The getaway van used in the murder of Mohammed Raja was sold to a man in his 20s a month before, a jury heard today.

The white C-registration Ford Transit was found burned out a few streets from Mr Raja's home after the killing on July 2, 1999.

When sold, it had a distinctive light-up sign reading Thunderbird Two above the front windscreen, The Old Bailey heard.

Former owner John Faulkner said: "I had a sign made saying Thunderbird Two as I was into the Thunderbirds."

He said his previous vehicle was called Star Truck Enterprise.

Mr Faulkner described Thunderbird Two as "a good workhorse but not a fast van."

The jury heard Mr Faulkner sold it in early June 1999 for £450 to a man in his early 20s.

The name given on the vehicle registration document by the buyer was George Tatler. A false address in Leyton, east London, was given.

Mr Faulkner said the man who bought the vehicle passed a comment about two Arsenal stickers as he was a Leyton Orient supporter.

The prosecution alleges David Croke, 59, of Bolney Road, Moulsecoomb and Robert Knapp, 53, of Convent Street, Abbeyfeale, Co Limerick, shot and stabbed Mr Raja before fleeing in the van.

A knife found in the vehicle was stained with blood whose DNA matched that of Mr Raja, the court was told.

Croke and Knapp deny murder.

Millionaire landlord Nicholas van Hoogstraten, 57, of Highcross Estate, Framfield, denies murder and conspiracy to murder.

The trial continues.