Property tycoon Nicholas van Hoogstraten has won £500,000 from the family of a man he was once convicted of killing.

The Hove millionaire declared yesterday: I couldnt give a s**t about the money. I just dont want that bunch of s**tbags to have it.

The family of murdered slum landlord Mohammed Raja must pay him an initial £90,000 within two months, a judge ruled.

It is to cover the legal expenses of Mr Hoogstratens successful appeal against a £5 million law suit filed by the Rajas.

In an exclusive interview with The Argus from his base at Courtlands Hotel in The Drive, Hove, he said: Theyve got to pay my legal costs, which could turn out to be anything between £450,000 and £650,000.

I don't need it but its my money and if I choose to give it away Ill choose one of the charities I support in Zimbabwe, not that family.

Mr Rajas son Amjad said the family was disappointed by the courts decision but vowed to continue court action against Mr Hoogstraten.

Mr Raja, 62, had been suing Mr Hoogstraten, a former business partner, when he was shot dead by two men who, it was claimed at an Old Bailey criminal trial, were acting as agents for Mr Hoogstraten.

Mr Hoogstraten, 59, was sentenced to ten years prison in 2002 for manslaughter but the conviction was set aside by the Court of Appeal earlier this year.

The family continued with the £5 million claim and a High Court judge imposed severe penalties on Mr Hoogstraten after he failed to comply with court orders to disclose his assets.

Those assets were frozen worldwide, fines totalling £1 million were imposed and his property was sequestrated.

But the orders were overturned by appeal court judges in July.

Mr Hoogstraten immediately declared himself back in business, and set about taking action against tenants, including the World Bank, over unpaid rent.

But it is said the civil case against Mr Hoogstraten will go back to the High Court, with a hearing expected within a year.

Mr Hoogstraten laughed off the threat, saying: "They already owe£500,000 in their own legal fees, now theyve been ordered to pay me another half a million.

Do you really think they are going to be able to find all that and then another half million to start action all over again?

I really dont think so. They havent got a bean.

As far as Im concerned my dealings with that family are over and I couldnt be happier.

But Amjad Raja told The Argus: We are very disappointed with the justice we have received in this country.

The appeals process has served Hoogstraten well.

But we are determined to pursue our claim.

Its true the legal expenses are taking a toll on us. We are not as loaded as Hoogstraten, but if we give up now our father would have died in vain.

Asked if he was putting the boot in by claiming money from the family of the murdered man, Mr Hoogstraten said: Dont make me laugh.

Putting the boot in? I went to prison for something I didnt do and I blame that family.

They said terrible things about me.

He was originally convicted of hiring hitmen David Croke and Robert Knapp to murder Mr Raja on his doorstep in Surrey. Croke and Knapp are serving life sentences.

The tycoon and Mr Rajas son were in court in London to hear Lord Justice Pill and Lord Justice Chadwick rule that Mr Hoogstraten should be awarded costs. They rejected an application by the Rajas that payment should be deferred pending the final result of the civil action.