Man murdered housemate over £10 debt for phone

A man has been found guilty of murder after he stabbed his housemate during a row over a £10 phone debt.

Mark Jesse, 51, of Castle Road in Chatham, Kent was convicted on Monday following a trial at Maidstone Crown Court. Shane Rule, 41, of no fixed address was acquitted of the same charge.

Jesse fatally attacked his housemate Charles Belsham, 43, with a knife at the Castle Road property on 1 November over the debt, owed to 41-year-old Ashley Robinson, Kent Police said.

Robinson, of no fixed address, had earlier admitted dangerous driving and was found guilty of assisting an offender in relation to the incident.

Robinson had argued with the victim over the debt, which had been for a phone, police said.

Officers reported they had separated but Jesse had been angered by the argument, picked up a knife, entered Belsham's room and stabbed him.

They said the victim was found with a single stab wound to the chest after Jesse and Robinson had fled the house together in a car, which was later abandoned.

The pair will be sentenced at a later date.

Det Ch Insp Martin Davies said: "A man's life was tragically and prematurely cut short over a simple argument and it is solely due to Jesse's unjustifiable and rash decision to take a knife into the victim's room that day.

"That he ran from the scene and consistently denied his actions show his lack of remorse and morality."

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