Vietnamese gangster Cuong Nguyen, 24, who lived at Oak Green in the town, will serve at least 20 years behind bars for the brutal killing of a father-of-five in a busy London street in broad daylight.

Nguyen and his associates punched, kicked, stabbed and battered Min Thanh Nguyen, 43, with a glass ashtray in front of horrified shoppers in Mare Street, Hackney. The ferocious attack was captured on CCTV cameras in nearby stores and lasted only 25 seconds. Only three months earlier Nguyen and a friend kidnapped another rival off the street and demanded his relatives pay £15,000 for his life.

UK officers have never previously been allowed to enter Vietnam to carry out criminal inquiries but special permission was sought to question the victim's family, the Old Bailey heard.

The court heard how the first victim, Ha Dung Truong, was kidnapped after he went to a Vietnamese restaurant in south London in May 2006.

Nguyen slashed him in the arm, forced him at knifepoint into a car driven by his friend and took him to a derelict pub in Kent.

Roger Smart, prosecuting, said: "He was held there for six hours during which demands were made for £15,000. The hostage was threatened that he would be killed and these threats were repeated over the phone to his mother in Vietnam. At one stage he was threatened that his finger would be amputated."

It is thought the gang wanted payment from Mr Truong's brother in relation to people trafficking.

Nguyen was only identified by the victim in January this year after he was charged with the murder of Min Thanh Nguyen, who was attacked after he was spotted by chance walking past the window of a Vietnamese restaurant in Mare Street. Witnesses saw four men sprinting after him before he was stabbed in the back and a glass tumbler and ashtray were smashed over his head. The knife injury severed a major artery and he died within minutes of the assault taking place.

Cuong Nguyen, who was said to have wielded the ashtray, was the only man charged with the incident and the motive remains a mystery.

Nguyen was convicted of murder by a jury after trial and jailed for life for this offence. He pleaded guilty to the following:

Conspiracy to kidnap for which he was jailed for life, conspiracy to falsely imprison for which he was jailed for life, conspiracy to blackmail for which he was jailed for six years concurrent and conspiracy to wound with intent for which he was jailed for life.

Sentencing Nguyen, Judge Stephen Kramer said: "You were part of a group which chased and attacked Min Thanh Nguyen in broad daylight. The attack was swift, brutal and lethal. The motive for this attack was rightly described as opaque but from what I have seen and heard it seems to be an attack in retaliation or revenge for something.

"Five young children are now without their father. I am satisfied your presence in this country is contrary to the public interest.
"However I will leave it to the Home Secretary to decide on any deportation."