A man who killed his colleague in a drunken rage at the house they were renovating has been found guilty of murder.

Dawid Wycik, 28, of no fixed abode, stabbed 67-year-old Czeslaw Swiatkowski to death in a house in Mount Pleasant Lane, Lower Clapton, at 11.30pm on January 24.

Police and the London Ambulance Service were called to the address following reports of a disturbance.

They found Mr Swiatkowski, a Polish national, inside the property suffering from stab injuries, and despite the efforts of emergency services, he was declared dead a short time later.

Wycik, who is also from Poland, was arrested at the scene on suspicion of murder and was charged the following day.

A post-mortem examination gave cause of death as a stab wound to the abdomen.

A jury unanimously found him guilty of murder yesterday at Inner London Crown Court.

Det Insp Brett Hagen, of the specialist crime command, said: “Justice has been served today with this verdict.

“Wycik violently assaulted his 67-year-old work colleague in a drunken rage after he was politely asked to leave a property the victim had been renovating.

“Not content with punching Czeslaw multiple times in the face and knocking him to the ground, he then proceeded to pick up a kitchen knife from nearby and stab him while he lay prone on the floor.

“This was a cold, calculated and cowardly act of murder committed against a defenceless man some 40-plus years his elder.

“I hope Czeslaw’s family can take some small comfort from this outcome, albeit they’ll never comprehend why Wycik decided to use the lethal force he did.”