A former soldier who kicked his housemate to death in his bedroom and then sang a song about it was sentenced to life in jail today.

Bartosz Rejmanski, of Compton Avenue in East Ham, will serve at least 15 years in prison after the “deliberate and cowardly attack” on Grzgorz Raczek.

The 27-year-old, who served in the Polish army, admitted he lost control after Grzgorz Raczek, also a former soldier, made remarks about his time on the frontline.

Rejmanski stamped and kicked the 57-year-old’s head while he was “at his mercy on the floor”, before improvising a song on his guitar next to Mr Raczek’s dead body on March 28.

The Afghanistan veteran was found singing: “He’s dead, I killed him, I’m not scared,” in Mr Raczek’s bedroom at the East Ham address, before telling police officers: “I killed him, I’m a normal man, I’m a Polish hooligan.”

Rejmanski told jurors he felt insulted after Mr Raczek said soldiers like him only went to Afghanistan to make money, rape women and shoot little children.

He admitted manslaughter and denied murder but was unanimously convicted of murder by an Old Bailey jury.

Judge Michael Topolski QC said: “While he was at your mercy on the floor you stamped on his head with shod feet. That was a deliberate and cowardly act which is the equivalent to using a weapon.

“The fact this act took place in this man’s own bedroom, a place were he is entitled to feel safe, is another aggravating feature.”

The judge said he was moved by a statement made by the wife of the deceased which stressed the consequences for her and her family. “The way her husband died alone and in such a brutal way is for her and her children very painful,” he added.

The judge said he was satisfied the attack wasn’t premeditated but that Rejmanski “erupted suddenly following provocative remarks.”

Rejmanski also said he had been suffering from some symptoms of post traumatic stress disorder at the time and his plea of manslaughter showed he accepted responsibilty.