The sister of a man fatally stabbed in the neck over a £10 drugs debt has described how his killer has "ruined the lives" of all those who loved her brother.

Thomas Moore, 42, went with his friend Ricky Marshall to retrieve the £10 Mr Marshall said he was owed by Matthew Constantinou for cannabis.

North Norfolk News: Police at the scene after Thomas Moore was fatally stabbed by Matthew Constantinou in North Walsham.Police at the scene after Thomas Moore was fatally stabbed by Matthew Constantinou in North Walsham. (Image: Archant)


Norwich Crown Court heard the pair turned up at Constantinou’s address, a bungalow where he lived with his mother in Antingham Drive, North Walsham, to get the cash back.

But the men were chased from the address by Constantinou, 42, who was “swinging a baseball bat”.


North Norfolk News: Matthew ConstantinouMatthew Constantinou (Image: Facebook)

Jurors were told they were chased onto Bacton Road where, close to the junction of Melbourne Road, Mr Moore was fatally stabbed.

North Norfolk News: Junction of Melbourne Road, North Walsham near to where fatal stabbing occurred.Junction of Melbourne Road, North Walsham near to where fatal stabbing occurred. (Image: Peter Walsh, Archant Norfolk)

Constantinou was jailed for nine years on Thursday (May 20) after a jury last week took less than four hours to find him not guilty of murder but convict him of manslaughter.

North Norfolk News: Matthew ConstantinouMatthew Constantinou (Image: Facebook)

But before he was sentenced extracts were read from a moving statement from Mr Moore's sister about the impact her brother's death has had on everyone who knew him.

She said: "Matthew Constantinou, you haven't just taken Tom's life but you have ruined the lives of all those who loved him.

"Even worse is that there are no signs that you even care, not about what you have done to us or Tom but only about the impact it has on you.

"I doubt you have ever taken responsibility for any of your life choices or actions."

North Norfolk News: Police on the scene following fatal stabbing in North Walsham.Police on the scene following fatal stabbing in North Walsham. (Image: Archant)

"I shall never know how your family will navigate the aftermath of your cruel and brutal actions but I shall concentrate on getting my family through the irreparable damage you have caused.

"You have taken someone so special and so loved from this world, yet you live on.

"There is no justice in that.

"My only hope is that you never get the opportunity to destroy anyone else's life and that you take responsibility for killing the man that meant so very much to us all."

During the trial, Constantinou had told the jury he had chased the men from his home with a baseball bat in defence of both him and his mother.

But sentencing Constantinou on Thursday (May 20), Judge Anthony Bate said he had “ceased to act in defence of yourself of your mother” by the time he went onto Bacton Road.

He said Constantinou had, "in anger" pursued the two men and was "determined" to see Mr Moore off.

Judge Bate said: “When you held that knife in your hand, the high risk of grievous injury or death by your using it to stab Mr Moore in the neck ought to have been obvious to you”.

Judge Bate said the defendant’s mother and friends spoke “warmly” of his “positive personal qualities” but added “there was another side to you”.

Mr Moore's sister said her brother, a father of one, was her "closest family member" since losing their parents through illness and said his death has "destroyed" them.

But she said while the family were broken they were not defeated and insisted her brother's spirit would "live on in us all".

North Norfolk News: Antingham Drive, North WalshamAntingham Drive, North Walsham (Image: Peter Walsh, Archant Norfolk)

The trial, which had been running since April 26, heard that in the weeks leading up to the fatal stabbing the defendant and Mr Marshall “had a bit of a falling out”.

Peter Gair, prosecuting, said it had been due to the “failure of this defendant to pay a £10 debt” for cannabis.

Elizabeth Marsh QC, for Constantinou, said there had been “considerable provocation” borne out of the visit of two men late at night.

She said the fatal injury was "spontaneous" without any premeditation.

Miss Marsh said the defendant was and remains remorseful and was “acutely aware” of the consequences of his actions.

She added he was a hard working man without any previous convictions.