A man has been jailed for life for the double murder of a hotelier and his young nephew in Forest Gate in 2003. The judge ordered him serve a minimum of 26 years.

Mohammed Khan, 27, of no fixed abode, was found guilty of shooting Amarjit Singh, 52 and Rajinder Singh, 35, in Atherton Mews.

Woolwich Crown Court heard the murdered men jointly owned and ran the Forest View Hotel at Romford Road.

On August 29, 2003, Khan had been involved in a dispute with the victims over parking at the rear of their premises when Khan had blocked Atherton Mews with his vehicle whilst attending a nearby mosque. Having been unable to drive their van down to the back of the hotel the victims parked it across the mews blocking Khan’s vehicle in.

The men had a heated argument before Khan left in his vehicle. He returned with two other men and began to damage the hotel van.

At around 2.20pm the victims ran out into Atherton Mews to confront the suspects. Khan was then seen to take a Mach 10 machine pistol out of a bag and fired 10 rounds killing Amarjit and Rajinder.

Amarjit’s 26-year-old daughter was also present but escaped unharmed.

Post mortem examinations gave cause of death for both men as gunshot wounds.

Khan was quickly identified as a suspect but he had already fled the UK to Pakistan. He was later traced to Bangladesh and with the assistance of the Bangladeshi authorities he was arrested in Dhaka on August 5, 2010 and extradited to the UK two months later.

Three other men were arrested in connection with the murders. They were released without charge.