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An undercover TV researcher who worked on Channel 4‘s Dispatches has been found guilty of torturing a father-of-two to death in front of his children at a cannabis farm – as pictures reveal his horrific final hours inside a filthy cow shed in what detectives described as scenes of ‘absolutely shocking’ violence.
Christopher Guest More Jr, now 43, murdered Brian Waters, 44, at a Cheshire farmhouse in a bid to get back a £20,000 drugs debt on June 19, 2003.
Over four hours, Mr Waters sustained 123 injuries as he was whipped, burned with acid, attacked with a staple gun, hung upside down, suspended head first into a liquid to simulate drowning and beaten at Burnt House Farm in Tabley, near Knutsford.
A Home Office post-mortem investigation recorded a cause of death of multiple injuries – including fractured ribs, a broken nose and breastbone, a bleed on the brain and bruising to the heart.
Evidence of strangulation was also found, while he had suffered burns to his back from a ‘caustic substance’ and had been attacked using the staple gun across his head and body. He was also beaten with bamboo canes with such ferocity that they snapped, as well as being struck with a metal bar and burned with melting plastic.
Police photographs from the scene show a chair with ligatures still attached to one of its arms, and a green barrel which was filled with dirty water and used to submerge Mr Waters’ head under while he was hanged by his feet from the ceiling by a blue rope – which is also seen still attached to the rafters.
Mr Waters’ son Gavin, then 25, and daughter Natalie, who turned 21 the day before his death, were tied up and forced to watch as their father was murdered by his attackers, who tied a bin bag over his head and set it alight, causing it to melt onto his head.
Natalie had the barrel of a gun placed in her mouth, the court heard, while Gavin had a rope tied around his neck and was beaten, before Mr Waters’ wife Julie was brought to the site to discover his dead body.
Guest More Jr’s conviction comes after a previous trial in May ended in a hung jury when jurors failed to reach a majority verdict following 15 hours of deliberation, leading to a re-trial.
Three other men – John Wilson, James Raven and Otis Matthews – were previously convicted of Mr Waters’ murder and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm to him and to Suleman Razak, who was also tortured at the site on the same day, following trials between 2004 and 2007.
Police handout shows the grim torture scene, featuring a barrel filled with liquid and chair with ties around its arms
Christopher Guest More Jr, 43, (pictured left in a police mugshot after he was caught and right, after the murder) is guilty of murdering Brian Waters, 44, at a Cheshire farmhouse over a £20,000 drugs debt on June 19, 2003.
Chester Crown Court heard how Mr Waters (pictured) was killed in a disused cow shed at Burnt House Farm in Tabley, near Knutsford, while another man, Suleman Razak, was tortured at the same time
Three other men – John Wilson, James Raven and Otis Matthews – were previously convicted of Mr Waters’ murder and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm to him and to Mr Razak following trials between 2004 and 2007 (Pictured: Scene of torture and murder shows a chair with what appear to be restraints tied to its arm, alongside a green barrel which was filled with water and used to submerge the head of Mr Waters while he was hanging from the ceiling by his feet and beaten with bamboo canes and iron bars)
Mr Waters was tortured to death in front of his family at the farmhouse. He was murdered in the shed and his body dumped in milking parlour (Pictured: Scene of torture and murder)
Aerial shot shows the farmhouse in Knutsford, Cheshire, where Mr Waters was growing cannabis and was murdered over a drug debt
Gun found near the scene of the murder of Mr Waters
Mr Waters was found with staples in his head and on his body following his torture and murder (Pictured: Stapler found near the scene)
Scene photo shows rope tied to the rafters of the barn, believed to have been used to hoist up Mr Waters and suspend him head first into a barrel of liquid
More pictured pointing a gun at a camera while posing shirtless next to a red Mercedes convertible and a Porsche
James Raven, More’s cousin, dons a balaclava and poses for the camera while brandishing a gun and axe in macabre photo taken in the run up to his arrest for murder
Christopher Guest More Jr fled the UK after the murder of Brian Waters, who was killed in front of his two adult children at Burnt House Farm (pictured) in Tabley, in June 2003
More was convicted by a majority of 10 to 2 at Chester Crown Court on Monday.
