MICHAEL Beach will find out on Monday (June 10) the minimum sentence he will serve after being found guilty of the murder of Scott Hopkins in Cinderford last year.

A jury took just four hours and 18 minutes to reach their verdict that  Beach had murdered Mr Hopkins in December last year.

On the first day of the five day trial at Gloucester Crown Court, Beach of Ruspidge Road, Cinderford pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Mr Hopkins on Friday, December 8 in the town’s High Street.

Judge Julian Lambert will sentence Beach, who will receive a mandatory life sentence, at the same court on Monday where he will be told what his minimum term will be.

Prosecutor Richard Posner said it was unlikely Mr Hopkins had walked into the knife, as Beach claimed, as the entry wound suggested a stabbing from a hight. 

Mr Hopkins’ wife Naomi paid tribute to her husband Scott shortly after he had died saying: “Words cannot express how his death has affected the family, but also those closest to him, along with the community.

“Scott was well known to many because of his confidence, honesty, strength, jokes and countless stories. You could always guarantee he would walk into a room and make somebody smile, granted this was likely because of his dad jokes. 

“Scott was my person and everybody would say how we were made for each other. Even at our darkest times he would always end arguments with I love you because "You don’t know what will happen.”

Beach told the jury that his relationship with Mr Hopkins was very close. 

“I would see him at least once a week in person and occasionally we’d be in touch by text messaging,” he told the jury of six men and six women. 

Beach said that on the morning of December 8, 2023 he’d been to the Job Centre before going to see his daughter sing at a Christmas carol concert.

Mr Beach said: “At around 3pm I went to the Upper Bilson Inn in Cinderford, and met a couple of friends which included Mr Hopkins. I think I had about five or six cans of lager. I was in the pub for most of the time, but I did leave for a short while to meet another friend before returning. 

“I don’t recall much about what was going on around me, except for the Christmas decorations going up. I remember Scott having a phone call from his wife Naomi towards the end of our time in the pub and that we, along with Phil Parry, ribbed him about it. This was part of our normal behaviour. 

“I don’t really remember leaving the pub, but evidence in this trial has me leaving at around 8pm. It would have only taken me a few minutes to walk to Mr Parry’s flat. I had a key to let myself in. Mr Parry and Mr Hopkins had gone to buy more alcohol and returned a few minutes later.

“It was a common thing for the three of us to just sit around drink and talk. We assembled in his bedroom as usual and this is where I often make a spliff using the bedside table.

“I did notice that Mr Hopkins’ mood had changed. He’d become emotional during the evening. I think he was crying that night. But we were just having our normal sort of banter. It was nothing out of the ordinary. It was good natured.”

Beach then explained the circumstances that led to Mr Hopkins being stabbed at around 10pm. 

“Before I made the move to leave the bedroom, to get a knife, as I felt I needed to have a spliff. I would then go outside  with it and chill out. I normally cut my cannabis with a knife in the bedroom,” Beach said.

“Smoking cannabis calms me down and it relaxes me as it takes the pain away in my body following an accident I had previously. 

“I left the bedroom for the kitchen and went to pick up a knife. I picked it up from behind the kettle and I lifted my arm up over the kettle and as I did so I swung round to the left the knife ended up in Mr Hopkins’ chest. I pushed him away and told him I had a knife. 

“I didn’t know that Mr Hopkins was behind me. I think he was going to cuddle me, but we ended up face to face. He had his arms up. This was not an aggressive action. Mr Hopkins is taller than me and much heavier. I didn’t really know which part of his body that he’d been stabbed.

“I didn’t want a hug, so I pushed him away so I could pass him. But then I saw blood on the floor and on the knife and I chucked it in the kitchen sink. I didn’t hear Mr Hopkins say anything, but he did let out a loud gasp.

“He knelt down onto the floor. I steadied him as he went down. I shouted out to Mr Parry for help. He came in and immediately got out his phone and called an ambulance. 

“I went outside to flag down the medics. I brought them to the back door. I recall telling them I had stabbed him. I also told them when asked, that the knife was in the sink. 

“It all happened so fast. It was an accident. I’m not 100 per cent sure of everything that happened in the kitchen, but it was not intentional.”

The jury heard during the trial that the entry wound was just below the collar bone and had been made by a knife that was 19.7cm (almost eight inches) long leaving a nine centimetre deep laceration that had nicked Mr Hopkins heart and lung.

Numerous paramedics attend the stabbing incident, which had been classed as critical. Despite medical intervention, the paramedics stopped resuscitation of Mr Hopkins at 11pm and formally recorded him as dying eight minutes later.