Matthew Constantinou has gone on trial at Norwich Crown Court accused of murder
- Credit: Archant
The jury in the trial of a man accused of murder over a £10 drugs debt are hearing closing speeches.
Thomas Moore, 42, went with his friend Ricky Marshall to retrieve £10 Mr Marshall was owed by Matthew Constantinou for cannabis.
Norwich Crown Court heard the pair turned up at Constantinou s address, in Antingham Drive, North Walsham, where he lived with his mum, to get the cash back.
But they were chased away by Constantinou before ending up on Bacton Road, where Mr Moore was fatally stabbed in the neck.
Judge Anthony Bate adjourned sentencing until May 20.
The trial, which has been running since April 26, heard that in the weeks leading up to the fatal stabbing the defendant and Mr Marshall “had a bit of a falling out”.
A murder investigation was launched in North Walsham after the incident.
- Credit: Archant
Peter Gair, prosecuting, said it had been due to the “failure of this defendant to pay a £10 debt” for cannabis.
Mr Marshall texted Constantinou to say he would visit his mum to get the cash back and inform her of his drugs habit to which the defendant texted back “I will gut you .
BBC News
Published
image captionThomas Moore was pronounced dead at the scene on Bacton Road
A man who stabbed to death the friend of someone he owed £10 to has been found guilty of manslaughter.
Matthew Constantinou knifed Thomas Moore, 42, in the neck in October after an altercation outside the defendant s home in North Walsham, Norfolk.
The defendant claimed he feared he or his mother would be seriously injured in a tug of war over a baseball bat.
Constantinou, 42, of Antingham Drive, was cleared of murder but found guilty of the less serious charge.
He will be sentenced at Norwich Crown Court on 20 May.
Published:
6:00 PM May 11, 2021
Matthew Constantinou made a 999 call to police after fatal stabbing in North Walsham in October 2020
- Credit: Archant
A 42-year-old convicted of killing another man in a row sparked by a £10 drugs debt made a call to police following the stabbing.
Thomas Moore, also 42, was stabbed once in the neck during an argument with Matthew Constantinou over the debt owed to Mr Moore s friend Ricky Marshall in October last year.
During the trial the jury heard a 999 call Constantinou made to police at 11.26pm on October 2 last year after he returning home following the fatal attack.
Matthew Constantinou has been found guilty of manslaughter after Thomas Moore was fatally stabbed in North Walsham in October last year.
Matthew Constantinou
- Credit: Facebook
A man described as one of life s gentlemen is paying the price for a thirst for drugs which has seen him convicted of manslaughter after a fatal fall out over a £10 cannabis debt.
Matthew Constantinou, 42, was to all intents and purposes the perfect gentleman.
Matthew Constantinou
- Credit: Facebook
But that reputation he had built up with friends and neighbours in North Walsham is now in tatters after a jury took just over three hours and forty minutes to convict him of manslaughter.
Constantinou will now be sentenced on May 20 after being convicted over the fatal stabbing of Thomas Moore on October 2 last year.