I twas one of Britain’s most brutal killings when a drug-debt feud led to the horrific 2003 murder of dad Brian Waters, who suffered a grisly fate. Brian began renting Burnt House Farm in Cheshire a year earlier, and was using it as a base to grow cannabis. Buthisinvolvement with local drugs baron John Wilson was to cost him his life in a makeshift torture chamber. One of his killers went on the run for 16 years and became one of Britain’s most wanted men until his capture in 2021.
ADDRESS: BURNT HOUSE FARM, TABLEY, CHESHIRE
Located in a remote corner of Knutsford, the sprawling former dairy farm had a four-bedroom home and a series of outbuildings, including the dark, dank cow shed where Brian would face a brutal and bloody assault at the hands of his torturers.
DRUGS LINK: CANNABIS FARM
Brian set up the hydroponic “illegal grow” at Burnt House Farm in 2002 with a friend known as Johnny – turning over £3k a week. He also made regular trips to Holland where he would broker deals for others, including local drugs baron Wilson. Things turned sour after Brian had £20k confiscated by customs officers on his return from a trip to Holland – money Wilson wanted back.
VICTIM: BRIAN WATER S
Waters, 44, was a market trader and a known small-time cannabis dealer. Married to wife Julie, and dad to Natalie and Gavin, he was described by his family as “dedicated, loving and caring”. He’d been renting Burnt House Farm for a year and was using it to grow drugs when he fell foul of ruthless gangster John Wilson.
FORENSICS: DNA FOUND AT SCENE
The jury heard that the assailants’ DNA was found on gloves, cigarette ends, bottles and faeces in the cow shed. An industrial staple gun – which had been used to wound Brian – was also found at the scene. The phones of three suspects
