A thug who brutally murdered his neighbour has been jailed for a minimum of 21 years.

Nicholas Henry smacked Daniel Greer, 33, with a shovel and stabbed him nine times during the attack in a garden in Airdrie, North Lanarkshire, on October 17, 2020.

The 45-year-old then dragged Mr Greer’s body back into the victim's home where his father made the grim discovery two days later.

Henry was today jailed for life at the High Court in Glasgow by judge Lord Scott.

He had been convicted of murder following a trial in September.

It emerged Henry had previously been jailed for 12 years in 2011 for trying to kill a man - including almost severing his hand.

Glasgow Times:

The murder trial had heard from another neighbour of the men, who had clocked Henry assaulting Mr Greer.

The woman told jurors: "I saw Nicholas in my garden with Daniel, who had his hand on his head saying 'leave me, leave me’.

"Nicholas was saying ‘get up you f*****g b*****d'."

The witness said she then saw the killer strike Mr Greer with a shovel and stamp on him.

She watched Henry drag the victim away before she closed her blinds.

The thug went on to ditch the knife in a nearby field.

Another woman - whose sister was in a relationship with Henry at the time - later chatted to him about Mr Greer.

Henry told her: "Don't worry, you will not be seeing him again, he is gone."

In his closing speech, prosecutor Euan Cameron said Henry had repeatedly knifed Mr Greer on the neck, chest, stomach and back.

The victim also suffered multiple bruises and a bleed to the brain.

Mr Cameron stated: "He struck him with such a force that the knife left a notch in one of his ribs and cut open a vein in his liver.

"Henry took him back to his home where he left him to bleed to death."

In his evidence, Henry denied murder and claimed he had been defending himself against an allegedly armed Mr Greer.