TWO women have been convicted of attempted murder after a Blackburn man who refused to give them money for spice was repeatedly hacked with a meat cleaver.

Jurors found Rhea Parker, 23, and Joanne McNally, guilty of trying to kill Philip Preece, at his home in Whalley New Road, after two days of deliberations.

Prosecutors say Parker and McNally left Mr Preece for dead, soaked in his own blood, after the sustained attack on August 2.

Each tried to blame the other for instigating the violence, which saw the victim hospitalised for five weeks.

Preston Crown Court heard they were arrested within hours of the incident, after making repeated boasts in Blackburn town centre that they had "murdered" someone.

Trial judge Graham Knowles QC remanded the pair in custody, ahead of sentencing, which will take place on February 22.

Mother-of-three Parker, of no fixed address, and McNally, also of Whalley New Road, each have lengthy criminal records, jurors were told.

Parker was on bail, at the time of the attack on Mr Preece, for stabbing her former partner with a broken bottle after a row.

She also had been convicted of two attempted robberies, including trying to hold up a 14-year-old girl for her mobile phone.

McNally has four convictions for assaulting police officers and another for robbery. She was jailed for five years and four months at Manchester Crown Court in 2009.