Czech workers guilty of battering boss to death

The boss of a Bolton-based construction firm was murdered by two of his own workers, a court has found.

Czech labourers Jiri Motl, 33, and Vladmir Brandejs, 27, drugged 41-year-old Pavaiz Iqbal, beat him with a mallet and saucepan and robbed him in December 2006, before fleeing to their home town of Kladno near Prague.

The attack was so severe that the head of the mallet broke off and the saucepan handle snapped.

The men, who started working for Iqbal’s small contracting firm in October 2006, were arrested and extradited to the UK.

Motl was convicted of murder at Manchester Crown Court today. Brandejs admitted the charge at an earlier hearing.

The men are due to be sentenced on 13 February.