cocaine addict battered his small-time dealer to death in a desperate last-ditch bid to clear his crippling debts. Desperate former Army sergeant Daniel Shovelton owed £53,000 through his £1,000-a-month drug habit.
Prosecutors said the 40-year-old decided to solve his financial woes by targeting "small time" cocaine dealer and "doting" dad Mark Bradbury, 58.
Jurors at Liverpool Crown Court today found him guilty of murder by a majority of 10 to two, after around 11 hours of deliberation, following a 13-day trial.
David McLachlan, QC, prosecuting said "desperate" Shovelton was "a man on the edge" and Mr Bradbury was "an obvious and potential source of both money and drugs".
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