A DRUG runner who hoped to make a £1,000 per week career out of street dealing has been locked up for a minimum of 20 years after stabbing a man to death.

Murdoch Brown, 31, was stabbed several times in the leg in Buffett Way, Greenstead, Colchester, in May 2019.

During a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, it was the prosecution case that Reece McHutcherson, 20, was ordered to stab Murdoch’s brother Robert over an unpaid drug debt.

Prosecutors described co-accused Toyn Williams, 29, as the organiser of the attack, arguing Jay Dice, 23, acted closely with him to see the stabbing carried out.

But the jury rejected this argument, clearing Williams of murder and manslaughter.

Dice was cleared of murder, while the jury failed to reach a verdict on a manslaughter charge.

The prosecution decided not to pursue another trial against Dice and Judge Patricia Lynch QC passed a not guilty verdict.

McHutcherson had tried to argue he acted in self-defence when the two brothers pulled knives on him and tried to rob him.

But in sentencing him, Judge Lynch said McHutcherson had arrived in Buffett Way armed with a knife.

Chelmsford Weekly News: Murdoch Brown is much missed by his family Murdoch Brown is much missed by his family

In respect of his drug dealing, Tracy Ayling, prosecuting, said: “We submit he is not a vulnerable person coerced or pressurised into what he did, and given his evidence in this trial it was a lifestyle and career choice.

“He gave evidence about how much money he could earn, and we submit he was trusted to travel with both Williams and Dice to learn the ropes of a new job. 

“He told you in evidence it was a very busy night and his view was that he could make about a £1,000 a week.”

Judge Lynch said the background of the murder was rooted in “the misery of the drugs world.”

Read more: Everything we learned from trial into stabbing

Sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, McHutcherson, of Pillow Way, Buckingham, will serve a minimum term of 20 years before he can be considered for parole, while a three year concurrent prison sentence was passed in respect of a single charge of being concerned in the supply of a controlled drug.

Dice, of Mayville, Leytonstone, was convicted of perverting the course of justice.

Williams, of Winchester Road, Hale End, East London, was convicted of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs and perverting the course of justice.

Kaley Hodgkinson, 31, of Charles Pell Way, Colchester, was cleared of a charge of assisting an offender, but convicted on one count of perverting the course of justice.

All three will be sentenced at the same court on Monday afternoon.