Man gets life for flat strangling

Haroon Ahmed Niged admitted killing Marian-ion Matei

A 27-year-old illegal immigrant has been jailed for life for murdering a Romanian man in Greater Manchester.

Haroon Ahmed Niged, of Stockport Road, Longsight, must serve at least 14 years for strangling Marian-ion Matei, 23, in a row over a woman they had both dated.

The victim's body was found in January at a flat in Hamilton Road, Longsight, which Niged also rented, police said.

Niged had earlier admitted the murder charge, Manchester Crown Court was told.

A post-mortem examination found Mr Matei died from strangulation.

Police said a friend of Niged, an illegal immigrant from Pakistan who had only started renting the Hamilton Road flat a few days before the killing, had told them on 30 January there was a body there.

'Completely destroyed'

The witness told detectives that Niged had admitted killing Mr Matei in a row over their girlfriend, who they had both gone out with.

Niged asked the witness if he would let him use his car to dispose of the body, but the witness refused.

Officers attended and discovered the body of Mr Matei under a bed wrapped in a curtain, with his legs bound with rope.

Mr Matei was an illegal immigrant from Romania and it is not known how long he had been in Britain, police said.

Det Sgt Carl Jones, from Greater Manchester Police, said: "It's sad that a young man has lost his life in this way.

"He was a man who had come to this country, like so many others, for a better life."

In a victim impact statement given to the court, Mr Matei's sister Monica said: "My entire family has been completely destroyed by his death.

"We are a poor family and cannot afford to come to England to see the man who killed our brother be convicted for what he has done."