A Plymouth man has been found guilty of murdering his housemate, who was stabbed four times in the back at their shared home. Mark Carpenter, 57, of Embankment Road, Plymouth, was convicted of murdering Harry Jackson by a jury at Plymouth Crown Court on 11 November 2026.

Police were called to the house at 8.22pm on 4 May 2026, after another resident found Mr Jackson's body. A post-mortem examination found that he had been stabbed four times in the back and had defensive injuries to his left wrist.

Self-defence claim rejected by jury

Carpenter claimed that he had acted in self-defence, saying Mr Jackson had assaulted him twice before the stabbing. In court, he accepted that he had stabbed Mr Jackson but said he had not intended to cause serious harm. The jury rejected that account.

Prosecutors said CCTV, witness accounts, phone activity and forensic analysis disproved his claim. Cleaning items found outside his room and discarded clothes were stained with Mr Jackson's blood, and DNA evidence was recovered from the handle of the knife used in the attack.

Shops visited instead of calling for help

Instead of calling for help, Carpenter spent the next five hours visiting shops to buy alcohol, with bloodstains visible on his clothing, prosecutors said. He told one friend that he had been in a fight, and told another woman that he had got revenge and described stabbing his neighbour in the back.

When police interviewed him, Carpenter answered "no comment" to every question. In prepared statements, he said he had been attacked and might have stabbed Mr Jackson accidentally. Helen Phillips, of the Crown Prosecution Service, said the evidence told another story. Carpenter will be sentenced on 12 November.

Sources: Crown Prosecution Service and Hello Rayo.