Anas Chergat: Man guilty of murder over 'debt row'

A man has been found guilty of murdering a man who died after being stabbed in his legs.

Richard Street, 30, of no fixed address, was found guilty at Stafford Crown Court of killing Anas Chergat, 26, in August 2019.

He will be sentenced with Alan Martyn, 45, who admitted murdering Mr Chergat at an earlier hearing.

Street and Martyn will be sentenced at Birmingham Crown Court at a date still to be set.

Police said the "ruthless" pair had murdered Mr Chergat after an argument over a cannabis debt.

Both men previously admitted supplying Class B drugs.

Martyn, of no fixed address, stabbed Mr Chergat twice in Sandon Street, Etruria, on 23 August, Staffordshire Police said.

Street had already left the property but was "exchanging text messages with Martyn, whom he knew to be violent, about debt", the force said.

Officers said Martyn and Street tried to throw away the mobile phones they had used, but officers were able to place them at Mr Chergat's address through forensic work and CCTV evidence.

Det Insp Alan Lyford said: "Martyn and Street are dangerous and violent men who were ruthless following an argument over a debt. They then took steps to conceal their crime."

He said he was "grateful" to witnesses who came forward, enabling police to bring the case to court, adding he hoped the conviction would bring "some comfort" to Mr Chergat's grieving family.

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