TWO lovers who colluded to bludgeon a pensioner to death for a £244,000 life insurance payout have been jailed for life.

Preston Crown Court heard Muhammed Arif also slashed the throat of 65-year-old Mohammed Yousaf as he slept in his Accrington flat.

The murder in September followed months of planning between 45-year-old Arif and the wife of his victim, Rukhsana Bibi, 38, with whom he was having an affair.

Sentencing them for a combined minimum total of 60 years behind bars, Judge William Davis, said the pair's greed had destroyed three families.

Detectives described the 'ruthless' murder 'as nothing short of the cold-blooded assassination of a wholly innocent man'.

The prosecution said Bibi, who was married to Arif's brother but divorced him two days before marrying Mr Yousaf, plotted with her co-defendant to exploit the victim for money.

The court heard one month before the victim's marriage to Bibi in April 2016, Mr Yousaf met with a solicitor to sign a house he owned on Craven Street, Accrington, into her ex-husband Arif’s brother’s name.

The victim, of Granville Road, Accrington, was accompanied to the appointment by Arif.

Mr Yousaf later reported to a social worker that the marriage had been Arif’s idea.

During the course of Mr Yousaf and Bibi’s relationship, the prosecution said more than £24,000 left the victim’s savings account.

Following the discovery of the victim's body around £22,000 in cash was found by detectives at Arif’s home.

In July 2016 Bibi and Arif took out a fraudulent life insurance policy in Mr Yousaf’s name while he was out of the country.

The court heard Bibi, of Wood Street, Todmorden, would get £244,000 upon his death.

Mr Yousaf later visited a solicitor, accompanied by Arif, to draw up a will leaving everything he owned to Bibi.

On September 17, a jury was told Mr Yousaf returned to Accrington following an extended trip to Pakistan.

The following night, with Bibi in Ireland with the victim's two grown-up children, Mr Yousaf was bludgeoned to death.

The jury was shown CCTV footage of Arif’s Volkswagen Passat driving to and from Granville Road three times between 4.54pm and 10.15pm that day.

It is believed the murder was carried out that evening.

Mr Yousaf’s body was found three days later by his landlord.

He had suffered more than a dozen blows to the head and a slash wound to his throat.

The murder weapon was never recovered.

The court was told analysis of DNA evidence found at the scene and in Arif’s car, as well as analysis of mobile phones, CCTV footage, traffic cameras and financial transactions helped build up a picture of Bibi and Arif's collusion.

The prosecution said they worked together to manipulate and strip Mr Yousaf of his assets, before killing him to benefit from his life insurance policy and will.

Both Arif and Bibi denied murder but were found guilty by a jury yesterday.

Arif was told he would serve a minimum of 32 years before being eligible for parole, while Bibi was told she must serve at least 28 years.

Mr Justice Davis said: "By your cruel actions three families have been destroyed.

"Mr Yousaf's family has obviously been destroyed.

"Mr Arif your family has been shattered. Your children will now not see their father for many years. Mrs Bibi your two teenage girls have had their lives shattered as well. All because of your greed.

"You found a vulnerable man and over many months you planned to take this money that he had readily available and engineered a position whereby he had life insurance upon which you could call on when he died.

"The two of you were people that Mr Yousaf trusted. Mr Yousaf couldn't have imagined the two of you were planning his death.

He added: "Mr Arif you are the one who actually committed this brutal and cowardly act, bludgeoning an old man to death as he slept on his bed.

"In your case Rukhsana Bibi there is a distinction to be drawn because you didn't do the act.

"You knew it was going to happen and you engineered a situation where it could."

Following the hearing, DCI Joanne McHugh, who led the investigation, said: “This murder was ruthlessly planned by Arif and Bibi, who manipulated a vulnerable and gentle member of the community, before taking everything they possibly could from him for their own financial gain.

“Mohammed Yousaf’s death is nothing short of the cold-blooded assassination of a wholly innocent man.

“While it may have been Arif who carried out the actual killing, there can be no doubt that Bibi was just as involved in the planning and is as culpable as he is."