The colleague of a father-of-seven from Thamesmead who went missing in January has been found guilty of hacking him to death.

Imran Muhammed, 31, took an axe to 49-year-old Seyed Khan's head when he came to work on January 24 after Mr Khan suspected him of stealing money.

A jury at the Old Bailey took 13-and-a-half hours to convict shop assistant Muhammed, a Pakistani national, of Mr Khan's murder.

The court heard that Mr Khan took 12 blows to the head at A-Z Carpets in Ilford before Muhammed wheeled his body to a cemetery in a shopping trolley.

Muhammed then cleaned up the blood and called police "coolly and deliberately" to "spin a false story" about what had happened.

His account claimed he had been robbed and slashed on the arm with a piece of glass.

When Mr Khan's body was found eight days later, a murder investigation was launched which led to Muhammed's arrest in Glasgow.

According to prosecutors, Muhammed did not deny the murder or the cover story when he was arrested, but argued he had lost his temper after Mr Khan made a sexual advance towards him.

Prosecutor Tim Cray said: "The defendant claims that Seyed was trying to blackmail and rape him and that as a result, he snapped, lost his self control and killed Seyed."

However, they argued the attack was "planned and deliberate" murder.

In the weeks before the killing, the victim told his wife that an employee had been stealing money but begged him to take pity.

The court heard Muhammed's previous convictions for dishonesty and the fact he was an over-stayer in the UK had given him a "motive to kill".

Throughout the trial he denied murder and maintained he was being sexually attacked by Khan.

Muhammed has been remanded in custody and will be sentenced on Friday.