A TEENAGE drug dealer has been told he will spend at least 15 years in jail for murdering a father-to-be in an Essex village.

Roddy Ashworth

A TEENAGE drug dealer has been told he will spend at least 15 years in jail for murdering a father-to-be in an Essex village.

Kenny Cornwall, 17, of Danesdale Road, Hackney, was sentenced to life for the murder of Alan Reilly, who was stabbed in Bocking on the night of Tuesday, April 22 last year.

The youth had admitted stabbing drug user Mr Reilly, 25, after an argument, but he denied murdering him.

The corpse of Mr Reilly, from Silver End, was found in Coldnailhurst Avenue, Bocking, after he had sustained nine stab wounds - four to the front of his body and five to the back.

Three wounds had cut to the bone and one was 16 inches deep.

During an 18-day-trial a jury heard that Mr Reilly, who used crack cocaine, had become angry with Cornwall when he failed to supply him with drugs.

He headbutted and punched the youth in front of three of the teenager's friends, who then encouraged him to “shank” Reilly.

Cornwall left the scene and returned with a kitchen knife he had taken from a nearby house.

The court heard that others present joined in the attack, but that it was Cornwall who carried out the stabbing.

Mr Reilly managed to stagger into a friend's house but despite the efforts of police and an on-call doctor Mr Reilly died at about 10.30pm.

The jury was told that the murder weapon was never found, but a knife sheath covered with blood and Cornwall's finger prints was recovered from the scene.

Mr Reilly's girlfriend, Rachel Murphy, gave birth a week before his funeral.

Cornwall was sentenced to life imprisonment and told he will have to serve a minimum of 15 years less time he has already spent in custody.