A DRUG runner has been found guilty of murder after a much-loved father was stabbed in a dispute over his brother’s debt.

Reece McHutcherson, 20, stabbed 31-year-old Murdoch Brown several times in the leg in Buffett Way, Greenstead, Colchester, in May 2019.

Throughout a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court, a jury were told Murdoch had travelled from Braintree to Colchester with his brother Robert Brown.

The court heard Robert had accrued a £290 debt to the JR drug line, which he had hoped to settle with a visit to the Greenstead estate to explain himself.

Robert, who just days earlier had had suffered a near-fatal overdose, told the jury Murdoch came with him “to make sure he was all right”.

The court heard after a phone call, the two bothers agreed a meeting in Greenstead.

The jury were told in Buffett Way, under the cover of darkness, the pair were approached by two drug runners.

McHutcherson stabbed Murdoch and Robert fled the scene.

McHutcherson, of Pillow Way, Buckingham, denied murder, but was found guilty of the charge.

He was cleared of a separate charge of attempted grievous bodily harm with intent.

Co-accused Jay Dice, 23, and Toyn Williams, 29, were both cleared of murder.

Williams was further cleared of manslaughter, but was convicted on one count of being concerned in the supply of Class A drugs.

Dice, of Mayville, Leytonstone, and Williams, of Winchester Road, in Hale End, East London, were both cleared of attempted grievous bodily harm with intent.

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.

Dice and Williams were convicted of perverting the course of justice.

In the case of Jay Dice, the jury will tomorrow continue its deliberations on a charge of manslaughter.

Following Murdoch’s death, his family said: “Murdoch was a much-loved partner, son, brother and uncle.

“He was a devoted father to his children and his family are heartbroken.”