Two men who murdered their flatmate by kicking, punching and stamping on him after a drunken row have been jailed.

Tomas Gulbinavicius, 33, and Janis Karajevs, 30, killed Lithuanian Aleksejus Zarskus at a flat on King Street in Aberdeen.

The 42-year-old died at Aberdeen Royal Infirmary on January 19, four days after police were called out to the property.

He had been living with the pair after previously being homeless.

A judge ordered that Karajevs, who has six previous convictions for assault and has previously been jailed three times, should serve at least 14 years in prison.

Lord Uist sentenced Gulbinavicius to 13 years in prison for his role in the murder

The judge told the pair: "You must not assume you will be released at the end of the punishment part.

"You will be released only when it is considered no longer necessary for the protection of the public that you continue to be confined in prison."

Lord Uist added: "On January 15, in the course of an argument, when you were all drunk, both of you battered him repeatedly on the head and body by punching, kicking and stamping on him, as a result of which he died in hospital from blunt force head trauma on January 19.

"He suffered widespread bruising over his face from the eyes to the neck as well as extensive fracturing of the facial bones and had a fractured right jaw."

A downstairs neighbour described the noise of the attack as similar to someone falling through the ceiling.

Lord Uist continued: "After you had assaulted him you did nothing to seek medical help for him and failed to answer the door to the police who had to force entry to the house.

"A downstairs neighbour who heard the commotion in the flat above described banging which continued for ten or 20 minutes and which caused her to think someone was getting beaten up and seriously hurt upstairs.

"A visitor to her flat said that it sounded like somebody was coming through the ceiling."

The judge said he took into account that no lethal weapon was used in the attack and the murder of the victim was not premeditated.

He added: "Nevertheless, Mr Zarskus lost his life as a result of what was obviously a ferocious attack by both of you."

Lord Uist told Gulbinavicius, who came to this country in 2009, that he would ignore his one minor previous conviction for shoplifting.

He added: "You have a history of alcohol abuse. Mr Zarskus was a friend of yours for whom you were providing temporary accommodation at the materiel time."

The judge pointed out that Karajevs also had a history of alcohol abuse and had committed 16 offences since coming to Scotland in 2008.

Karajevs moved to the north east of Scotland following a downturn in the Latvian economy.