A man is facing jail after being convicted of killing a rival in a street after a row over a £20,000 debt.

Albanian Shpendi Hakili, 38, formerly of Woodstock Road, Strood, killed Sazan Bako, 35, in November last year.

The jury heard how Hakili, who denied manslaughter, lost his temper and struck the victim across the face “without warning or provocation.”

Prosecutor Daniel Stevenson told Maidstone Crown Court: “His actions led directly to Mr Bako’s premature death.

“The defendant may not have meant to kill him but that is exactly what he did.”

He said there was a meeting in Strood between Hakili, his brother Shpati and Henerik Bako, the brother of the dead man, who it was claimed owed £20,000.

“They believed that Henerik Bako was instrumental in Hakili being arrested and jailed for drugs trafficking in 2018,” Mr Stevenson added.

“They considered that Henerik Bako should pay Hakili owed money and the victim went to the meeting to try to mediate on his brother’s behalf.”

The incident in Cuxton Road was caught on camera and shown to the jury.

Mr Stevenson added: “It would have been obvious to those present that Sazan Bako was seriously injured.

“The first 999 call reported that a male called ‘Zana’ (Sazan) had fallen over and banged his head on the floor, had bled a bit and was now unconscious.

“Later Henerik Bako telephoned 999 and reported that his brother was in a ‘big sleep’ at his home address in Maidstone after being hit in the face and then hitting the behind of his head.

“Henerik Bako said that he had brought Sazan home in his car and Sazan had taken a shower and gone to bed.

“Henerik was able to rouse him to drink some water but not could not wake him,” added the prosecutor.

He was later taken to hospital and doctors said he had suffered a severe traumatic brain injury.

Hakili, now of Crofton Avenue, Glasgow, was convicted of manslaughter and was remanded in custody until the preparation of reports later this year.