On Thursday, after 12 hours and 14 minutes of deliberations, the jury also found him guilty of conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm to Mr Razak, who worked on the cannabis farm and was tortured alongside Mr Waters.
More, wearing a grey suit and white shirt, shook his head as the verdicts were returned.
Mr Razak described how he was punched and kicked in the face numerous times and knocked unconscious before suspended from rafters into a barrel which was filled with water.
After being electrocuted, he was burned with acid, had a pillowcase placed over his head and set on fire and was attacked with a staple gun, which was used on his feet and body.
Mr Waters’ wife Julie, then 42, was abducted from their family home in Nantwich and also brought to the site, where she discovered the dead body of her husband.
He had staples in his head and body and was assaulted with an iron bar and other weapons, the jury was told.
Detective Inspector Kate Tomlinson, the senior investigating officer, said the violence used against the victims was ‘absolutely shocking.’
She said: ‘As police officers we are used to dealing with violent crime – but the barbaric nature of this attack is something that you never forget.
‘When you look at what happened at the farm that day, and what those men did, it feels like something you only ever see in the movies. It doesn’t feel like something that could ever happen in real life – let alone in rural Cheshire.’
She added that Mr Waters’ family continued to be affected by the crime.
She said: ‘They have remained very insular and haven’t been able to move on with their lives.
‘They have remained very scared to this day because somebody’s been outstanding for the murder of their husband and father.’
The family said in a statement today: ‘We are delighted with the guilty verdict and pleased that Christopher Guest More Jr is finally facing justice for his part in the horrific murder of a loving husband and father.
‘We would like to thank detectives from Cheshire Constabulary, the prosecution team and everyone else involved in the case for all of their hard work and tireless and extensive investigations, which now span more than 18 years.
‘We would also like to extend our thanks to the Family Liaison Officers for their help, advice and support over the years.
‘What happened at Burnt House Farm on 19 June 2003 has had a significant and long-lasting effect on our family.
‘We will never be able to forget events of that day and, even now, more than 18 years down the line, we feel the pain on a daily basis with constant flashbacks.
‘We have remained a close-knit family and have provided much-needed support to each other – but this has been an isolating experience for us and not only have we lived in fear of reprisals we have also struggled to trust others as we normally would.
‘It’s similar to the feelings people have experienced in the current COVID crisis – not being able to leave their home and having to stay inside to feel safe. We have been living like that for more than 18 years.
‘But we never gave up hope and the verdict today marks the end of an incredibly painful journey in our lives. We would now ask that our privacy is respected and we are left alone as a family as we try and move forward with the next chapter.’
Judge Sir Peter Openshaw said More would be sentenced on Friday.
The court heard how More had fled the UK for Spain two days after the murder and, after travelling to South Africa, Mozambique and Turkey, settled in Malta, where he was found living 16 years later in 2019 – working as a yacht captain and businessman.
More was finally arrested in Malta (pictured) in 2019, years after a European Arrest Warrant had been issued
The court heard how he had lived a life of luxury as a yacht captain and businessman in Malta before he was extradited (pictured)
Pictured left to right: John Wilson, James Raven and Otis Matthews, who were all convicted for the murder of Brain Waters following trials between 2004 and 2007
More (pictured left in 2003) fled the country two days after the killing, flying from Liverpool Airport to Malaga in Spain – before settling in Malta in 2007
Pictured: The torture scene while, right, police officers outside the farmhouse during the initial investigation
Nigel Power QC, prosecuting, previously told of how More’s DNA was found on a glove, cigarette ends, a drinks bottle and faeces recovered from the cow shed of the farm, where the four-hour torture session took place.
