York killer Ian Franklin has been found guilty of murdering champion bare-knuckle boxer Greg Marshall following a stabbing attack on a suburban housing estate.
Franklin, 33, stabbed Mr Marshall at least 13 times during a frenzied attack in his front garden on the Bell Farm Estate. Two of the stab wounds pierced Mr Marshall’s lungs and heart.
Today at Leeds Crown Court, a jury found Franklin guilty of murdering the 35-year-old father, wounding Mr Marshall’s friend Jason Rhodes and carrying a bladed article.
During the trial, the jury was told that Rhodes, 34, and Mr Marshall had gone to Franklin’s home in Roche Avenue, off Huntington Road, to settle a debt – thought to be a drug debt.
Franklin and his partner then “flew out” of the house and then, amid piercing screams, Franklin attacked Mr Marshall with a knife after the boxer punched his partner to the ground.
Mr Marshall, who wasn’t armed, ran out of the garden into the street, chased by Franklin who was shouting maniacally and brandishing a large, “shiny” weapon.
As he was running away, Mr Marshall collapsed in an alleyway and went into cardiac arrest. He was taken to York District Hospital by ambulance but was pronounced dead at 5.25am on 17 August last year, just 40 minutes after the fatal stab wounds were inflicted.
A post-mortem revealed the York man had suffered fatal wounds to his chest, two of which penetrated his lungs and heart. He suffered about 14 stab wounds in total, with other “incised” wounds to his neck and face.
Rhodes, of Union Terrace, York, was also stabbed as he ran from Franklin’s garden. He was treated in hospital for a single stab wound.
Prosecutor Rupert Doswell KC said there had been an incident in the street earlier that day when Franklin confronted Mr Marshall with a machete. In this instance, Mr Marshall disarmed him and threw the machete onto the ground.
Rhodes himself was charged with carrying a machete, but denied this without a reasonable excuse, saying he had simply picked up the weapon that Mr Marshall had seized from Franklin and thrown in the street.
They later returned to Franklin’s house where a projectile was thrown at a front window, causing it to smash. Rhodes claimed he had thrown the machete into a bush and not at the window.
Franklin claimed he and his partner had gone outside and he armed himself with a kitchen knife after seeing her attacked by Mr Marshall.
He claimed at that point he “intervened” and that he “could have stabbed Greg Marshall twice” during the ensuing struggle.
The jury was unanimous in finding Rhodes not guilty of carrying the machete. However, he had already admitted carrying a multi-tool item before the trial.
Judge Robin Mairs adjourned sentence to a date to be fixed but told Franklin to expect a life sentence with a minimum term to serve behind bars. Franklin was remanded in custody.