A man has been convicted of murder for stabbing his friend to death after being woken up.
Victim Jimmy Moore, 33, arrived at Robert Crabtree’s Nazeing home, in Essex, England, on September 25, 2021, to pick his brother up for work.
In an August 8 Essex Police news release, officers Moore Jimmy started to throw stones at the window of the bedroom he thought Crabtree’s brother was sleeping.
But Crabtree was sleeping in the bedroom and his brother was not at home at the time, according to the news release.
When Crabtree woke up he shouted out of the window and proceeded to get into an argument with Moore.
Crabtree then went downstairs, grabbed a knife, and confronted Moore. He then stabbed him several times.
After Moore fell to the floor, Crabtree stabbed him again, at which point police were notified.
Essex police said: “Meanwhile, Jimmy staggered back to his car, got in the driving seat before driving down the road before collapsing at the wheel.
“When officers arrived, they found Jimmy in his car who, sadly, died at the scene.”
Crabtree was soon arrested on suspicion of murder.
Knives are involved in hundreds of homicides every year in England and Wales, according to data obtained by the Office of National Statistics.
The U.K. government department found that 235 people were stabbed to death in the two countries between 2020 and 2021. This represents a fall from 270 between 2019 and 2020.
The police statement continued: “During his first interview, he claimed he had been acting in self-defense and Jimmy had been the aggressor.
“He told officers Jimmy had assaulted him and only after that did he go back into his house and grab a knife.
“Crabtree’s brother claimed Jimmy had picked up mole grips and had threatened Crabtree with them, but CCTV footage which covered much of the incident did not show Jimmy with anything in his hands when the attack took place.”
Crabtree was convicted of murder following a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court and now faces life in prison. He will be sentenced at the same court on September 9.
Ryan Crabtree, 30, of no fixed address was convicted of perverting the course of justice having been found to have tried to help his brother clean up the blood from the driveway.
He also turned off the home’s CCTV following the stabbing in an attempt to reduce the amount of evidence that police could examine.
Newsweek has contacted Essex Police for comment.