A MAN has been sentenced to life imprisonment for murdering his ex-partner's son at New Year.

Vladislav Pomozov, 45, was told he will serve a minimum term of 18 years for stabbing Andrejs Trofimovics to death, at Winchester Crown Court today.

As previously reported, Pomozov - originally from Kazakhstan - was unanimously convicted by a jury of seven women and five men at an earlier hearing.

He was also found guilty of wounding Andrej's father Jevgenijs with intent for which he has been sentenced to seven years, to run concurrently.

Pomozov was cleared of attempting to murder Jevgenijs, by jurors.

A statutory surcharge has been ordered and the 183 days Pomozov has already spent on remand will count towards his sentence.

The court had heard how Pomozov and his then partner Olga Trofimovica – Jevgenijs’s ex-wife and Andrejs’s mother – attended the New Year’s Eve party at Jevgenijs’s flat at Cleveland Road, Bournemouth.

They joined Jevgenijs and his family for a meal, contacting family back home in Latvia, and consuming a lot of alcohol.

Prosecuting, Nigel Lickley QC, had told the court that an argument broke out between the three men as they stood in the kitchen, shortly after midnight, during which Andrejs accused Pomozov of mistreating Olga through his alleged gambling. Pomozov, of Holdenhurst Road, was said to have smirked in response before leading Andrejs away from his father and stabbing him with a large kitchen knife.

DS Mark Jenkins, of Dorset Police’s major crime investigation team, said: “This was a senseless and unprovoked crime resulting in the death of a young man in the prime of his life, visiting his family at New Year and the serious injury of his father in his own home.

"I wish to pay tribute to Andrejs’s family who have conducted themselves with calm dignity having found themselves in a truly horrific situation through no fault of their own while celebrating New Year. They have been very supportive of the investigation and prosecution and trusted the criminal justice system in a foreign country to obtain the justice they deserve.”

In a short statement, the family of Andrejs Trofimovics, said: "We would like to thank Dorset Police for their thorough investigation, victim support and to everyone who has supported us through this difficult time. We will never forget our wonderful son, brother, grandson and friend and his actions on that night that saved his father's life."