A man who murdered his housemate by stabbing him in the back and slitting his throat with a kitchen knife has been jailed for a minimum of 11 years.

Jurijs Ostrovskis, 21, of Euston Road, Great Yarmouth, pleaded guilty to murdering Vladimir Adamavics, 21, at Norwich Crown Court. He killed Mr Adamavics at the house they shared with other Latvian friends in Euston Road on January 2. After the killing, Ostrovskis told friends: 'He'll be dead, I slit his throat.'

Prosecutor Nick Methwold told the court that the group of friends had been celebrating the New Year at various bars in Yarmouth. All had been drinking heavily and a pathologist found that Mr Adamavics' blood alcohol level was more than four times the legal drink drive limit.

Mr Methwold added: 'There was clearly a great deal of alcohol consumed by all. There was tension within the group over the fact Mr Adamavics had not paid his rent as agreed.

'It seems that during the night the deceased went home and walked into a bedroom in which the defendant's partner was sitting on the bed in her underwear.

'It is impossible to say to what extent this led to his death but we do know that she rang Mr Ostrovskis immediately and this was the reason for his return to the property.

'There was an argument in the sitting room and the defendant went into the kitchen, selected a knife and stabbed him in the kidney area of the back. He then dragged him down the stairs and slit his throat, although mercifully forensic evidence shows Mr Adamavics was already dead at that point.'

Emergency services were called to the flats, formerly the town's St Cloud Labour Club, at 7am on January 2 and found Mr Adamavics dying of stab wounds.

Ostrovskis was arrested on suspicion of murder and questioned at Yarmouth police station before being charged two days later.

Earlier that day, detectives had found a knife later established to be the murder weapon on the beach near Britannia Pier.

The men had known each other in Latvia for five or six years and travelled to Norfolk at about the same time last year to work in a local chicken factory. The court heard that neither man had any criminal record.

Steven Spence, mitigating for Ostrovksis, said his client had admitted the offence at an early stage. He had been drinking heavily and had not deliberately armed himself in advance of the attack.

Judge Peter Jacobs ordered Ostrovskis to serve a minimum of 11 years of a mandatory life sentence.