A RACIST thug who battered a man to death as he slept, was jailed for life at Manchester Crown Court yesterday, Monday.

Simon Rawcliffe, aged 28, was convicted of murdering Liaquat Ali, 30, when both lodged at a house in Wash Lane, Bury.

Rawcliffe was told by Mrs Justice Smith: "You carried out a brutal and sustained attack on a man who was physically much smaller than you.

"I have no doubt your conduct was motivated by your dislike of him, and by feelings that were racist in origin."

The jury heard Rawcliffe regularly bullied and struck heavy drinker Mr Ali, who was known as Bobby.

He often referred to him as "a black bastard", and prosecutor Charles Garside QC said Mr Ali never fought back.

In September, 1999, Mr Ali was found on a settee in the lounge at the lodgings. He was covered in blood and "dead or close to death".

Mr Garside said "He had been the victim of a ferocious and sustained attack with several weapons. He was defenceless and asleep."

Mr Ali's blood was found on Rawcliffe's clothing and on one of his shoes. Glass fragments near the body were the remains of a storage jar -- the lid and two identical jars were found in Rawcliffe's room as was a bloodstained tree branch.

Rawcliffe who denied murder, claimed to be a good friend of "Bobby". He accused other residents of picking on Mr Ali, and alleged two of them twice beat him up a few hours before his death.

Rawcliffe said he had intervened on each occasion, and in that way could have got the blood on his clothing.

But Rawcliffe's known racist reputation was not fully disclosed in court following a legal ruling.

He often abused Asians, and his regular targets were Muslims attending a seminary in Bury's Lumb Car Road.

For some months Rawcliffe has been detained at Ashworth special hospital, and receiving treatment for a serious psychiatric disorder.

His lawyers are arranging for special medical reports to be seen by the Home Secretary, who alone can sanction a defendant's detention in hospital after conviction.