The girlfriend of fatal stab victim Malcolm Walsh today (Friday) said justice had been done for her lover.

Terry Watkins, 54, has been jailed for life after being found guilty by a Chelmsford Crown Court jury of the manslaughter of father-of-two Mr Walsh. Their deliberations took a day.

The two-week trial heard Mr Walsh, 32, of Shannon Close, Leigh, died less than an hour after being knifed once in the heart.

His two young children - who were being dropped back at their mum's house - stood just yards away as their dad collapsed in a pool of blood.

Watkins, of Locksley Close, near Bournes Green Park, denied he murdered Mr Walsh during an argument on June 10 last year.

He maintained the knife somehow injured Mr Walsh as the pair were involved in a scuffle on the driveway.

As Watkins was handcuffed and led out of the dock to a waiting prison van, girlfriend Clare Sanders said: "I would have liked the jury to have ruled that Malcolm was murdered but as long as life means life, he has been given the punishment he deserves."

Jurors heard how months of harassment, vulgar abuse and threats between Mr Walsh and Watkins spiralled into violence.

The last straw were telephoned threats to Watkins' wife Lydia, stating that their home was going to be firebombed and that Watkins was a "dead man."

Mr Walsh believed Lydia's two sons Steven and Stuart owed him cash for drugs and that the brothers were also responsible for smashing the windows of his car.

When Mr Walsh turned up in Locksley Close just after 9am on the summer morning, Watkins decided to confront him.

Within minutes Mr Walsh had been fatally injured.

He was heard to say: "You want to get yourself a decent knife. This one's blunt."

He died less than an hour later.

Convicted - Terry Watkins will serve a life sentence for the manslaughter of Malcolm Walsh

(Right) Investigation - police at the scene of the crime

Malcolm Walsh - Profile

This Is Essex reporter THERESA GAINS profiles the man who police suspect was linked to organised crime, which led to his death

Father-of-two Malcolm Walsh was by no means perfect.

A convicted burglar, he was well known to police and rumoured to be one of Southend's major drugs barons.

For many it was a shock but no great surprise that the keen body builder's young life ended in a street stabbing.

The suprise was that his killer was a man 20 years his senior - a man Malcolm really only knew by sight.

During his 32 years, Malcolm Walsh had earned a certain notoriety in the town. He was not a man to be crossed.

But there was another side to Malcolm - the adoring father of two young children - who were today still struggling to come to terms with seeing their dad stabbed to death just yards from where they stood.

At first police were not sure how much five-year-old Sophie and two-year-old Anthony had witnessed of the fatal attack.

But questions Sophie, now six, has since asked suggests she saw all that went on that summer morning in Locksley Close, near Bournes Green Park, Southend.

Malcolm's estranged wife, Bernadette, said: "I had hoped that Sophie hadn't seen what happened but then she said to me that her daddy was stabbed in the throat. I was shocked. Why would she say that unless she had seen what happened."

Malcolm Walsh, 32, died less than an hour after being stabbed in the heart during an argument with Terry Watkins, 54, on June 10 last year.

He had driven into the quiet cul-de-sac with girlfriend Clare Sanders shortly after 9am to drop his children off at their mother's house.

But simmering bad feeling between Malcolm and Terry Watkins flared into violence.

Malcolm believed Watkins' wife Lydia's two boys Steven and Stuart Tretton owed him around £500 cash from a drugs deal.

He also thought the brothers were responsible for smashing the window of his BMW. The trial heard Malcolm Walsh and Terry and Lydia Watkins regularly hurled insults at each other.

Brian Higgs QC, prosecuting, said: "In the weeks leading up to his death, Mr Walsh had been subjected to a great deal of vulgar abuse from Watkins' wife Lydia.

"He was frequently called a 'lowlife' and a 'scumbag' by that lady, but it has to be said Mr Walsh was not slow in responding in kind."

The jurors were also told how Walsh was understood to at times carry a stun gun and a knife.

Evidence included talk of firebomb threats and allegations of domestic violence.

But ex-wife Bernadette and girlfriend Clare insist they saw a different side to Malcolm Walsh.

Bernadette said: "Malcolm was no wife beater and he would never, ever have laid a finger on his children.

"He adored them - they were his life. I was the one that had to discipline them."

Clare added: "He had an amazing closeness with his children. He would see them every day.

"Sophie was due to go away with her mum over Valentine's weekend and was really upset that she wouldn't be there to put a card on her daddy's grave.

"In the end she cried so much we made a card and took it up there before she went away. She thought the world of Malcolm."

(Right) Happier times - Murdered man Malcolm Walsh with girlfriend Clare Sanders Knife hunt

As late as last week detectives were digging up a back garden in the hunt for the knife which killed Malcolm Walsh.

A tip off sparked a finger-tip search of another garden in Locksley Close as the Murder trial started at Chelmsford Crown Court.

Det Sgt Steve Jones, of Southend CID, said: "Obviously we have to take these things seriously and act upon them. Late evidence does often turn up."

Publicity about the start of Watkins' trial also prompted the parents of a 12-year-old boy to contact police.

Their son had been a guest at a house in Locksley Close overnight and woke to witness the incident between Mr Walsh and Watkins.

Det Sgt Jones said: "It was evidence to help the prosecution's case but as the boy suffered from attention deficit syndrome we also had to get an expert witness to explain the condition and the fact that this boy's recollections could be relied on."

Det Sgt Jones said because of the history of bad feeling surrounding the case officers were quick to set down some ground rules.

He said: "We were concerned about witness intimidation because of the closeness of the community there.

"There was an incident where one of Mr Walsh's acquaintances was visiting someone at Chelmsford Prison and Watkins' wife Lydia was there at the same time.

"There was a bit of a slanging match but we had to be seen to act and prosecute to give a clear message that this behaviour would not be tolerated.

"We were also alerted to another late night incident involving a witness but I believe it may have been made out to be more sinister than it was."

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