A former altar boy has been found guilty of murdering a gay supermarket worker he believed to be a paedophile.

Christopher Hunnisett, 28, leapt over the dock in an attempt to escape and shouted "Every word I said was true" as the foreman gave his verdict.

He had to be restrained by eight people and could be heard sobbing as they tried to calm him down in the dock.

Hunnisett killed 57-year-old Peter Bick with five severe blows to the head with a hammer before strangling him with a shoelace.

Mr Justice Saunders adjourned the case for sentencing at Woolwich Crown Court, London, on May 22.

Following the guilty verdict, Mr Bick's sister, Yvonne Cowling, with the support of her husband Peter, said: "On behalf of my parents, Eileen and Bernard, we as a family would like to say that we are glad that the whole ordeal is now over and we can now be left to grieve for the loss of my brother.

"He will be sorely missed by a large number of friends and family.

"The one thing he didn't deserve was to have such a violent and horrendous death, so therefore I hope that Mr Hunnisett will never have the opportunity to commit a similar crime.

"We would like to thank and acknowledge all the hard work that Detective Chief Inspector Nick Sloan and the Sussex Police have done, with special thanks for the support and comfort from the family liaison officers and the victim support team."

DCI Sloan, from the Surrey and Sussex major crime team, said: "This was a terrible crime and the jury were clearly unconvinced by Hunnisett's claims about his motives for carrying out such a cruel and deliberate killing.

"What exactly was motivating Hunnisett in the lead-up to the murder and afterwards we will perhaps never really know, but there is no doubt at all that society is a safer place now that he is in prison."