More had denied being present when the attacks took place but Mr Power said he had made a number of reconnaissance visits to the open land of the farm before the day of the murder.
More claimed that that had been part of his role as an undercover television reporter.
He said he had only befriended drug dealer Wilson, one of three men already convicted of the murder, because he thought he could sell a story on him being a police informant to the media and he might lead him to a cannabis farm which he could film for a Dispatches documentary.
He admitted stealing cannabis and equipment from the farm on the morning of the murder but denied having any prior knowledge of the attacks, the jury was told.
He claimed he had left the site when he had an argument with Raven and realised Wilson, who was not at the scene, had discovered he was working undercover.
Mr Power said More flew to Malaga, Spain, in the early morning of June 21, 2003, two days after the murder.
A European Arrest Warrant was issued in 2004 but not executed until June 6 2019 in Malta.
The court heard that More was using a UK passport under the name Andrew Christopher Lamb.
At the trial of More in March this year, Mr Power added: ‘This defendant, Christopher Guest More Jr, the man you are to try, fled the country on June 21, 2003 and for 16 years evaded capture until 2019, when he was discovered living a new life under an assumed name in Malta.’
The jury was told More, who was 25 at the time and living in Lymm, had been involved in undercover work for television programmes, often working with convicted killer Raven, his cousin.
In 2002, More and Raven were asked to locate a cannabis farm for covert filming by a production company working for Channel 4 show Dispatches, which was filming a programme about the reclassification of the drug, the court heard.
Mr Power said: ‘But, although they said that they had located an illegal grow, what is sometimes called a cannabis farm, this avenue was not pursued and the programme was transmitted without any work from Mr More or Mr Raven.’
The court heard Mr Waters had set up a cannabis farm with his friend Mujahid Majid, known as Johnny, in June 2002.
Mr Power said: ‘The farm was set up at Burnt House Farm in Tabley, that area where ultimately he was to be murdered.’
More fled the UK for Malta and was living under the identity of Andrew Lamb (Pictured: Passport under name Andrew Christopher Lamb)
More is seen smiling at Liverpool Airport two days after the murder as he boarded a flight to Malaga in Spain
After flying to Malaga (pictured boarding flight), More travelled to various African countries before settling in Malta
More’s driving licence under his assumed identity – Andrew Christopher Lamb
Mr Waters and Mr Razak were both hung head first into barrels of fluid during the torture session (Pictured: Barrel discovered at the scene)
Nigel Power QC, prosecuting, previously told of how More’s DNA was found on a glove (pictured) , cigarette ends, a drinks bottle and faeces recovered from the cow shed of the farm, where the four-hour torture session took place
Balaclava and gloves found near the murder scene
A knife believed to have been used in the torture session (pictured) was also found near the scene
Police photo shows the inside of the barn at the farmhouse where the body of Mr Waters was found
Photo issued by Cheshire Constabulary of a baseball hat found near the scene of the murder of Brian Waters
Cannabis plants are pictured inside the farmhouse where Mr Waters was killed
Cheshire Constabulary photo of a horsebox inside the barn at the farmhouse in Cheshire
Christopher Guest More Jr arriving at Chester Crown Court under high security
The farmhouse where the body of Brian Waters was found following four hours of torture
Brian Waters was tortured to death in front of his family at the farmhouse in Tabley (pictured)
The jury was told Mr Waters also had a cannabis farm in Holland, where he would regularly travel and broker deals for other people, including drug dealer and one of his convicted killers Wilson, now 71.
Mr Power said Mr Waters owed money to Wilson and at one point had to work to pay off £20,000 which was confiscated from him as he travelled back from Holland.
‘When we come to tell you about about drug dealing shortly, you will hear that John Wilson was a drug dealer and provided this defendant with cocaine from time to time,’ Mr Power said at the trial.
The court heard More, who drove a Porsche Boxster, did not pay for cocaine supplied to him by Wilson.
