A Dutch international tennis coach has been jailed for 18 years for stabbing millionaire businessman Koen Everink to death in his own home.

Judges in Utrecht on Tuesday found Mark de Jong guilty of murdering Everink, who made his fortune from the website Eliza Was Here, in March 2016.

The 42-year-old was found by his six-year-old daughter in his villa in Bilthoven, having been stabbed dozens of times with his own kitchen knives. Suspicion quickly fell on Mark de Jong, the coach of Dutch number one tennis player Robin Haase, who had borrowed tens of thousands of euros from Everink to bankroll his online poker habit.

‘The suspect robbed Everink of his life in a gruesome manner. It must have been terrible to be attacked in your own home by someone you trusted,’ the chief judge said.

The judges said they had taken the fact that Everink’s daughter was in the house when pronouncing sentence. ‘She heard her father screaming. It must have been clear to the suspect that the little girl would find her father dead,’ the court said.

De Jong, who was not in court for the verdict, has denied murder. His lawyer immediately launched an appeal.