The man who killed his love rival by stabbing him 20 times with a large kitchen knife has been sentenced to life behind bars.

Gulam Chowdhury, 24, of Heenan Close, Barking, will serve a minimum of 28 years for the murder of Mohammed Yasser Afzal the Old Bailey heard this morning.

Sentencing him, Judge Timothy Pontius said the CCTV footage of the murder was amongst the worst he had ever seen.

“No one can doubt that this was an attack of appalling savagery,” he added.

“A planned attack of that gravity leads to the inescapable conclusion that the defendant’s intention was not just to cause serious injury but to kill.”

During the four week trial, the court heard how by Mr Afzal, 22, was killed by love rival Chowdhury at the E20 car control room where he worked in Stratford.

On the night that Mr Afzal was killed, Chowdhury arrived at the cab office at around 8pm with an eight inch knife, vaulted the counter and attacked him before fleeing the scene.

He never regained consciousness and a post mortem examination revealed Mr Afzal had been stabbed 20 times.

Witnesses described how Chowdhury, who was carrying a distinctive JD Sports shoulder bag, had been seen lurking around the office in the minutes before the stabbing.

He was placed at the scene following analysis of CCTV and phone records.

More to follow.