Scott Thomson, 57, stabbed to death his flatmate James Murray, 47James Murray collapsed after he was stabbed in the heart(Image: Greater Manchester Police)

A partially blind man who fatally stabbed his flatmate in the heart with a kitchen knife during an argument has been found guilty of murder.

Scott Thomson, 57, had got on ‘generally well’ with flatmate James Murray in the first-floor maisonette the pair shared on Sky Walk in Wythenshawe, Manchester Crown Court heard when the trial started on Monday June 2.

But during an argument on December 4, 2024, Thomson plunged a Swiss Home kitchen knife eight centimetres deep into Mr Murray’s chest penetrating his heart, the court heard.

Mr Murray, 47, staggered out of the flat but collapsed on Whitburn Road at around 8pm the same evening, jurors were told. Paramedics were called, but Mr Murray was pronounced dead at the scene approximately 40 minutes after he was stabbed.

Thomson pleaded guilty to manslaughter but denied murder. Today (Friday June 13, 2025) the jury found Thomson guilty of murder.

He is due to be sentenced on June 20.

Prosecutor Rob Hall told the trial: “At about 8pm on December 4, 2024, at 11 Sky Walk, this defendant stabbed his housemate James Murray. He stabbed him once into his heart. The stabbing was a result of a domestic argument that was overheard by a neighbour.”

Jurors were shown images of Thomson and Mr Murray’s first-floor flat, including a ‘trail of blood’ left by Mr Murray as he staggered out of the living room and down into the street below.

They were also shown detailed pictures of the living room, including two remote controls, a TV set, and a sofa underneath which the kitchen knife used to stab Mr Murray was found.

Minshull Street Crown Court(Image: MEN Media)

Showing one picture of the kitchen blade against a tape measure, Mr Hall said asked jurors to notice ‘staining’ on the blade just over eight centimetres, adding it gives jurors ‘an idea of the amount that blade has gone into James Murray’s chest and pierced his heart’.

“The defendant and James Murray had cohabited at the address for some time,” he continued. “They generally got on. Both of them had had issues with substance misuse in the past.”

He added Thomson has issues with his eyesight that ‘significantly limited’ his vision at the time of the stabbing.

Jurors were told detectives had ‘followed the blood trail’ left by Mr Murray after he died back to 11 Sky Walk, but that the flat was empty when they arrived.

They traced Thomson back to the house of a neighbour, Louise Thompson, on Barford Walk, where he ‘effectively surrendered’ himself on December 5, the court heard.

Thomson was arrested on suspicion of murder and taken into police custody for questioning, where he initially answered ‘no comment’ to all questions but later admitted to stabbing Mr Murray while under the influence of drink and drugs, jurors were told.