A man accused of the horrifying murder of Jamie Dack has been convicted of the savage killing after dramatically telling jurors he is guilty of the crime.
Giving evidence for a fourth day at Winchester Crown Court, Lee Nicholls asked for the murder charge to be put to him again, before changing his plea to guilty.
The 28-year-old, of Southampton Street, Southampton, had already admitted perverting the course of justice.
Along with three other defendants, he had accepted his role in disposing of 22-year-old Jamie's body, which was found in a burnt-out bin on an industrial estate in Bevois Valley, Southampton.
All four also admitted cleaning the Bevois Mews flat where the court has heard Jamie was subjected to prolonged beatings before being stabbed to death.
During his evidence, Nicholls had previously told jurors he had "lunged" a knife into Jamie's neck after "seeing red" when he was told Jamie was a sex offender.
He said he had felt pressured to join in an attack led by two co-defendants, Andrew Dwyer-Skeats and Ryan Woodmansey.
After Nicholls' dramatic change of plea, jurors today formally returned a guilty verdict on him for the murder charge.
Dwyer-Skeats, 26, and Donna Chalk, 21, both of Bevois Mews, Southampton, and 32-year-old Woodmansey, of no fixed abode, admit perverting the course of justice but deny murder.
The case was adjourned until Tuesday.
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