A mother and a former bodybuilder have been jailed for life after being convicted of the brutal murder of a pensioner.

Judge Philip Statman handed the sentences to John Barham and Alison Tomlin at Maidstone Crown Court today.

Barham will serve a minimum of 18 years behind bars and Tomlin a minimum of 16 years.

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The killers were kept apart when they appeared to hear their fate after violence erupted in the dock at their end of their trial last week.

Barham tried to attack his co-accused and in doing so injured four dock officers who battled to restrain him.

Judge Philip Statman described Barham’s reaction as “an explosion”.

He took the unusual step of ordering that the 26-year-old be sentenced over a TV link with Elmley Prison, Sheppey.

Mother-of-two Tomlin, 49, appeared in the dock to hear her sentence.

Both killers remained calm and neither showed any reaction to the prison terms handed to them.

The pair were charged with the murder of pensioner John Birney, whose decomposing body was discovered at his home in Rocky Hill Terrace, Rocky Hill in June last year.

The 69-year-old was left tied with a ligature that held down his left wrist. His right arm had limited use before he was attacked. There were no defensive injuries.

He was covered with a curtain on a sofa bed. One of his hands was tied with a belt which came from Tomlin’s coat.

Two knives were on the floor next to him and another blade was wedged in a window.

A post mortem examination revealed he had 10 stab wounds, including one to the back of his head and others close to his neck. He had been stabbed in the eye.

The victim’s two daughters Michelle Birney and Tracey McIntosh sat in court as Judge Statman spoke of their father.

Mr Birney, he said, had become alcohol-dependent and was in poor health. He had been homeless but found sheltered accommodation in Rocky Hill Terrace.

“His was not a perfect life but he was loved by his daughters,” he said.

“He rubbed along well with others living in Rocky Hill and towards you, Allison Tomlin, he showed kindness by letting you stay at his address at a time when you were living a somewhat transient life in hotels and sofa surfing with friends."

It was clear Mr Birney had in the final weeks of his life fallen and injured his ribs and four or five days before his death he suffered “refracturing”.

VIDEO: Mr Birney's daughters react to the sentence

“No one will ever know the precise cause of his death, nor the date of his death,” said the judge.

“I cannot be sure in relation to either you Miss Tomlin or you Mr Barham that either of you, or both of you, had an intention to kill.

“It is impossible to determine on the evidence I have heard the precise part that either of you played in his death.”

But Barham’s confession, he said, played an essential part in the prosecution case.

On the question of motive, the judge said the victim had boasted about some form of boyfriend/girlfriend relationship with Barham’s Russian girlfriend Alina Korosteliova.

In one confession, Barham revealed he had “murdered a man who had touched his girlfriend” and that he deserved to die. He also vowed: “No one touches my bird.”

But the labourer, who has a string of convictions for violence, later denied he stabbed Mr Birney for this reason.

The judge said he was satisfied physical suffering was inflicted on Mr Birney before his death, as he had been cut and there were a number of “forceful” injuries to his body and was still alive when he was stabbed in the head.

It was also clear Tomlin stayed in the flat after the killing. She bought air fresheners to block the smell of decomposition and placed linen covers against the door to try to ensure the body was not recovered.

Both Tomlin and Barham claimed in evidence they did not know each other before Mr Birney died.

Barham also insisted he was “talking absolute rubbish” when he bragged to others he had killed a man and got away with it.

Tomlin admitted she had stayed at Mr Birney’s home but claimed she was not there when he was killed.

Judge Statman said he was satisfied it was not a case where a knife had been taken to the scene. Had that been the case, the starting point for the minimum sentence would have been 25 years instead of 15 years.

Barham had significantly used the legal high Spice on a regular basis.

“This court deals all too frequently with the manner in which Spice is used and the crime, particularly violence, that stems there from,” said the judge.

“Those who take legal highs do so at not just their own peril but to the peril of the community as a whole.”

The judge had said he found the motive for the killing troubling.

Barham had boasted he murdered a man who was a “paedo”. Tomlin claimed she was propositioned by Mr Birney when she first arrived at his flat.

She had also accused her ex-partner of being a paedophile when she attacked him at his home.

Judge Statman stressed there was no evidence before the court that either of the men were involved in such activity.

Tomlin had previous convictions for violence but had been out of trouble for 12 years. She had mental health issues.

Barham had a grave record for violence dating back to when he was a juvenile. He had explained in great detail his previous offending.

Barham was facing a further charge of false imprisonment and Tomlin one of assault causing actual bodily harm, but the prosecution offered no further evidence.

Passing sentence, Judge Statman said: "I am left in absolutely no doubt John Barham enjoys the power threatening violence or inflicting it gives him over others, in particular the weak and vulnerable.

"Hence, the matters we have heard in the trial when he ‘mouthed off’ to others about that which he has done.

"When individuals go against the will of Mr Barham they are in fear of paying a very high price.

The judge said of Tomlin: "There is in my judgement not a hint of remorse in anything she has done in regard to this particular matter."