A MAN obsessed with the occult was sentenced to eight years in jail today after stabbing his best friend 50 times with a knife sharpener.

Mohammed Khaleel, 30, of Boston Road, Hanwell, plunged a blunt metal rod into 35-year-old David Sheehan's chest, neck and face before picking up a ten-inch kitchen knife and slashing his jugular vein.

Passing sentence Judge George Bathurst-Norman said "This was in my view one of the most savage attacks that I have ever seen in the courts in the forty years at the bar."

At Southwark Crown Court, a jury cleared Khaleel, an aspiring horror writer and avid vampire fan, of murder but found him guilty of manslaughter due to provocation.

The court heard how the two men became good friends after moving into a block of flats in Boston Road, Hanwell.

But the men were heavy drinkers and would often fight each other armed with knives and claw hammers.

Mr Sheehan had stabbed Khaleel in a violent brawl some months before.

Both men regularly attended Sunday morning church services and befriended local Baptist minister Martin Durham.

Mr Durham told the court he often visited the men offering pastoral support but became concerned at Khaleel's obsession with the occult.

In the months leading up to the killing, Khaleel borrowed stacks of horror books from a local library and would speak about his interest in the devil and black magic.

The court heard how on January 29 this year Khaleel went out drinking in Ealing after buying cider from an off-licence.

He was filmed returning home on CCTV, getting off a bus at 11.18pm.

Minutes later Khaleel woke up a neighbour shouting "David is dead". Two hours later, Khaleel stopped a man in the street asking him to call 999.

The passer-by called an ambulance and paramedics were on the scene within minutes.

Khaleel led medics to his friend and they called in police after finding Mr Sheehan dead with a large open neck wound.

Officers arrested Khaleel at the scene after finding his shoes and clothes covered in blood.

When they searched his flat they found the Lord of the Vampires book and the kitchen knife hidden under the sink.

A post-mortem showed Mr Sheehan had suffered a deep four inch wound to his neck severing both arteries and jugular vein.

He had multiple stab wounds to his chest with cracked ribs and severe damage to his heart.

Detective Chief Inspector Colin Sutton praised his officers and the forensic team for their efforts in helping to convict Khaleel.

He said: "It was a good piece of work by members of my team and the forensic team for finding the knife Khaleel hid in his kitchen. The forensic team helped us get a conviction.

"He could've got away with it but he didn't. I'm satisfied we have done a very good job."