Two men have been jailed for 32 years today after "executing" a Margate man and burying him in a forest.

Remzi Akguc, 41, and Yilmaz Coskun, 36, were found guilty by a jury at the Old Bailey of murdering Hidir Aksakal.

After shooting him four times, they wrapped the 53-year-old in tarpaulin and concealed the body in Epping Forest.

A post-mortem examination revealed the final shot was fired in Mr Aksakal’s mouth.

The last sighting of Mr Aksakal was in Green Lanes in the early hours of Monday, August 17 - an area of London to which he had strong links.

He had met the defendants at a restaurant there.

Mr Aksakal and the defendants then travelled via minicab to Coskun’s then home address in Templeton Road, Tottenham, where the pair murdered him in the living room.

On September 9 last year police were called to an area of woodland near Hollow Ponds by a member of the public who reported having found a body.

The body was partially buried and wrapped in plastic and a shovel was found abandoned in water a few yards away.

The jury rejected claims made to police by Akguc, of Margery Street, London, that he was using the toilet at Templeton Road when he heard gunshots.

He claimed he emerged to see Coskun, of no fixed address, shoot Mr Aksakal four or five times and because he was scared, followed Coskun’s instructions to help dispose of the body with the third man before returning to clean the flat.

Coskun claimed that he had been held against his will for a day in a bedroom at his home and did not see who murdered Mr Aksakal.

Around 22 hours after the murder, Akguc and Coskun used tools bought at a builders’ merchants in Stoke Newington the day before to bury Mr Asksakal.

Searches of Coskun’s home revealed four knotted socks in the garden which contained a gun, ammunition, a silencer and a hatchet.

The gun was the firearm used in the murder - it was also stained with the victim’s blood.

“Hidir Aksakal’s murder was a cold-blooded execution with the defendants then going to great lengths to dispose of his body..." Metropolitan Police detective chief inspector James Piscopo

A neighbour reported on August 20 there was an “overpowering” smell of cleaning products in the block and at the start of September, Coskun had hired a painter and decorator to decorate his flat and replace some flooring.

However, police examination of the property on September 18 found, despite the clean-up efforts, extensive blood stains in the living room and a trail of blood leading from the front door of the flat down the stairs to the communal hallway.

The victim’s DNA was also found in Coskun’s Mercedes.

The court heard that a factor in the murder may have been the victim’s acquittal following a trial in 2002 at the Old Bailey into the murder of Bulent Giritli.

They also heard that the men had argued in the restaurant that night about a woman.

Mr Aksakal was also known as Musa Yakut and most commonly by the nickname Boxer Cetin.

Metropolitan Police Detective Chief Inspector Jamie Piscopo said: “Hidir Aksakal’s murder was a cold-blooded execution with the defendants then going to great lengths to dispose of his body.

“They chose a remote part of Epping Forest for the burial, thinking presumably his remains would never be found. But they were stumbled across by a man out walking.

“While Akguc and Coskun took their time selecting a secluded part of the woods, they were less careful when buying tools to dispose of the body and were caught on CCTV.

“They were also caught on CCTV in the forest at the site of the burial.

“The evidence against them was overwhelming and I am pleased at their conviction today.”