Three men who robbed and murdered "a well-liked and hard-working" businessman were yesterday jailed for life.
Wali Khan, Naveed Naveed and Sarwar Gader were told they would spend a minimum of 28 years in prison for killing Dogan Dogan.
The 50-year-old was found dead in the flat above his takeaway, Aladdin's, in Linden Street, off Evington Road, Leicester, on January 8.
Mr Dogan had suffocated while the three men searched his bedsit.
Judge Henry Globe QC said Mr Dogan suffered severe mental and physical pain amounting to "extreme torture" as he struggled for breath.
The judge said: "When he stopped struggling you could have done something to save his life by loosening the bindings around his head – you did nothing."
Khan (32) and Naveed (28) both of St Stephen's Road, Highfields, in the city, and Gader (35), of Gleneagles Avenue, Rushey Mead, Leicester, were found guilty of murder on Thursday, following a four-week trial. Naveed and Gader were also found guilty of robbery, while Khan had admitted robbery at an earlier hearing.
During yesterday's sentencing hearing at Birmingham Crown Court, Judge Globe said the plan to rob Mr Dogan came from Khan, who had befriended a member of staff at Aladdin's restaurant and learned that Mr Dogan collected the takings from his other shop in Lutterworth before retiring to bed.
The judge said Gader, who was larger than the other two, and had a propensity from his record for this kind of crime, went along to ensure that Mr Dogan could be subdued.
Judge Globe said he would make no distinction between the three defendants when it came to sentencing.
He said: "Mr Dogan was a well-liked, respected, meticulous, hard-working family man whose death has caused devastation and untold pain and suffering."
He praised the family who attended each day of the trial for their dignity. He also commended the "highest standard of professionalism" of the investigating officers in the case.
