day. As they approached the door to his flat, they could smell burning.
There were no lights on and after knocking on the door, they tried the handle and found it unlocked. They tentatively went inside and noticed that the TV had been moved, along with signs of a disturbance.
It wasn’t long until they came across Mr Noori’s partially covered body, lying face down in the bathroom and covered in ash. They ran outside for help and a passer-by called the emergency services.
The murder
Srutkowski and Bugajski had visited Mr Noori, an Iraqi Kurd, on the night of his death and the three drank whisky together. Bugajski claimed that Mr Noori made a sexual advance towards him which led Strutowski to ask Bugajski to kill him.
And he did so, using Strutkowski’s belt to strangle him. They then used a sleeping bag to cover his face and as Strutowski held Mr Noori, Bugajski kicked him.
Both men were bigger, younger and fitter than Mr Noori and could have easily overpowered him, the court heard. The pair then took him into the bathroom, covered him in towels, and tried to set fire to him. They attempted to disable the fire alarm. They stole things from the house but threw them away as they fled.
A post-mortem examination found bruising to Mr Noori’s neck muscles and broken neck bones, consistent with strangulation. He had sustained several broken ribs, a broken nose, a cut to his forehead and signs of blunt force trauma to his face and head.
A fire was set after he died and his left side was burnt. After going to an address in Radford, Strutkowski and Bugajski told an acquaintance that they had killed someone and went on to describe what they had done, saying they had intended to go to Mr Noori’s house to steal from him but then they agreed to kill him.
Bugajski went as far as to detail that after the murder, he helped himself to some chicken from the fridge.
Nottinghamshire Police were praised in court for a thorough investigation.
DCI Rob Griffin, who led the inquiry said, said: “These two men had been invited round to Mr Noori’s that evening to have a drink with him. He was no doubt looking forward to their company. What they actually did to him that evening can only be described as abhorrent.
“Nothing can bring Mr Noori back, but I just hope that the conviction of these two thugs will help the family bring some closure to this whole ordeal, and enable them to move on with their lives.”