AN ARMED man who stabbed his friend in the back has been convicted of the brutal assault outside a bar in Old Leigh.

Stuart Bowdler repeatedly attacked Jack Macbeath outside Ye Olde Smack in High Street after they had spent the day together.

He denied wounding with intent and possession of an offensive weapon but on Friday was convicted of both counts at Basildon Crown Court, with the jury returning a unanimous verdict.

Sentencing was postponed until the conclusion of another trial.

The court heard testimony from the victim, Mr Macbeath, who said he was stabbed up to ten times outside Ye Olde Smack while on a night out on January 12 this year.

The court heard how the victim was drinking with Bowdler when the defendant stabbed him repeatedly in an unprovoked attack while they walked between bars.

Bowdler, who was unrepresented, read a statement to the jury detailing how he had no reason to attack Macbeath - his friend of ten years - claiming he was not even here.

But the jury, of eight women and four men, returned the unanimous guilty verdict after about two hours of deliberations.

Judge John Lodge, presiding over the case, said: “You will be sentenced for this incident at a later date.

“You will be remanded in custody until then.

“You can go now.”

During the trial, the jury were shown CCTV footage of the suspect in Old Leigh wearing items of clothing which Bowdler admitted belonged to him.

But Bowdler had claimed he knew nothing about the attack, until he was arrested five weeks after the incident.

The attack, which happened at roughly 10.50pm on the day in question, saw Essex Police launch a manhunt after reports of a man being “stabbed in the back and beck following an altercation”.

At the time, staff at the Ye Olde Smack were praised for helping Mr Macbeath. A spokesman for the pub, run by Greene King, said staff and customer’s assisted the victim and the pub closed early so police could investigate.