The murder of a Reading restaurant manager who was run over on Valentine's Day has seen a man jailed for more than 20 years. 

Shazeb Khalid, 25 an of Engingeers Court, had been found guilty of murder after he used a stolen Range Rover to mow down and kill Vignesh Raman, a manager at the Vel Indian restaurant in Whitley Street, earlier this year. 

Khalid had targeted Mr Raman, 36, as part of a "mission" to stop him from reporting alleged immigration infractions at the restaurant. 

Khalid, who drove the Range Rover that night, said during the trial that he only ever intended to "scare off" Mr Raman, after the restaurant he managed had been fined £30,000 for employing illegal immigrants.

Now Judge Amjad Nawaz, presiding over the proceedings at Reading Crown Court, has passed a sentenced that will see Khalid behind bars for 20 years and 135 days. 

Another man, 27-year-old Soiheem Hussain, of Rossby in Shinfield, was accused of coordinating the murder along with Khalid.

However, the jury cleared Hussain of murder. He was found guilty of one count of assisting an offender instead.

He has been sentenced to four years in prison. 

Before the sentences were handed down, the court heard a witness impact statement from Mr Raman's widow, Ramya, who said her life had been "shattered" by her husband's murder. 

In a statement read out by prosecutor Sally Howes, Ramya said: "This was the first time in my entire life that part of me had been detached and taken away. 

"God had not only shattered my dreams, but also had taken the love of my life away. 

"I was so distressed I fainted when I was told the cause of his death. 

"I prayed for him to come back every day. I would suffer panic attacks and wake up in the middle of the night crying. "

Mr Raman's widow said that the restaurant manager had been working at a hotel in Qatar when he received an offer to work in a hotel in Colorado, USA - but turned it down to work in Reading as he thought the UK would be safer

Ramya said: "We decided to go to the UK as we thought it was a safer country to live."

Just hours before his murder, Mr Raman had been celebrating accepting a new job at a hotel in London and had been enjoying leaving-drinks with his colleagues. 

Ramya said: "It was the job of his dreams. We felt we were opening a new chapter in life."

Mr Raman's death has led to his widow losing her spousal visa and her right to work in UK, meaning that she has now returned to India to live with her parents. 

She said: "I am living with my mother who is unwell.

"My parents worry about me all the time. 

"My parents worry what my future will be after they are gone now that I am alone."

She added: "I looked forward to us growing old together and seeing him with grey hairs.

"My husband was a lovely person and I cannot visualise him sleeping in eternity.

"Not a moment has passed where I haven't remembered him."