Stoke-on-Trent 'drug debt' murderer jailed for life

A man who fatally stabbed another person in a row over a drug debt has been jailed for life for murder.

Anas Chergat, 26, was stabbed in his legs in Stoke-on-Trent in August 2019.

At Birmingham Crown Court, Alan Martyn, 45, who admitted the charge at an earlier hearing, was jailed for at least 24 years and eight months.

His accomplice 30-year-old Richard Street, who had denied Mr Chergat's murder, was convicted after a trial and will be sentenced at a later date.

Staffordshire Police said Street, of no fixed address, was a drug-dealer and had been under pressure to repay debts of about £5,000 before the murder on 23 August.

Martyn, also of no fixed address, supplied Mr Chergat with cannabis at his home in Sandon Street, Etruria, the day before and returned later in the evening where they argued about a debt.

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

Martyn then stabbed Mr Chergat, who had moved to the UK from Morocco in 2014, and was captured on CCTV with Street at about 01:30 BST disposing of evidence.

Detectives were able to link Martyn to the scene after he stole Mr Chergat's phone, leaving his DNA on the charging cable.

Mr Chergat's father Youssef said his son "was innocent and he could not defend himself as he would never carry a knife".

"I'm so sorry and so sad, but I am grateful to the people in Stoke-on-Trent who spoke up for Anas."

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