A father-of-three from Carshalton was stabbed to death by his friend after a drunken brawl turned to murder.

David Howard, 43, from Winchcombe Road in Carshalton has been found guilty of the murder of Daniel Tyson, 43, of Paisley Terrace in Carshalton.

A second man, William Scott, 54, of Winchcombe Road, also stood trial for murder but was cleared of any involvement Howard slashed Mr Tyson's throat before stabbing and slashing him with two different knives. Mr Tyson was found lying in the road with multiple knife wounds to the face, chest and neck.

Neighbours called police at 6.35pm that day after hearing shouting coming from a house in Winchcombe Road.

Police officers noticed that Howard had a cut on his cheekbone but left after accepting it was a play-fight with Mr Tyson. Howard told officers: “We are like brothers”.

A few hours later, Howard made the first of his two 999 calls to emergency services. During this call he told the operator there was going to be a knife fight between him and Mr Tyson and someone was going to die.

He said: “I am going to kill the ****. I am about to ****ing cut his throat. I am not joking.”

Six minutes later he called back and told the operator: “I have just massacred him with ****ing knives.”

Howard and Mr Tyson were said to have had an on-off friendship. One neighbour said “They were pals one minute, then they would argue.”

Another neighbour said she saw Howard and Mr Tyson chatting at around midday on the same day Mr Tyson was murdered.

She said: “They were quite friendly. They had a hug and a little kiss on the cheek.”

During the trial, Howard made an impassioned plea to the jury not to convict Mr Scott. He said: “He has nothing to do with this. He is not the type. He has not backed me up or supported me.

“If he gets found guilty of murder it's a travesty. He is the nicest, kindest, mildest person.

“He couldn't have stopped it. I'm not letting him spend 25 years behind bars for something that happened between me and Danny.”

Detective Inspector Donna Convery, from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command said: “It is difficult to know what drove Howard to stab his friend to death. As far as we have been able to establish he had just decided that he had enough of Daniel Tyson and a drunken brawl descended into a vicious murder.

“These men were known to each other and although they often drank together, there was no indication that their friendship had ever become violent before.

“This was a sad and tragic waste of Daniel Tyson’s life. It has been very difficult for his family and friends to come to terms with his death but I hope that they find some comfort in this conviction today. I would also like to thank the local community for their support with the investigation into Daniel Tyson’s death”.