A MAN who brutally tortured to death a cannabis farmer in front of his two children has been found guilty of murder.

James Stuart Raven, aged 45, of Parnham Close, Radcliffe, was convicted at Chester Crown Court on Wednesday after more than 16 hours of deliberation by the jury.

He had worked as an undercover reporter for the BBC and Channel 4, earning up to £500 a day on programmes such as MacIntyre Uncovered.

Raven subjected drug dealer Brian Waters to "systematic and barbaric" torture last year.

With his adult son and daughter tied up and made to watch, the victim was beaten, whipped, burned and attacked with an industrial staple gun at a farm in Tabley, Cheshire.

He was then hung upside down and sexually assaulted with an iron bar, causing fatal internal injuries.

John Godfrey Wilson, aged 54, of Brickhouses, Marple Road, Glossop, was also found guilty.

Both men were also found guilty of conspiracy to commit grevious bodily harm on 44-year-old Mr Waters and conspiring to do the same on another man, Suleman Razak.

A third man, Ashley Guishard, aged 30, of York Road, Sale, was cleared of all charges. Raven was cleared of indecent assault.

The jury remain undecided about charges of murder and conspiracy to commit grievous bodily harm against Otis Matthews, aged 27, of Melbourne Avenue, Manchester, and were due to continue their deliberations today.

The body of Mr Waters, of Mainwaring Close, Nantwich, was found on June 19 last year in the farmhouse that he had been using to cultivate cannabis. It is thought the murder had been the result of a debt of £20,000 Mr Waters owed to Wilson.