Mr Power said mobile phone evidence from nine days before the murder showed the defendant, who was described as a private investigator, appeared to drive to the Waters’ home and follow the victim’s son Gavin to Crewe.
The prosecutor told the court: ‘As Mr More was travelling, following Gavin Waters to Crewe, who was he keeping in contact with but John Wilson.
‘John Wilson, convicted of murder, John Wilson, to who Brian Waters owed a £20,000 drug debt.’
He said More then followed Gavin to his father’s cannabis farm, which Mr Waters had kept secret from Wilson.
Phone records showed More continued to call Wilson while near Burnt House Farm, the court heard.
Mr Power said: ‘Could that call, while Gavin’s at the farm, be Mr More telling John Wilson ‘bingo, I’ve found it’.’
More denied the murder of Mr Waters and conspiracy to cause grievous bodily harm to Mr Waters and Mr Razak but was ultimately found guilty.
Nikki Holland, NCA Director of Investigations, said: ‘We are utterly delighted that after very many years of cheating justice, Guest More Jnr is in prison where he belongs for a long time.
‘The NCA and Cheshire Police worked quietly, hand-in-hand behind the scenes for all those years developing strategies and pursuing leads to find him.
‘The Agency’s investigators and International Liaison Officer network were instrumental in tracing and identifying Guest More Jnr to Malta.
‘We used a range of specialist capabilities – which we lead for the benefit of all UK law enforcement – to pinpoint Guest More Jnr where our Maltese partners arrested him.
‘More Jnr featured on the very successful Operation Capture fugitives hunt, and out of 96 fugitives there are now just nine evading justice.
‘We were never going to give up the hunt to catch him. Other fugitives should remember that and ask themselves if it’s worth living a life looking over their shoulder.’
Nicola Wyn Williams from the Crown Prosecution Service said: ‘It has been a privilege to work as part of such a dedicated prosecution team to bring the defendant to justice and hopefully provide some closure for the victims and family in this case.’
Illegal drugs were ‘at the heart’ of brutal murder of Brian Waters, says detective who led the case, describing the torture and violence used as ‘absolutely shocking’ as she recounts what happened on June 19, 2003
Following the guilty verdict of Christopher Guest More Jr 43, who was accused of torturing and murdering Brian Waters, 44, Detective Kate Tomlinson, who led the murder investigation, said: ‘At the heart of this dispute was illegal drugs – and the result of a significant drugs debt supposedly owed by Mr Waters to Wilson, a well-known drug dealer from Manchester.
‘Mr Waters, who had been involved in drugs for a number of years, had been using Burnt House Farm as a base for growing cannabis – he jointly rented the farm with a friend. Suleman Razak, who was 20 at the time of the incident, often helped to tend to the plants, which were housed within the farmhouse on the site.
‘Wilson had discovered that Mr Waters had his own cannabis farm and set about trying to find its location – he asked More Jr for help with this as he was experienced in undercover and surveillance work for individuals and media companies.
‘More Jr, who was 25, claimed at the time of the murder he was completing background research to locate a cannabis farm for covert filming as part of a television documentary.
‘However, More Jr had already been cast adrift by the television company some months before this and the documentary he claimed to be researching for was transmitted within days of the murder.
‘On the day of the incident More Jr, who lived in Lymm, had been at Burnt House Farm with a number of other men earlier in the day to steal the cannabis and equipment used to grow it. They had purchased a horsebox a few days earlier, travelled to the farm with it and filled it with the drugs – before it was driven off by Raven and left in the car park of a pub close to More Jr’s home.
‘Raven went back to the farm – stopping off at a local shop to stock up on supplies for the men including sandwiches, cigarettes and drinks.
Undated handout photo issued by Cheshire Constabulary of the farmhouse where the body of Brian Waters was found in 2003
‘A carrier bag, containing packaging from these items, was later recovered from within the barn at Burnt House Farm. This provided vital evidence to prove who was there when Brian Waters was murdered.
