Property tycoon Nicholas van Hoogstraten's sentencing for the killing of a business rival has been postponed until October 25 so psychiatric reports can be finalised.

Mr Justice Newman agreed to adjourn sentencing, which was due at the Old Bailey on Wednesday this week.

Hoogstraten has changed his legal team since he was convicted of the manslaughter of father-of-six Mohammed Raja.

Mr Raja was shot and knifed at his home in Sutton, south London in July, 1999.

Hoogstraten, 57, of High Cross, Framfield, near Uckfield, had denied murdering him but was convicted of manslaughter at the Old Bailey earlier this year.

He had wanted revenge on Mr Raja, whom he had described as a "maggot", after falling out over property.

But the jury found he had wanted him harmed, not murdered.

Hitmen David Croke and Robert Knapp were found guilty of Mr. Raja's murder and were sentenced to life.

Croke, 59, of Bolney Road, Moulsecoomb, Brighton, and Knapp, 55, of Abbeyfeale, Co Limerick, had denied murder.

Mr Justice Newman warned Hoogstraten after the verdicts that he was also considering a life sentence for him, but the millionaire opted for the judge's offer of psychiatric assessment before sentencing.