Louis Bednall stabbing: Matthew Sheridan guilty of murder

A man has been convicted of murdering a father-of-five, who was repeatedly stabbed in an argument over a £17 bottle of vodka.

A jury at Exeter Crown Court found Matthew Sheridan, 30, of South Petherton, guilty of killing Louis Bednall on 12 December last year.

Sheridan, a farm worker, stabbed off-duty doorman Mr Bednall, 40, in the head, neck and shoulders at a block of flats in Hendford Hill, Yeovil, Somerset.

He will be sentenced on Friday.

One of the eyewitnesses said the stabbing was like a scene from a horror movie and all attempts to stem the bleeding failed, the court heard.

Mr Bednall had been visiting friends in the same block of flats where Sheridan had spent the night drinking and taking drugs with the tenant of an upstairs room.

He was killed in a "frantic and intense" attack after demanding that Sheridan hand back a bottle of vodka which he had stolen from the flat that Mr Bednall and his friends were in.

After the attack, Sheridan ran downstairs, went outside and threw away the murder weapon which was never recovered.

Judge Peter Johnson told him he would be facing life imprisonment when sentenced on Friday, after being convicted of murder "on the clearest and most compelling evidence".

Avon and Somerset Police senior investigating officer, Det Ch Insp Phil Walker, called it "a relentless and savage attack".

"The level of explosive violence he used in those moments beggars belief. Afterwards, he returned to his friend's flat and recorded a series of videos which were posted on social media.

"A further video, which was not posted, depicts a man who was callous and remorseless in the aftermath of the horrific act he had just committed," DCI Walker added.

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