A DAD of two from Greenock has been jailed for life for murdering his best friend by bludgeoning him with a dumbbell.

The brutal attack by 30-year-old Kyle McAuley on father of three Kevin McCluskey took place in the early hours of March 24 last year at a flat in Nelson Street.

McAuley clubbed his 28-year-old friend over the head five times and then took photographs of his body and sent them to two women.

He laughed during a 999 call in which he claimed he had come home and found a stranger lying outside his Greenock flat.

As he appeared at the High Court in Glasgow yesterday to be sentenced, Judge Lord Mulholland ordered McAuley to spend at least 18 years in prison.

He told the killer: “Whether you are ever released will be a decision for the parole board.

"You have been convicted of murdering your friend.

"You bludgeoned him with a dumbbell weighing seven kilos and hit him five times.

"While he lay dying you cared only for yourself.

“You photographed his dead or dying body and sent photos to your ex-partner and your then-girlfriend.

“You moved his body and tried to make it look as if he had a knife and you had killed him in self-defence, but the jury saw through your web of lies.”

The court heard Mr McCluskey was struck on the back of the head by McAuley and then after he fell onto a bed he was hit again and again.

As he lay on his back on the bed - dead or dying - McAuley took a photograph of him and sent it to his then girlfriend.

Fifty minutes later after moving Kevin's body onto the floor of the bedroom twisted McAuley took another picture and sent it to his former partner.

The photograph showed Kevin's face covered in blood and with horrific injuries.

McAuley subsequently made a 999 call and when police arrived at McAuley's flat Kevin's body had been moved.

He was lying with his upper body in the hallway of the flat at the front door and his feet in the landing.

McAuley told police officers who arrived first at the murder scene referring to his friend: “Get this guy away from me.”

He initially claimed he didn't know him, but later told police that he was acting in self-defence, claiming his pal had went for him with a knife.

He told the jury: "He said he was going to kill me.

"He was going nuts.

"He was right in my face, pushing his head against my face.

"I was scared."

But, McAuley admitted that he had already punched Kevin on the head and smashed him once over the head with the dumbbell before he claimed he saw a knife in his friend's hand.

Kevin suffered a fractured skull, smashed cheekbones, jaw and nose and bruising to the brain.

Former soldier McAuley, who served in Afghanistan in the Scots Guards, had no injuries.

Hours earlier CCTV footage showed the two friends playing fighting and laughing and joking in a Greenock pub during a night out.

No explanation was put forward for why McAuley launched a frenzied attack on his friend in the early hours of the next morning.

Defence QC Thomas Ross said: “They had been friends for many years without a cross word. Hours before the incident they were caught on CCTV in a pub in good spirits and enjoying a night out.”

McAuley showed no emotion as he was led away to the cells.

Family and friends of his victim shouted 'coward!', 'kill yourself!' and 'scumbag!' at him as he was taken down.