Two guilty of traveller's murder

The body of John Finney was found in Ickleford last year

Two men have been found guilty of murdering a traveller whose dismembered body was found in Hertfordshire.

The headless and handless body of 42-year-old John Finney was discovered in Ickleford in March 2008, two weeks after he was abducted from his vehicle.

Norman Jones and his son Joseph were found guilty of his murder.

Mark Curran was acquitted of the killing and Gary Lattimore was cleared of murder and an alternative charge of assisting an offender.

Norman Jones, 50, of Dukes Head Yard, Highgate; Joseph Jones, 23, of Crescent Road, New Barnet; Mark Curran, 28, of Mill Bridge, Dollis Valley Way, Barnet, all north London, and Gary Lattimore, 40, of no fixed address, had all denied murder.

Blood spots

During the nine-week trial the jury heard that the gang thought 42-year-old Mr Finney had taken their "gear" - believed to be drugs - and sought revenge.

It was alleged they abducted then killed him, dismembering and abandoning his naked body, which was found in undergrowth behind a garage block two weeks later.

His head and hands have never been found.

The court was told Mr Finney had been abducted from Park Farm, Northaw, where he lived in a caravan.

Jurors were told Mr Finney's body was taken to an industrial unit in Hitchin where it was dismembered before being dumped.

The unit was cleaned by the gang, who also commissioned a cleaning company, but blood spots from Mr Finney were later found by police, the court heard.

Spain arrest

The prosecution told the court Mr Finney had spoken to friends about threatening phone calls in which he was told if he did not return the "gear" they would "put a lump of lead in him".

The calls were later linked to Joseph Jones, the court heard.

During the trial, the jury was told that Joseph Jones and his girlfriend went to Malaga in Spain on 8 March, followed by Norman Jones on 11 March.

Both men were arrested in Spain in May last year, the court heard. They are due to be sentenced on Tuesday.