A MAN has been found guilty of conspiracy to murder after his stepdad was stabbed repeatedly during a brutal and prolonged attack at his home.

Flash Day of Rose Allen Avenue, Colchester, was found guilty of recruiting a hitman to kill his stepdad John Sales in order to inherit up to £200,000 from the sale of a house in Hythe Hill, Colchester.

Mr Sales was stabbed repeatedly in the neck, face, chest and back by Ryan Hynes, a man he had never met, on November 10 2015.

Brian Reece, prosecuting, claims it was all done for money.

The court heard how Day was named an executor of Mr Sales’s will and the prosecution allege Day was worried he would be cut out of it.

Prosecutors claimed Day worked with a co-conspirator to hire Hynes to kill Mr Sales, in a bid to get up to £200,000 from the eventual sale of his house.

Hynes admitted a charge of attempted murder at Chelmsford Crown Court in October.

Day was found guilty this afternoon at Chelmsford Crown Court after the jury went out at around 12.30pm to deliberate. 

A 17-year-old girl from Colchester, who had given Hynes an alibi, admitted perverting the course of justice at a hearing in May last year.

All will be sentenced on a date to be set towards the end of June.
Senior investigating Officer Detective Inspector Al Pitcher, of the Kent and Essex Serious Crime Directorate, said: “This was an horrific act born out of sheer greed and  it was only good fortune and the efforts of Emergency Services and medical professionals that the victim survived.”

“It was clear from the ferociousness of the attack that the aim was to kill. Hynes attacked the victim twice in two distinct attacks and then left him for dead.”

“Day carefully planned the attack and went to great lengths to try and get rid of the evidence linking him to it.”

“Hynes did not know the victim but was fed information about his routine so that he could carry out the attack at a time of day that it would be guaranteed the victim would be at home.”

“Hynes has never said what he stood to gain from the conspiracy. “

“The victim is a gentleman who has endured not only the physical and emotional trauma of his injuries but the knowledge that a member of his family was ultimately responsible for them.”

“He has shown immense courage and dignity and I thank him and his family for their support throughout this lengthy investigation and judicial process.

“I would also like to thank all those who were involved in the investigation for their painstaking work and dedication, and the Crown Prosecution Service for their assistance throughout.”