A man has been told he will serve at least the next 30 years in jail for brutally murdering "jolly" coin collector.

Danny Bostock, 33, had denied murdering Gordon McGhee, 52, before trying to burn down his house.

Mr McGhee was found dead in his flat in Forest Road, Colchester, in August, having suffered stab wounds.

Bostock tried to claim someone else carried out the killing while wearing his shoes.

But a jury disagreed and found him guilty at Ipswich Crown Court after a three week trial.

The jury heard Mr McGhee was stabbed to death in his own home after disturbing a burglar trying take limited edition Beatrix Potter 50p pieces.

Gazette:

Missing - Gordon McGhee's Beatrix Potter coins have never been found

Andrew Jackson, prosecuting, described the attack as “determined and brutal” and he said Bostock wanted the collection having swapped his own Beatrix Potter coins with other people in the area in the hours before Mr McGhee’s murder.

The vast majority of Mr McGhee’s prize coin collection was taken from his flat and has never been recovered while a knife used in the attack is also still missing.

READ MORE: Police want to reunite murdered collector's coins with his family 

Gas hobs had also been turned on in the property and a towel set alight in an apparent bid to cause an explosion.

Mr Jackson said Bostock, of Berberis Walk, Colchester, had been seen on CCTV around the Greenstead estate cycling away from the area wearing a pink Diesel T-shirt and a distinctive pair of brown Lonsdale trainers.

He added forensic experts had linked the trainers to blood which had been left in the flat which Bostock had then thrown away as well as his DNA being on the cloth which had been lit.

Mr McGhee’s blood was also found on the left pedal of Bostock’s GT Aggressor mountain bike.

Forensic scientist Judith Cunnsion visited the flat in the hours after the death.

Her analysis showed Mr McGhee was set upon in his bedroom and was likely standing, lying and sitting at different times.

Mrs Cunnison told Ipswich Crown Court it was likely some of the blood had been in contact with a gloved hand and it was likely a search of the flat had taken place after the attack.

Bostock also denied he confessed to stabbing him in a phone call to his sister from prison.

Gazette:

Jailed - Danny Bostock

During the trial at Ipswich Crown Court, the jury heard a phone call which Bostock made to his sister from HMP Chelmsford where he is on remand in November.

A transcript put together by police states Bostock says he stabbed someone.

It claims Bostock said: “And even though, even though I stab... they’ve actually still got nothing physically connecting me d’you know what I mean they, they obviously they’ve got that one thing and obviously, yeah, fair enough in their eyes I’ve got a case to answer to.”

But Bostock, said he denied saying “I stab” and actually said “it states” they still have nothing connecting him to Mr McGhee’s death.

Giving evidence at Ipswich Crown Court, Bostock said he was at his friend Melissa McGrory’s flat the night before smoking and drinking with Daniel Welham and Mr McGhee - who also lived in the block.

Bostock and Mr Welham had been bickering over money which had gone missing from Miss Mcgrory’s flat.

To stop the argument, Miss McGrory self harmed and Bostock did the same as a show of solidarity towards her, before Mr Welham left.

 Bostock told the jury he thought it was Mr Welham - who has never been arrested or charged and is not on trial - who killed Mr McGhee, 52, while wearing Bostock’s shoes which explains footprints found in blood at the flat.

The jury was told Bostock had a troubled childhood and racked up convictions for assault, burglary and handling stolen goods.

He was also jailed for rape in 2008 when he was using the name Danny Maltman but still denies the sex attack.

READ MORE: Bostock jailed for at least 30 years for savage murder

Bostock accepted he could be impulsive and was at a bad point in his life at the time of his offending.

Bostock revealed to the court he was the fifth of seven children and his mother had him at the age of 18 – she was 13 when she had her first child.

He never knew his biological father but traced him six years ago, only for him to be disowned completely.

Bostock then changed his name from Danny Maltman to get rid of his father’s surname as well as trying to start a new life after his conviction for rape.

Bostock was brought up by two foster parents after being left on their doorstep when he was just six months old and stayed with them until he was 11.

But he also told the court they only decided to look after him because they wanted to look after his sister.

He went onto attend a boarding school for youngsters with special needs and behaviour issues where he met Daniel Welham.

Gazette: Tragic - Gordon McGhee

Missed - Gordon McGhee

READ MORE: 'My life is overshadowed after the death of my dad'

Bostock has been diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia and said he was rocked by the death of his foster father which left him unable to focus on school.

When he was questioned by his solicitor Alison Levitt QC, he said he often jumped out of windows and ran away so he could visit his father's grave.

He left school with no qualifications and has his working life has mainly been labouring jobs between spells in prison. He last worked in 2015 at Taco Bell.

He was smoking cannabis regularly at the time of Mr McGhee’s death but has previously used cocaine, LSD and speed and admitted there was a three month spell where he was addicted to crack but had been clean for eight weeks prior to the murder.

He has two children – one from a previous relationship and a second with his current partner who was born the day he was remanded into custody at HMP Chelmsford after being charged with murder.

He told the court he was "quite proud" of his coin collection and  wanted them to go to his children or step-children.

As well as the Beatrix Potter coins he also collected William Shakespeare £2s, Second World War £2s and coins with emblems from the Commonwealth Games and the Olympic Games and would ask shopkeepers to look out for them when he was collecting change. 

He met Gordon McGhee through Miss Mcrory after they bonded over Tom Clancy xBox games. 

Judge David Goodin sentenced Bostock to life in jail with a minimum term of 30 years. He was also given six years in jail to run concurrently for the attempted arson.