Father of four Steven Ling had been out in Doncaster with friends when he returned to his parked Audi to retrieve his house keys and found Mateusz Chojnowski, 28, inside.

Accusing him of stealing money from the car, Ling attacked the young Polish man and he was found seriously injured near The Salutation Inn on South Parade. He later died in hospital on July 2.

Ling, of Westwoodside, denied murdering Mateusz, claiming that he had no idea he was badly injured after the fight and would have taken him to hospital if he had known, but CCTV footage caught the ‘violent and sustained’ attack in which he repeatedly returned to his victim.

A jury found him guilty today at Sheffield Crown Court.

Mateusz’s mother, Bozena, said after the verdict was returned: “As the mother of Mateusz Chojnowski, I am satisfied that today, justice has been served. This has been a traumatic time for our family, and despite our grief we are pleased with the outcome at court.

“We are devastated from the death of my son. He was a great source of support to all our family, and he can never be replaced. As a mother, I don’t think I will ever recover from this loss.

“We would now like to ask for privacy at this difficult time.”

The court heard Mateusz was found by two members of the public, just after 4am on 2 July. He was lying on a grass verge, covered in blood.

A postmortem examination revealed he died as a result of injuries to his head, chest and abdomen. His injuries were so severe that a fingerprint scanner was required to identify him.

Detective Chief Inspector Rebecca Hodgman, senior investigating officer, said: “The attack on Mateusz, which was captured on CCTV, showed a violent and sustained assault by a single attacker, lasting around 20 minutes.

“Later that day, at around 2.45pm, our control room received a call from Steven Ling’s solicitor. He said Ling had been involved in a serious incident in Doncaster, and that he wished to hand himself in.

“Ling attended Doncaster Police Station at 5pm that day, and was arrested on suspicion of murder.”

The court heard Ling had swelling and cuts to both hands. He made only brief comments in three police interviews, instead providing prepared statements.

DCI Hodgman continued: “In his statements Ling accepted he had been in what he described as an ‘altercation’ with Mateusz that night, after finding him in his car. But he denied murder, saying he had ‘no intention of causing serious harm to anyone’.

“Ling claimed he returned to his car to get his house key, and found Mateusz inside. He said he ‘challenged’ Mateusz and a fight ensued. Ling claimed he panicked and left the scene, making arrangements to hand himself in after learning a man had been found dead.”

Following today’s verdict, Ling was remanded into custody to be sentenced on Tuesday 20 December.

DCI Hodgman added: “I would first like to offer my sincere condolences to Mateusz’s family as I know these proceedings will have been extremely distressing for them. I hope today’s verdict offers them some comfort as they rebuild their lives following the loss of Mateusz.

“Throughout his trial, Ling has claimed that he did not intend to kill Mateusz that day. I am pleased that the jury has seen through that lie and found him guilty of Mateusz’s murder.

“I also want to recognise the dedication of the many officers who have worked tirelessly on this case, to ensure Mateusz’s killer has been brought to justice.”

The court heard that Ling had been out with friends and had drunk in The Salutation and eaten at Guest steakhouse before returning to his car.

Salutation murder Doncaster: Businessman, 38, found guilty of murdering man he found breaking into his car after night out