Grieving widower was stabbed to death on his own doorstep by drug addict who was angry that he wouldn't buy a stolen watch

  • David Dempsey, 43, knifed Steven Butterworth four times after forcing his way in at home in Leigh
  • Dempsey had been pestering Mr Butterworth, 62, to buy stolen goods 
  • Dempsey would steal from shops and then sell goods to fund his drug habit 
  • After the stabbing, Dempsey stole £400, credit cards and a driving licence 
  • Mr Butterworth grieving for wife who died two months before the stabbing

Drug addict David Dempsey was found guilty of murder and ordered to serve a minimum of 30 years in prison

Drug addict David Dempsey was found guilty of murder and ordered to serve a minimum of 30 years in prison

A drug addict who robbed and stabbed to death a grieving widower in his own home after the victim refused to buy a stolen watch was jailed for life today.

David Dempsey, 43, knifed 62-year old Steven Butterworth four times after wedging his foot in the front door to stop the older man closing it. He then stole Mr Butterworth's wallet containing £400 before leaving him to die.

Mr Butterworth's wife of 36 years had died only two months before the stabbing. He never recovered and died in hospital four weeks later.

Police discovered that Dempsey from Astley, near Wigan, Greater Manchester had been pestering Mr Butterworth with stolen goods including a haul of meat.

At Liverpool Crown Court today he was found guilty of murder following a retrial and ordered to serve a minimum of 30 years in prison.

The court heard that the killer took advantage of Mr Butterworth when he was in mourning for his wife, Mary, who died in June last year aged 58.

Dempsey was looking for money to buy drugs and would steal food from shops to sell on the black market.

He offered the stolen meat for sale to Mr Butteworth on various occasions but tragedy struck on August 23 last year when Dempsey turned up on the victim's doorstep with a stolen watch and offered to sell it.

Mr Butterworth agreed to let Dempsey leave the watch with him and then went out for the afternoon during which he told his niece and a friend he was 'having trouble' with someone who had been to the house trying to sell him a watch.

At around 5.20pm, Mr Butterworth returned home and shortly afterwards Dempsey came to the door. Witnesses said Dempsey was seen to put his foot in the door to prevent the door being closed and then walk into the house pushing Mr Butterworth backwards.

Steven Butterworth
Mary Butterworth

Tragic couple: Steven Butterworth (left) died a month after being stabbed in his own home and his wife Mary (right) who died two months before her husband was attacked

Once inside he stabbed Mr Butterworth, twice in the front and twice in his back, before stealing the wallet.

Mr Butterworth called his niece and told her he had been stabbed before dialling 999. She rushed over to find him bleeding and the ambulance brigade and police arrived shortly afterwards.

He told paramedics that someone had pushed their way into the house and stabbed him after stealing his wallet – which contained cash, credit cards and driving licence – but that he did not want to make a statement.

The Butterworths' home in Leigh where Steve Butterworth was stabbed by a drug addict who wanted to sell him stolen property

The Butterworths' home in Leigh where Steve Butterworth was stabbed by a drug addict who wanted to sell him stolen property

His niece went with her uncle to the hospital and when she asked who stabbed him he replied: 'It's that man who came round about the watch earlier today'.'

Mr Butterworth was taken to hospital for treatment of four stab wounds and a collapsed lung but he died on September 27.

Steve was a gentle and caring dad, granddad, brother and uncle 

After the stabbing Dempsey went to his dealer to buy heroin and crack cocaine and was seen to be very pale and sweaty. 

The unnamed dealer told the jury: 'He said he had stabbed someone. I didn't believe him at first. A lot of people say a lot of things and it goes in one ear and out the other.

'But then I thought how he had approached me looking pale and sweaty. He didn't tell me who he had stabbed. 'I found it hard to deal with. I just knew someone has died and I knew he had done it'.

In a statement, Mr Butterworth's family said: 'Steve was a gentle and caring dad, granddad, brother and uncle. He was also a keen fisherman and friendly neighbour.

'Sadly, Steve recently became a widower when his wife of 36 years died unexpectedly and whilst grieving and struggling to come to terms with his loss, he was targeted and brutally attacked and robbed in his own home.'

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