TWO men have been found guilty of murdering a Burnley man during a row over eight cans of beer and an iPad.

Keith Passmore suffered more than 30 stab wounds to his face and body, after being savagely attacked with a knife and pair of scissors on January 10, last year.

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Paul Howarth, of Clifton Road, Burnley and Gary Burley, of Herbert Street, Burnley were convicted of the murder of the 60-year-old following a second trial at Preston Crown Court.

Both men were yesterday sentenced to life imprisonment.

In the aftermath of the attack at a flat in Clifton Road the court was told, Burley was heard to say: “my daughter can’t find out I’m a murderer”.

A jury heard the attack was so ferocious Mr Passmore’s facial bones were broken.

He was then dumped in a bath in a bid to clean him up before he was dragged to a chair where he was found slumped with stab and slash wounds to his neck and torso by emergency services.

Sentencing Howarth, 49, to a minimum term of 20 years and Burley, 45, to a minimum term of 21 years, Mrs Justice Cheema-Grubb, said: “Keith Passmore was a man with a big heart, your neighbour.

“It was a senseless act of violence, a terrible killing with 30 stab wounds including knife and scissor wounds.”

The court was told Burley, a heroin addict, and Howarth, an alcoholic, were friends with Mr Passmore, who previously worked in the textile industry and had recently moved into the flat above Howarth in Clifton Road.

On the morning of January 10, 2015 the three men started drinking together in the bedroom of Howarth’s ground floor flat.

The court heard Mr Passmore had previously agreed to sell a tablet computer but had instead swapped it for eight cans of beer at a local off licence.

Burley, who admitted using £30 of heroin a day, had no money to buy drugs and had begun to withdraw, despite taking the prescription painkiller Tramadol to take the edge off his symptoms.

As Mr Passmore and Howarth drank wine and lager, Burley became increasingly agitated, and when Mr Passmore stood up to him, claiming he had been in the SAS, Burley struck a blow to his head, knocking him backwards onto the bed.

What followed is unclear but the court heard Howarth kept a knife behind his headboard although both men denied using it.

A jury was told throughout the day, Burley and Howarth made repeated visits to nearby Singh’s Stores to top up on booze and cigarettes.

But while the pair continued their drinking binge, Mr Passmore, lay dead in Howarth’s flat until paramedics arrived 6.30pm.

During the trial the jury was shown CCTV which captured the men walking first casually, then increasingly intoxicated between the flat and the shop.

Later they called on Kathleen Green, Howarth’s former girlfriend, to ask her to help them.

Mrs Green told the court: “When we were walking through the subway Gary said, ‘did you see when I gave him that uppercut? And Paul said he had stamped on him.

“No-one said a knife had been used but Gary said, ‘my daughter can’t find out I’m a murderer’.

“I just didn’t believe what they were saying as we were walking round. They were saying things and I was going ‘yeah, right. You wouldn’t be talking like this’.”

But when they arrived at the flat, Mrs Green said she saw a broken knife in the bedroom and Mr Passmore’s body.

Burley, was also convicted of making threats to kill Mrs Green, but was found not guilty of possessing an offensive weapon.

However Mrs Green later called 999 and gave key evidence about what she had seen.

Howarth told the court he did not remember anything about the day of Mr Passmore’s murder, although the jury heard a clear 999 call made by him at 6.30pm in which he claimed to have returned home to find a dead man in his flat.

Burley accepted he had punched Mr Passmore but said he had not used a knife or scissors to attack him.

Mrs Justice Grubb said: “You are both responsible for these fatal injuries. You then continued to purchase alcohol and sought the assistance of a woman, Kathleen Green, who was horrified by what she had seen.

“Your violence robbed Mr Passmore’s family.”

DI Andy Cribbin, who led the investigation, said: “I would like to thank the jury for the careful consideration and deliberation they have shown in reaching the verdicts and I am pleased that Howarth and Burley have been sentenced for this brutal attack.

“Keith Passmore died as a result of a violent, sustained attack and the weapons and force used to cause the multitude of injuries Mr Passmore endured was shocking.

“At no point has either of these men accepted any responsibility for Keith’s death and their lies have resulted in his family having to go through the trauma of an initial murder trial and a subsequent retrial.

“Keith’s family have remained dignified throughout the whole investigation and court process. My thoughts remain with them at this time and I hope that today’s verdict brings some comfort to them.”