THE man who killed York father-of-five Mark Webb has been found guilty of murder.

Brian Cox, 29, attacked Mr Webb, 40, slashing his throat with a Stanley knife in an alleyway off Stuart Road in Acomb. He left a wound 19 cm (eight inches) long, then ran off while his victim bled to death.

A jury at Leeds Crown Court today found Cox, of no fixed address, guilty of murder, and found the dead man's wife Susan Webb, Cox's lover, guilty of perverting the course of justice by washing away blood from the scene and lying about what had happened. She was cleared of a third charge of disposing of the murder weapon.

The killer stood impassive in the dock at the jury returned its unanimous verdict, on its third day of deliberations.

The attack happened on March 4, at the home of a friend of Mrs Webb. Mr Webb, from Cornlands Road, had staggered to the Middleton Road home where he had lived with his children and Mrs Webb, but was found dead in the garden.

Mrs Webb was in a relationship with Cox at the time of the murder and immediately after the killing, co-ordinated a cover-up to protect her lover.

The jury convicted her of twice perverting the course of justice, by cleaning away blood from the murder scene and lying to police and others to give Cox an alibi.

She was acquitted of removing the murder weapon from the scene.

Cox's long-term partner Dawn Heather Coates, 50, of Chapel Terrace, Acomb, was acquitted of perverting the course of justice by washing bloodstains off Cox's jacket. The jury accepted her evidence that she had no idea what had happened in Stuart Road and didn't see any blood on the jacket. All defendants had denied all charges.

More to follow.....