Man who stabbed housemate guilty of murder

A man who stabbed his housemate multiple times then went shopping for alcohol has been found guilty of murder.

Mark Carpenter, 51, of Embankment Road, Plymouth, was convicted of murdering Harry Jackson by a jury at Plymouth Crown Court.

The court heard police were called to a shared house at 20:22 on 4 May 2026 after another resident found Jackson's body at the bottom of the stairs.

A post-mortem examination found he had been stabbed four times in the back and had defensive injuries to his left wrist.

On the evening of the attack, Carpenter told several people different accounts of what had happened.

He told one friend he had been in a fight but in a call to another woman he said "so I got revenge" and described stabbing his neighbour in the back. He also told her he would spend the rest of his life in prison.

Prosecutor Dan Pawson-Pounds said Jackson had suffered four horizontal stab wounds to his back that were in a straight line as well as a slash wound to his left wrist which severed a major artery.

The wrist wound may have been caused as Jackson tried to defend himself, a jury heard.

The court was told after killing Jackson, Carpenter did not call 999 but instead called acquaintances and bought alcohol from shops.

Pawson-Pounds said Carpenter claimed in the second altercation Jackson was sitting on top of him on the floor with his back to him and the defendant grabbed a knife from a bedside table and repeatedly stabbed him.

Carpenter said Jackson tried to bite him but there was no injury consistent with a bite mark and it did not explain how his severe wrist injury was caused, the jury heard.

He is due to be sentenced on Thursday.

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