A MAN who murdered a 20-year-old by stabbing him in the back has been sentenced to life behind bars.

Shahid Hussain, 27, knifed Anthony Williams following a fight outside a kebab shop on September 11 last year.

On Friday Hussain was sentenced to life in jail at Reading Crown Court and ordered to serve a minimum of 15 years.

Hussain, from Buckinghamshire, had claimed he acted in self defence, but on Thursday the jury convicted him of murder.

Detective Sergeant Tony Collingwood, who was in charge of the investigation, said: "The murder of Anthony Williams was a wicked and cowardly attack. Anthony was stabbed in the back without any warning while involved in a confrontation with another male."

Hussain had claimed that he carried out the stabbing in self-defence of himself and an associate after Mr Williams himself pulled out a knife.

But police said Hussain and his friends were the only ones who supported this claim.

Det Sgt Collingwood added: "This is a tragic, needless waste of a young life.

"Anthony was much loved by his family and friends and had his life ahead of him. He is truly missed by those who knew and loved him "This tragic incident illustrates the grave dangers of carrying knives."

The court earlier heard that a friend of Hussain's had got into a fight with Mr Williams before the knifing.

Hussain, whose address cannot be disclosed for legal reasons, had run up behind him and stabbed him in the back.

Prosecutor Nicholas Dean QC said earlier in the trial: "The defendant ran up behind him and stabbed him in the back. At that time Mr Williams represented no threat to Shahid Hussain or anybody else.

"This was a deliberate and cowardly knifing. The reason almost certainly was because a few moments earlier they had had a confrontation and Williams had briefly fought with one of his friends."

Hussain had travelled into Aylesbury that night with four friends from his home in Buckinghamshire. They had gathered in Cambridge Street outside two kebab shops.

The court heard an argument had taken place inside one of the shops and spilled onto the street.