A 29-year-old German builder has been jailed for 5 years after he admitted assisting in the moving and hiding of a man's body, almost 6 years ago.

The Central Criminal Court heard Joachim Pohl with an address at Linton Place, Kilkenny also helped clean up the scene after Thomas Thompson was struck twice on the head with a bale of briquettes at his home in Borris Road, Portlaoise in April 2007.

Joachim Pohl ran his own building company in Ireland and employed a man who owed money to 59 year old Mr Thompson, a self-employed plasterer from Yorkshire in England, working in Ireland.

The court heard Mr Thompson was telling other people that they should not hire this man which was affecting Joachim Pohl's ability to get work.

He claims he and the employee called round to the plasterer's house, there was a fight and Thomas Thompson was struck by his colleague twice on the back of the head with a bale of briquettes.

They hog-tied the body, put it in a wheelie bin and drove it out to Dysert wood, near Stradbally where it was buried.

Both men were arrested the following December as part of a garda investigation into Mr Thompson's disappearance.

Items belonging to the dead man were discovered at their houses.

However charges of burglary were dismissed because of a failure to provide a book of evidence.

The following January Joachim Pohl disclosed to gardai where the body was hidden.

He said he came forward after a dream that he was in jail and his employee was looking in laughing at him.

In victim impact evidence, Mr Thompson's wife Sandra said ''during the nine-month search for her husband, she hoped his body would be treated with some dignity and respect but this was
not the case''.

Mr Justice Paul Carney heard Joachim Pohl is extremely remorseful for his actions. He returned voluntarily from Germany when contacted by the Irish authorities.