A MAN is facing life imprisonment after being convicted of murdering a painter and decorator.

Martin Magee, 38, was found guilty of stabbing Hugh Porteous through the heart at a flat in Neil Street, Greenock, on August 22 last year.

The High Court in Glasgow heard that Magee, known locally as Irish Martin, with his face masked and acting with another unknown masked man, entered the flat armed with a machete and knife.

The flat was a drugs den and Magee and his accomplice were there to rob the occupants of drugs and money.

Mr Porteous, a father-of-two, was in the flat at the time, having gone to the property to price a job for the occupant, David Rice, and he was still there when Magee and the other man burst in.

They demanded drugs and money and threatened to cut off the fingers of Mr Rice, before striking him on the head with a machete and a knife.

They also assaulted Jacqueline Branchfield by threatening her with a baseball bat, and attacked James Kane.

Mr Porteous was stabbed once in the side and the blade sliced through his heart.

A jury yesterday took three hours to reach a unanimous verdict after listening to five days of evidence.

Judge Lady Scott will sentence Magee, of Greenock, on January 18 at the High Court in Edinburgh after receiving background reports.

Defence counsel Thomas Ross will at that time give his plea in mitigation.