Life sentence for Dyke golf course murderer

A MAN has been sentenced to life in prison after being convicted of a “violent” and “cunning” murder.

Sean Iran, 21, of St Richard’s Road, Fishersgate, was found guilty of the murder of Stefan Welch at Lewes Crown Court yesterday (Thursday, March 31).

The burnt body of Mr Welch, previously of Roman Walk, Sompting, was found on the Dyke Golf Course on Saturday, September 4, last year.

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Iran was sentenced to life in prison with a minimum of 19 years.

He was also sentenced to seven years, to run concurrently, for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Detective Chief Inspector Trevor Bowles, who headed the investigation for Sussex Police’s major crime branch, said: “This has been a complex and demanding investigation into the death of Stefan Welch.

“Stefan’s badly burnt body was discarded on the Dyke Golf Course during the evening of September 3, 2010, and when his body was discovered the following morning, it was not possible even to determine its gender.

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“Sean Iran has been found guilty by the jury of this hideous murder.

“Stefan was vulnerable, defenceless and completely without malice.

“Sean Iran took his life in a pre-planned way and without care. He has shown not the first crumb of remorse.”

Iran’s father, Babak Iran, 45, and brother, Navid Iran, 23, both of St Richard’s Road, Fishersgate, were found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

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They were sentenced to seven years and six years respectively.

Detective Chief Inspector Bowles said: “Sean Iran, his brother, Navid, and their father, Babak, have been found guilty of conspiring to pervert the course of public justice, in the efforts they took to cover up the murder and dispose of Stefan’s body.

“What these three men did was violent, cunning and completely unwarranted.”