Killer Leon Ramsden, who stabbed a father-of-three to death in a packed Bolton town centre bar has been jailed for life.

The teenager was yesterday found guilty of murdering 31-year-old Paul Gilligan in the Pepper Alley pub last July.

Today he has been told he must serve a minimum of 17 years in prisonm. He was sentenced at Manchester Crown Court.

The judge, Justice Teare, told him: "Paul Gilligan's death has caused great suffering to his partner, their three children and also his parents and two brothers.

"Onlookers saw you and Paul Gilligan in what was thought to be a friendly tussle.

"You felt humiliated and left the pub. You returned determined upon revenge.

"This was a senseless unprovoked murder which has devastated Paul Gilligan's family.

"I'm sure that in stabbing him twice, that you intended to kill him.

"Nothing Paul Gilligan did could justify your actions."

Following the verdict yesterday, Mr Gilligan’s mother, Maureen, said: “We’ve got justice for Paul. We want to say thank you to the police, the brave witnesses that came forward and the legal team.

We are very grateful.”

A jury of eight women and four men took more than seven hours to reach a majority verdict of 10 to 2.

The court had heard that Ramsden, aged 19, of Turnstone Road, Bolton, stabbed Mr Gilligan — known as Gilly — twice in the former Pepper Alley Pub in Bolton town centre in the early hours of Sunday, July 13, last year.

Ramsden and his victim had spoken to each other and appeared to be laughing and joking. A “play fight” broke out and Mr Gilligan put Ramsden in a head lock and ruffled his hair.

Insulted, Ramsden walked out of the pub but returned within seconds armed himself with a knife, stabbing Mr Gilligan once in his left shoulder and to the left side of his chest. A post mortem examination revealed he died from a stab wound to the heart.

Ramsden fled and a short time later went into Courtneys in Bradshawgate. Security staff found an empty knife sheath down the waistband of his jeans and he was arrested and later charged with murder.

The jury was told Ramsden had been on a three-day drink and drugs binge before the murder and had shared a crate of beer, a bottle of vodka and a large amount of cocaine.

Just hours before he murdered Mr Gilligan, he wrote on his Facebook page: “I’m twisted at home...feel like killin some1.”

In a last-ditch attempt to avoid prosecution, Ramsden blamed the murder on his friend, Reece Armstrong, claiming his earlier silence had been an attempt to protect him.

The court heard that Armstrong had a violent past, but Ramsden also had previous convictions, including assaulting a police officer when he was aged 17.

Crucially though, Ramsden admitted that his friend had been wearing a dark T-shirt on the night of the stabbing, while he wore a white top. Five witnesses said that the man who killed Mr Gilligan had been wearing a white T-shirt and all said they believed that man was Ramsden.

For more on the Gilly murder trial, see Thursday's paper.