Two men who stabbed a businessman to death during a wages robbery are facing life behind bars.

Family and friends of the victim wept with relief as Derek Hunter and Stephen Jones were found guilty of the murder of Michael Willard.

Mr Willard, a devoted family man, was stabbed in the office of his scaffolding firm in St Leonards in January last year.

There were no witnesses to the crime and the murder weapon was never found.

Hunter, 37, and Jones, 28, blamed each other for inflicting the fatal wound.

But after a four-week trial at Lewes Crown Court, the jury of nine women and three men unanimously convicted them both of murder.

The pair showed no emotion as the verdicts were announced.

Distraught relatives and friends, including Mr Willard's two daughters, who had sat through each day of the trial, broke down in tears.

Judge Anthony Scott-Gall will pass sentence on the two men on Monday.

Mr Willard, 63, was stabbed in the back on the afternoon of Friday, January 10, 2003, at his business, Target Scaffolding in Caves Road, St Leonards.

It was the time of the week he always held cash to pay staff and it is believed he would have had about £1,000 with him.

Shortly after 4.30pm Mr Willard called 999 and told the operator he had been robbed and stabbed before collapsing unconscious.

Mr Willard, of Harley Shute Road, St Leonards, died from a single fatal knife wound soon afterwards at the Conquest Hospital, Hastings.

After the verdicts were announced, his daughter Sarah said: "We are only here with this successful result due to Sussex Police, who have worked tirelessly over the past 20 months to secure a conviction."

She thanked all who had worked on the case, including the witnesses who came forward.

She added: "Although we are delighted with the result, it is not a victory.

"It doesn't change the fact dad lost his life in a horrific manner and the family have had their lives changed for ever."

It was the second time the family had been forced to endure the ordeal of sitting through a trial.

The two men originally went on trial in May but the proceedings were halted after 11 days when Hunter was injured during trouble in jail after drinking hooch, an alcoholic drink made secretly by inmates.

During the trial, the court heard Jones knew Mr Willard because he had worked for him in the past on a casual basis and the murdered man had known Jones's father for years.

Jones, a father-of-two, of Perth Road, St Leonards, had denied robbery and murder.

He told the jury he and Hunter had agreed to commit a crime to get cash but he was reluctant to rob the scaffold yard because he knew Mr Willard.

He said he only robbed drug dealers because they were easy targets who did not complain to the police.

He said they left his car in a nearby street and walked towards the yard.

A car was parked near the entrance and they decided to keep walking.

Jones claimed Hunter then suggested they rob a nearby newsagent but Jones refused because he did not want to frighten the woman shopkeeper.

He said Hunter pulled out a knife and rolled it in a copy of Friday-Ad.

Jones claimed Hunter went into the shop alone while he walked back to his car.

He said: "I got into my car. A couple of minutes later, Hunter got in the car. He came sprinting round the corner. I didn't know what was going on. He said 'drive' and then pulled out a couple of wage packets.

"The paper unrolled and I saw the knife and it had a big bend in it. I freaked out. I asked what had happened. His words were, 'I had to stab him'."

Hunter, of West Hill Road, St Leonards, gave conflicting evidence to the jury.

He admitted robbing Mr Willard but denied murder.

He claimed it was Jones's idea to rob Mr Willard after they had both been smoking heroin and crack cocaine and it was Jones who inflicted the fatal wound.

Detective Chief Inspector Reg Hooke, who led the murder inquiry, said Hunter and Jones had been convicted of murdering a wholly innocent man.

He said: "This has been achieved after a painstaking 20-month police investigation that has removed from Sussex, particularly Hastings, two individuals who have brought nothing but crime, violence and drugs to the area.

"It is to the credit of the people of Hastings that they have had the courage to stand up and be counted in supporting the police in their investigations.

"I believe Sussex Police have shown the considerable support we can, and will, give to people prepared to support criminal prosecutions.

"I want to pay tribute to Mr Willard's family, in particular his daughters Sarah and Victoria Willard, who, until his death, would speak with their father daily.

"Mick was a member of a wonderful and supportive family who have been devastated by their loss.

"In spite of this being the lowest ebb in their lives they have attended every day of this four-week retrial and every day of the previous three-week trial in June.

"They have listened to distressing detail and seen for themselves the lack of remorse, the lies told and the indifference Hunter and Jones have shown for what they have done.

"They now all need time to themselves to recover from the significant strain the trial itself has also presented and return to some normality."