A Colchester man has been jailed for 25 years for conspiring to murder his stepfather in a row over inheritance.
Flash Day, of Rose Allen Avenue, hired a hitman to kill his stepfather, John Sales, after he became resentful at not being the sole inheritor of his childhood home.
The house had passed to Mr Sales following the 2009 death of Day’s mother Josephine, who did not leave a will.
Although Mr Sales drew up a will including him as a beneficiary, Day – who changed his name from Ashley Day by deedpoll - was bitter at having to share his inheritance.
When the house was put on the market in September 2015, he planned to kill the 71-year-old and hired Ryan Hynes to carry it out for him.
Hynes, 22, went into the back garden of the house in Hythe Hill on November 10, 2015 and when Mr Sales came out, he claimed he was looking for his son’s football.
On returning from getting a torch to help, he was stabbed 11 times to the face, head, neck, chest, shoulder and back.
The pensioner managed to dial 999 and officers arrived within minutes to find him critically injured on his doorstep.
He still requires continuing medical treatment.
Day, 46, unemployed, denied conspiracy to commit murder but was found guilty by a jury on May 24, following a trial at Chelmsford Crown Court.
Hynes, a warehouseman, of Long Road, Lawford, admitted charges of attempted murder and conspiracy to commit murder at a hearing in October last year.
Day was jailed today for 25 years and Hynes was jailed for 17 years and three months.
A 17-year-old girl from Colchester, who had given Hynes an alibi and cannot be named for legal reasons, admitted perverting the course of justice at a hearing in May last year.
She was sentenced today to a 12-month rehabilitation order and three month curfew.
Mr Sales’ daughter, Tanya Ryan, said: “We are pleased with the verdict and grateful to the jury for making their unanimous decision so quickly.
“We would like to thank the surgeons at Colchester and Addenbrooke’s Hospital for saving my dad’s life, and the Stanway major crime team for the manner in which they treated our dad and the way they conducted the investigation.
“We also thank the media for the way they have covered the attack and respected our wishes for my dad’s privacy to be respected.
“This attack devastated us all but we are a strong and close family and we will now be able to put this behind us and move on with our lives.”
Detective Inspector Al Pitcher, of the Kent and Essex serious crime directorate, said: “Day is a callous and selfish individual who orchestrated this vicious attack against a member of his own family.
“He was motivated by money and neither he nor Hynes had any regard for the victim.
“It was only good fortune and the excellent medical treatment provided by doctors and emergency services that ensured Mr Sales survived.
“This has been a lengthy and complex investigation and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the case officer DC Philip Parish and the investigation team for their professionalism and hard work.
“My final words are for the family. This has been a traumatic investigation for them all. They have had to discover things that no family would ever expect to hear.
“I pay tribute to and thank them for their patience, dignity and restraint during the investigation and judicial process.”
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