‘It was around noon when Suleman Razak arrived at the farm – and he was immediately approached from behind, beaten, dragged into the disused barn and tortured. Mr Waters arrived an hour later and was subjected to a similar brutal beating.
‘Mr Waters’ son and daughter arrived together around 2.10pm. The violence took place in the disused barn and Mr Waters was eventually dragged into the milking parlour after he had been killed.
‘Following a 999 call at 4.06pm from a phone box in nearby Plumley Moor Road and the arrival of the police, the offenders fled the scene through neighbouring fields – but their hasty departure left crucial DNA evidence behind in the carrier bag that had carefully been filled with discarded food wrapping, drinks bottles and cigarette butts. A number of other items were also left at the scene.
‘DNA evidence subsequently linked Raven and Matthews to the scene – Wilson was not there in person but orchestrated it from afar.
‘More Jr’s DNA was found on a glove at the entrance to the farm and on faeces, which had been bagged up and left in the barn, a sprite bottle and on a number of cigarettes butts found in the carrier bag, which was left behind by the men. It is believed that they intended to take the bags with them when they left the scene – to remove any trace of who was there – but the unexpected arrival of the police and their hurried escape meant that a treasure trove of scientific evidence was left behind.
‘Raven was arrested close to the scene that evening and subsequently charged. Matthews was arrested on 20 July 2003 in Manchester and charged the following day. Wilson was arrested on 6 October 2003 in Manchester and also charged the following day.
‘More Jr fled the UK two days later – on 21 June 2003 – and flew to Malaga in Spain where he rented an apartment. A European Arrest Warrant was issued on 21 May 2004 and, over the years, searches continued in a bid to try and locate him.’
Detective Superintendent Sarah Pengelly, who was involved in the hunt for More Jr and recently retired from the force, said: ‘A man hunt was launched in a bid to locate Christopher Guest More Jr. Over the years enquiries continued in a bid to pinpoint his location but it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack as he could literally have been anywhere – and, as we now know, living under a stolen identity.
‘Despite the passage of time and these challenging circumstances our determination to find him never faltered and we remained committed to locating and arresting him for his involvement in the murder.
‘Over the years a lot of work went on behind the scenes out of the public eye in a bid to piece together as much information as possible as to his whereabouts. In 2019, he was added to Europe’s ‘Most Wanted’ list. This was a significant step forward in our efforts to find him and our re-appeal for information reached an international audience.
‘On the back of this, we received intelligence, and he was finally located at an address in Malta and arrested. This would not have been possible without the help and support of a number of agencies working together including the National Crime Agency and law enforcement partners in Malta and I would like to thank colleagues for all of their assistance.
‘I would also like to thank members of the public for all of their support over the years and information provided on the back of our appeals.’
What we know is that, after leaving the UK, Christopher Guest More Jr stole another man’s identity – Andrew Lamb – and travelled to a number of different locations before arriving in Malta.
James Raven pictured in a Costcutter on the morning of the murder of Brian Waters. He was convicted more than 10 years ago for the killing.
Here he is believed to have lived an affluent lifestyle and worked as a Captain on luxury yachts.
Following his arrest in Malta, the extradition process started and Christopher Guest More Jr finally arrived back in the UK in March 2020.
DI Tomlinson added: ‘Many of those involved in the original investigation 18 years ago have since retired or moved onto other roles. A new joint team was set up with officers working alongside colleagues in the Crown Prosecution Service to review all of the evidence from the original trials.
‘The past two years have been a challenge sifting through thousands of statements, exhibits and documents to get the case ready for court but we remained determined to do everything we could to build the strongest possible case.
‘I would like to thank everyone involved from the many police officers and members of police staff across Cheshire, to colleagues in CPS and all those involved in the manhunt and extradition process
‘It has been a long journey to get to this stage and I hope that the guilty verdict helps the family of Brian Waters and Suleman Razak to finally move forward with their lives knowing that Christopher Guest More Jr has been brought to justice.’
Source: dailymail
