A Plymouth man who stabbed his housemate to death and then failed to seek medical help has been jailed for life following a nine-day trial at Plymouth Crown
Mark Carpenter, 58, of Embankment Road, was found guilty on Wednesday, 11 November, of murdering 28-year-old Harry Jackson. He was sentenced today to life imprisonment, with a minimum term of 18 years, reduced to 17 years and six months to account for time spent on remand.
Emergency services were called to a house in multiple occupation on Embankment Road at around 8.22pm on 4 May 2026 after another resident discovered Mr Jackson lying unresponsive in a communal hallway.
He had suffered multiple stab wounds and was pronounced dead at the scene.
The court heard that Carpenter had stabbed Mr Jackson several hours earlier but made no attempt to summon medical assistance. Instead, he spent the afternoon and evening buying alcohol, making telephone calls, changing his clothes and attempting to clean blood from the property.
A post-mortem examination revealed that Mr Jackson had suffered four stab wounds to his back, including wounds penetrating his shoulder blade and rib cage. A deep wound to his wrist had also severed an artery. He died from catastrophic blood loss.
Police recovered a knife bearing Mr Jackson’s blood, while further forensic evidence was found on Carpenter’s clothing and cleaning materials inside the house.
Carpenter claimed during the trial that he had acted in self-defence, but the jury rejected his account and convicted him of murder.
Detective Inspector Joanne Rotchell, of Devon & Cornwall Police’s Major Crime Investigation Team, described the killing as a “violent and senseless attack”.
She said: “The evidence showed that after inflicting fatal injuries on Harry, Carpenter failed to seek help and instead took steps to conceal what had happened and continued to buy and consume alcohol.”
She thanked witnesses and those involved in the investigation, adding that her thoughts remained with Harry’s family and friends.
“We hope today’s outcome provides them with some measure of justice,” she said.
Photographs © Wayne Perry / Plymouth Post