A drunk and violent thug who stabbed a man to death after an argument in a restaurant has been jailed for 21 years.

Aturas Kurpis was tracked down and arrested in Dartford after killing Paulius Karalius last year.

Mr Karalius was visiting his girlfriend in Leytonstone, east London, when they went out to a restaurant with friends.

Kurpis, 39, was also at the restaurant and began stealing the microphone from a singer and behaving badly before he was told to leave by Mr Karalius and his friends.

Minutes later Kurpis, of St Anne's Row, Limehouse, rang the restaurant, asked to be on speaker phone, before threatening to stab Mr Karalius.

After arming himself with a kitchen knife from his nearby flat he confronted Mr Karalius as he left his partner's home and stabbed him once in the chest. He underwent emergency heart surgery but died six days later.

Paulius’ friends fought with Kurpis and took the kitchen knife off him. Kurpis then made his way back to the flat and called police saying he had been assaulted.

"This is another young life lost to a senseless scourge of knife crime..."

Two of the attending officers realised the call could be linked to the stabbing and forced entry to the flats, following a blood trail to Kurpis’ flat.

He opened the door and was arrested and cautioned. He appeared very drunk and was abusive and violent towards officers.

The knife used to kill was a ‘Kitchen Devils’ carving-type knife, 35cm in length with a sharp point. Similar style knives were found in his kitchen.

After being interviewed, Kurpis was released on bail to stay at a hotel in Ilford because his own address was still being forensically examined.

When the murder investigation team went to the hotel to re-arrest him on November 9, they found he had left 24 hours before.

He was eventually tracked down and arrested for murder at an address in Dartford and was later charged.

Detective Chief Inspector Neil John, from the Specialist Crime Command, said: “Kurpis is a man with a history of violence who has previously carried out numerous assaults and has served time in prison for a knife offence.

"In contrast, Paulius Karalius was a man of good character who was just spending a Friday night out with his girlfriend.

“Kurpis was drunk, but his intent that night was clear. He threatened to stab Paulius in a phone call, went to his flat, armed himself with a knife and then went downstairs to do bloody murder.

“Kurpis has been found guilty and I am sure that London will be a better place with him behind bars for a long time, but this will only be a small consolation to the family and friends of Paulius.

"This is another young life lost to a senseless scourge of knife crime and the loss will never leave those affected.”

Kupris had numerous convictions including threatening behaviour with a blade, for which he was previously imprisoned for 18 months, common assault, battery, possession of a knife, assault on police and being drunk and disorderly.

He was jailed for life at the Old Bailey on Friday, December 9 and must serve 21 years before he's considered for release.