A Bradford man, described by his mother as a “psychopath”, who killed a refugee was today being told by a judge how long he will spend behind bars after he was convicted of murder.

Martin Joyce wept in the dock as he was convicted of killing Enayit Khalili, 26, with a single knife blow on the doorstep of the Afghan refugee’s home in Oxford in March 2007.

The 22-year-old was seen arguing with Mr Khalili days before and later boasted about getting away with the murder — warning he was prepared to kill again.

Joyce, of Larch Hill, Odsal, told his sister-in-law Rose Maughan he would kill Mr Khalili one day after she saw him shouting at him in the street, the jury had been told.

On the night of the murder, Joyce, an Irish traveller, went to the Escape nightclub in Oxford’s High Street before returning to Fiennes Road in Oxford’s Rose Hill district, and stabbed Mr Khalili with such force that the blade of his knife went through his stomach and out of his back.

The blow punctured Mr Khalili’s pancreas and stomach, as well as two major veins. He stumbled to the room of his housemate Khodad Rezaie, who called 999. But Mr Khalili died a few hours later in hospital.

Joyce shouted to relatives in the public gallery at Oxford Crown Court yesterday as the jury of six men and six women returned its verdict yesterday by a majority of 11-1 after more than 12 hours of deliberations.

Members of his family — who had been searched by police on the way into the courtroom — cried and yelled as Joyce was sent down to the cells.

During the two-week trial, Joyce’s nephew Thomas McDonagh told the court he heard Joyce threatening to kill his mother Kathleen at their home in Ireland.

The court also heard Kathleen McDonagh had told police Joyce was “a real psychopath”.

The jury heard Joyce had also tried to stab an Irish police officer with a screwdriver while trying to resist arrest last December.

Extra police officers were drafted in to court after one of the witnesses claimed he had received death threats and had been warned he would be shot.

Joyce had denied murder but answered “no comment” to all questions during his police interview and refused to take the stand in court.

His barrister Richard Benson said Mr Khalili was a gambler who regularly borrowed money and suggested he could have been killed because of his debts.

Joyce was today being sentenced by Mr Justice Gross.

After the verdict, senior investigator, Detective Chief Insp Colin Seaton, said: “Enayit Khalili had his life brutally and callously taken from him at a time when he had so much to live for.

“He moved to Oxford from Afghanistan in 2001 where he built a life for himself.

“He was a hard working man who had lots of friends, hobbies and interests.

“The jury in this case has decided that Joyce murdered Mr Khalili, and he will now pay for his crime with a life sentence.

“Sadly, this will not bring back Mr Khalili and his family and friends must now try to rebuild their lives.

e-mail: newdsdesk @telegraphandargus.co.uk