An Afghan man who hacked his adoptive millionaire dad to death with an axe to inherit his fortune has been sentenced to life behind bars.

The district court in Cologne, Germany, handed down the maximum sentence after finding greed-driven Hedayat S., 32, guilty of murder.

Lonely victim Herbert S., 75, had lived alone in Cologne, Germany, following the death of his partner from cancer.

Hedayat S., a plumber, is believed to have targeted the gay, childless OAP after meeting him on a golf course in Overath years earlier.

He was even adopted by the pensioner, but the two men ended up falling out just three months later.

The row came after Hedayat S. – who lived in nearby Bergisch Gladbach – proposed to his longtime girlfriend but did not tell his adoptive dad.

When Herbert discovered the plan, he threatened to disinherit his adopted son.

So the 32-year-old plotted a deadly trap for his adoptive dad, the court heard.

On 26th June last year, Hedayat S. lured Herbert to an apartment building construction site.

There, said prosecutors, he struck the OAP 17 times, “probably with an axe”, crushing his head and face.

He let his victim bleed to death before calling the emergency services and telling them his father had suffered a fall.

But a few days later, the police arrested him.

Prosecutors argued that Hedayat S. had killed Herbert so he could inherit his millions before the OAP could write him out of his will.

The sentence was reported by local media on 28th July and it is not clear if it can be appealed.