A troubled man with a history of violence threatened to "cut off the heads" of BT staff and "stab them in the face" weeks before killing his neighbour.
Ian Holden was well-known to police for at least two decades and had been sent to prison before for attacks on and confrontations with people who he felt had crossed him.
With nearly 40 convictions for more than 100 offences, the now-39-year-old had a propensity to carry weapons and issue dark threats to people.
On New Year's Day, his behaviour led to tragedy when he waited for neighbour Mark Roberts to come home to their block of flats, his laptop in his hand, ready to film him.
When the 52-year-old, plagued for months by Holden's animosity and complaints, took exception and stamped on the device, the Wirral man snapped.
He went back inside his Rakersfield Road home in New Brighton, re-appeared with a knife and stabbed Mr Roberts once to his abdomen, a blow that proved fatal.
Today, Holden was handed a life sentence at Liverpool Crown Court and ordered to serve a minimum of eight years, 17 days before being considered for parole.
He had pleaded guilty to manslaughter due to diminished responsibility.
Holden was diagnosed with schizo-affective disorder and borderline personality disorder which "substantially impaired your ability to form a rational judgement and to exercise self-control, but also provided an explanation for your actions," Judge Neil Flewitt, QC, told him.
He will kept in Rowan View at Ashworth high-security hospital in Maghull for now, but could be moved to a prison in future if his condition improves.
The disturbing details of some of Holden's past criminality has now emerged including one outburst sent to BT staff.
That led to a community order and was two months before he killed Mr Roberts. But in previous years there had been numerous violent incidents, some of which involved weapons.
In June, 2015, police called to Holden's home to be confronted by him holding a 2ft machete and at court in 2010, it was heard how he threatened to kill someone who had previously given evidence against him.
The man in question had taken the stand against Holden during a robbery trial in 1999 and for the decade that followed, Holden, then living in Birkenhead, held a simmering grudge against the witness.
Another flashpoint involved him catching a suspected burglar who he punched, kicked and stamped on him, in a ferocious and sustained attack.
Holden, who was told by a judge he was within his rights to detain the man but not severely beat him, left him with a collapsed lung and broken ribs.
After this morning's sentence, Detective Chief Inspector Paul Nilsen, of Merseyside Police, said: "This has been an extremely difficult year for Mr Roberts’ family as they have had to come to terms with a future without him, and the knowledge that he died in such violent circumstances.
“Holden’s actions not only ended Mr Roberts’ life, they left his family and friends faced with the immense pain of grief at a time of the year when many people are looking forward.
"Anyone who chooses to pick up a knife in anger risks this tragic conclusion – one man has been robbed of the life he could have had ahead of him, and another has robbed himself of his liberty.
“We will continue to use extensive resources to target offenders who store, carry and use weapons in our communities to protect the public of Merseyside from further incidents such as this.
"My hope is that Holden spends his time receiving treatment in custody to reflect on the full impact his actions have had on Mr Roberts’ loved ones, and that when he is finally released he no longer poses a threat to society.”
After stabbing the much-loved dad, Holden looked at him on the floor and remarked: "Is he acting?"
He left the scene, throwing his Berghaus jacket, which was spattered with Mr Roberts' blood in a garden and hid the knife which has never been recovered.
Holden returned to the scene of his killing, and this time took his dogs, heading for a walk along the beach before his arrest close to midnight.
In the lead-up to the fatal stabbing, the killer often spoke to police, accusing them of failing to "step in" and warning he "wouldn't be responsible for my actions."
In another conversation, he added: "I live with a machete and other weapons in my home.
"If anyone comes in my home I've got the right to kill them and that is what it's going to turn out like."
After stabbing Mr Roberts to death, Holden visited a friend, hammering on his door late at night, pleading, "I need your help."
When told he "looked petrified," he replied: "I want a favour off you, can you go and sort out my puppies?"
When Holden was arrested, he told them: "This is all your fault, I've been trying to get help for years," before later seeing a psychiatrist and begging not to be sectioned.
The 39-year-old went on to say: "If you charge me, my father and dogs will be dead by the time I'm released, what's the point in life?"
When detectives asked Holden had planned the killing, he replied, "Are you f***ng kidding?" before claiming Mr Roberts had tried to poison his dogs and was revving his engine to annoy him outside his home.
Holden and Mr Roberts' feud had lasted from when the 52-year-old moved in during the summer of 2019 and was littered with back-and-forth complaints about noise, surveillance, claims of threats and issues with the 39-year-old's dogs.
Judge Flewitt told him: "The death of Mark Roberts has had a profound effect on his family and friends which is clear from the heartfelt and moving victim impact statements made by his sister Karen and sister-in-law Joanne.
"The loss felt by Karen, her brothers David and Andrew, Mark's son Cole and his former partner Jane is unimaginable, and may never subside.
"Their pain and anguish now and in the future are entirely your responsibility."
