Family tell of their grief after Scots chef brutally murdered

Donald MacPherson had the "misfortune" of being at home when the men came round to kill Luciano Schiano, after an argument over a woman.

The body of the 60-year-old father of four was discovered by police several days after he failed to turn up for work at the Reform Club in London.

Twice-married Mr MacPherson, originally from Clydebank, suffered 80 injuries and had his face smashed with an iron as he fought back. Mr Schiano, 49, suffered 26 knife wounds in the "brutal" attack at the flat in West Norwood, London, last October.

Naples-born Claudio Lamponi, 30, from Norwood, and Massimo Manai, 41, of no fixed address but originally from Cagliari, Sardinia, were found guilty of the murders at the Old Bailey.

Mark Heywood QC, prosecuting, said: "They were savagely attacked and killed in their own home. Donald MacPherson was attacked in his bed but he fought his attackers before he was overcome.

"Their evil work finished, the killers slunk away into the night to clean themselves, to get rid of their weapons."

Mr Heywood said the target of the violence had been Mr Schiano, whom the defendants knew. In August, he had been headbutted by Manai after he "unwisely made a pass" at his girlfriend, jurors were told.

There had been "no love lost" since that time, but neither Lamponi nor Manai knew Mr MacPherson, who was separated from his second wife and had been lodging at Schiano's flat for a few months.

"His misfortune was simply to be there," Mr Heywood said. "When they found him there, the nature of their business was so obvious that he, too, had to be killed."

The next day, when Mr MacPherson failed to turn up for work, the head chef tried and failed to contact him. The sous chef tried again several days later.

They alerted his family, who also tried to get in touch and failed, and eventually the police were contacted, broke into the flat and found the bodies.

Jurors were in tears as a statement from Manda, one of Mr MacPherson's four children, was read in court.

She said: "People do not go to bed to be slaughtered by two maniacs."

She said she and her daughter had discovered her father's body after the close-knit family were unable to contact him.

"This will be with my daughter for ever, being 16 and finding your beloved granddad dead in bed."

She went on: "As a family, we are struggling to come to terms with this and to comprehend what happened.

"Our dad was a simple man and loved the simple things in life. He loved us and his homeland with a passion.

"He was a great chef. These men stole the heart of the family.

My dad didn't deserve to die like this."

Judge Richard Hone remanded both men in custody to be sentenced today. He indicated he was considering prison sentences "very significantly in excess of 30 years"..