IPSWICH: A former Russian soldier who murdered his lodger using army combat moves is today starting an 18 year jail term.

Jevgenijs Maksimovs applied hand to hand fighting techniques, which he picked up in the special forces, to kill 43-year-old Jurijs Baklasovs in the back garden of his Hayhill Road home in Ipswich.

The 37-year-old, pictured, then tried to cover up the murder by driving the body to a farm 20 miles away in Framlingham and dumping it in a ditch.

Maksimovs appeared at Ipswich Crown Court yesterday to hear Judge John Devaux pass sentence.

The former soldier and bodyguard was convicted by a jury after denying murder and claiming he had instead reacted to an unprovoked attack by an aggressively drunk Mr Baklasovs on December 20 last year.

Judge Devaux said: “You left him outside in the cold to die. You intended to kill him and later attempted to remove all traces of what you had done.”

Maksimovs was handed an 18 year prison sentence – minus the 242 days he has spent in custody since the murder.

He will not be considered for parole before completing the term and will remain on license upon his release.