A "CALLOUS LIAR" has been jailed for more than 15 years for killing a bomb disposal expert and hiding his body in a row over a debt.

Colin Gale bludgeoned Mark Manning to death in his garage when they argued about £17,000 Gale owed for selling two cars. The skeleton of the 54-year-old father-of-two was only discovered two years later when Gale's accomplice Stewart Robertson revealed the location to police.

A jury cleared the 40-year-old Gale of murder but found him guilty of manslaughter through loss of control. He admitted the unlawful burial of Mr Manning.

Gale, who has previously committed 21 offences mostly for dishonesty, was sentenced to 15 years and eight months in jail. Robertson, 51, of St Aubyns Road, Portslade, who already has more than 100 offences to his name - several of which were drugs related - will serve four years after being found guilty of preventing the lawful burial of a corpse,

Both stared ahead motionless as they stood in the dock at Lewes Crown Court yesterday. They are expected to serve half their sentences behind bars.

On the day he died in April 2014 Mr Manning, of King's Road, Lancing, checked on his father, who he had bought a flat for in the same apartment block he lived in, so he could care for him. Then Mr Manning visited Gale at P&B Car Sales in Western Road, Worthing, to ask about the money he was owed.

Gale, who is 6ft 8in tall, claimed he was scared of his shorter and older friend Mr Manning who "came at him with an axe". He said he picked up a metre-long wrench in "self defence" and had to "finish him off" by hitting him "full in the face" two or three times so he would no longer be a danger. Mr Manning collapsed and died on the floor.

Gale, of Offington Lane, Worthing, then went about about his bank holiday with family as normal, coming back to dump the body with the help of Robertson.

He tried to "misdirect" the police investigation by telling a "web of lies" and even told Mr Manning's family he had driven him to Worthing railway station. But his remains were finally found in thick undergrowth on Hamphire Hill near Slaugham in May last year.

Judge Shani Barnes, sentencing, said Gale’s behaviour was “extraordinary”, “systematic” and “callous” after he worried about money.

She said: “You’re a man who lies easily. You say what you need to say to keep [people] at bay."

She said he got Robertson to do “all the jobs he couldn’t be bothered to do.”

She said without Robertson's later actions, Mr Manning's body may never have been found and praised officers who investigated the complex case for their work.

Detective Chief Inspector Mike Ashcroft branded Gale a liar and said the sentences were a "testament to his team's professionalism and dedication in finding the truth".