18 years for murder of disabled Bristol man

A murderer who killed an innocent disabled man in Bristol, who had wrongly been labelled a paedophile, has today been jailed for life.

24 year old Lee James murdered his neighbour Bijan Ebrahimi, three days after Ebrahimi was arrested amid complaints he had been taking pictures of children in Brislington.

Mr Ebrahimi, an Iranian national, died from head injuries and was then set alight in an attack on July 14.

James was given a life sentence by Mr Justice Simon at Bristol Crown Court and told he would serve a minimum term of 18 years. The judge called it an "act of murderous injustice".

A second man, 25 year old Stephen Norley, admitted assisting an offender.

Prosecutors say Norley helped James drag Mr Ebrahimi's body away from the scene of the attack and had assisted in setting fire to his body by obtaining white spirit.

The judge gave Norley a four-year jail term for "burning the body of a man you knew to be murdered".

Richard Payne reports on the background to the murder.

An Independent Police Complaints Commission Investigation has led to four constables, a sergeant and an inspector being served with notices of gross misconduct in the wake of the attack.