A former chef who murdered his restaurant boss nearly 40 years ago has been jailed for life.

Riasat Khan was locked up for a minimum of 16 years over the stabbing of Kazi Ahmad at an Aberdeen flat in October 1978.

Khan, who used a filleting knife, fled the scene after the killing leaving his 41 year-old victim tied up.

He escaped to Pakistan before eventually returning to the UK.

It was not until 2016 - despite decades of trying to trace Khan - that he was eventually held for the murder.

The 63-year-old was sentenced on Friday at the High Court in Glasgow. He had earlier been convicted at a trial in Edinburgh.

Lord Beckett told him: "Justice was delayed but justice has not been denied."

The judge said Khan had taken £900 from Mr Ahmad and gambled it before trying to "blacken his character" in court.

He went on: "I preferred the evidence of his colleagues from the restaurant who explained that he was kind and generous.

"He was well liked and respected by them. As a result of your vicious assault, Mr Ahmad lost his life.

"His family - who he had been supporting - lost him forever."

Khan - who, the court heard, fears he will die in jail due to his apparently failing health - showed no emotion as he was led to the cells.

The killer was a chef at the Raj Dulal restaurant - owned by Mr Ahmad - on Dee Street in Aberdeen.

He claimed in court that Mr Ahmad had wanted him to perform sex acts on him.

The fatal attack occurred at a flat on Rosemount Viaduct, where Khan stabbed his victim repeatedly in the neck and body.

Khan initially fled to England then later moved on to Greece. He travelled back to Pakistan before returning to the UK and settling in Wales in the 1990s.

It was only in May last year that he was arrested at Birmingham Airport as he tried to board a flight to Pakistan.

Gary Allan QC, defending, said Khan knew a life sentence was "inevitable".