Man stabbed housemate to death then threatened police

A man who murdered his housemate in a "callous and cowardly" attack has been jailed.

Richard Chamberlain, 34, was found with a number of stab injuries at a property in New Market Street, Colne, on 31 March, Lancashire Police said.

Frank Wrona had taken significant amounts of cocaine and alcohol before he carried out the attack, the force added.

The 44-year-old, who pleaded guilty, was jailed for life at Preston Crown Court and ordered to serve a minimum of 16 years and 79 days.

Police said Mr Chamberlain died shortly after emergency services found him with a number of stab injuries.

A post-mortem examination later established the cause of his death was multiple stab wounds.

The force said when officers initially arrived at the property, Wrona was still in his bedroom and was shouting: "Come in here and I’ll slice you up."

He then told officers Mr Chamberlain "had deserved it", claiming the victim had stolen some money from him.

Wrona, of New Market Street, Colne, was arrested at the scene and later charged with Richard’s murder.

Det Ch Insp Andy Fallows said: "This was a callous and cowardly attack committed on a vulnerable victim.

"There is no justification for such spontaneous and excessive violence.

"After carrying out the ferocious attack he did nothing to help Richard.

"Instead he chose to issue further threats of violence to the first responders.

"While no sentence can ever making up for the taking of a life, I hope Richard’s taken some solace in the fact that Wrona will be in prison for a considerable length of time."

In a victim impact statement on behalf of his family, Mr Chamberlain's father, Ian, described the day of his murder as one "that changed our families lives forever".

"The taking of Richard in such a brutal and callous way will forever haunt us.

"He did not deserve this, and we did not deserve to lose our son/brother in this horrific manner."

He said his son was a "very special but vulnerable person".

"He lived with the challenges of autism, specifically Asperger's syndrome but found solace in art, the countryside and animals. His passion was drawing and his dream was to pursue fashion design."

He said: "It is hard to comprehend that we will never see Richard again, never hear his voice and his cheeky little laugh. We will not hear all his witticisms, factual ramblings or see him progress through life, wherever that may have taken him.

"We console ourselves with all the wonderful memories of an extremely bright, thoughtful, artistically talented, caring and very special person who saw the good in everyone.

He added: "That is how we want Richard to be remembered."

Listen to the best of BBC Radio Lancashire on Sounds and follow BBC Lancashire on Facebook, X and Instagram. You can also send story ideas to [email protected]