THE murder of a Southend man is set to be the focus of a new BBC crime show.

Murder 24/7, a new series starting on BBC Two next Monday, will be documenting the murder case of Courtney Valentine-Brown.

The 36-year-old was stabbed to death at a flat in Roots Hall Drive, Southend on February 21 last year.

Filmed with Essex Police, the brand new series follows murder investigations in real time, following every decision and every lead, minute by minute, from the critical first few days right through to arrest and conviction.

Detectives, senior investigating officers, manhunt specialists, blood spatter analysts, dog handlers, interviewing officers, crime scene managers, phone analysts and lawyers are just some of the specialists from the vast team of experts who must work together to solve the crime.

The murder case of Mr Valentine-Brown, which saw four people convicted of killing him, will feature on the first three episodes of the show.

Ian Slater and Alex Stephens were convicted of murder and sentenced to life with a minimum of 26 years.

Stephens was the one who stabbed Mr Valentine-Brown, with Slater organising the gang raid on the flat, with the intention of forcing him to leave.

Kelly King, who owned the flat, and Stuart Pearson, another member of the gang recruited by Stephens, were convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to at least nine years in prison.

Following the first case, the death of June Knight will also feature on the show.

Robert Knight was initially charged with murdering mum June Knight, 79, after the incident in Langley Lodge care home in Westcliff on December 10, 2018.

Knight always admitted killing his mother by pushing her off a balcony, but said that he was not in control of himself at the time and that he had been overwhelmed and wanted to end her suffering.

His first trial ended with the jury being deadlocked, and the hearing collapsed, but a second trial saw a jury acquit him of murder but convict him of manslaughter.

in September last year, Knight, in September last year, was given a two year prison sentence suspended for two years, and due to time already served on remand, walked free from court on the same day.

A BBC spokesman said: “Gripping and dramatic, Murder 24/7 will follow the twists and turns, dead ends and breakthroughs of complex murder investigations in real time.

“Forensic work at the crime scene, interviews with witnesses, trawling CCTV, analysing mobile phones, executing search warrants, and hunting down suspects, no stone is left unturned in the race to catch the killer.

"Although some readers may have an understanding of the evidence presented in court and the outcome of the case, we hope that the series will show them the relentless effort and sheer volume of work and people involved in gathering that evidence, investigating a case, and getting it to a point where it can be presented to a jury in a court of law."

Chief Constable BJ Harrington said: “We know our detectives here in Essex are amongst the finest in the world and that’s why we took the opportunity to showcase just some of their work through this BBC documentary.

"When a murder happens, which is thankfully not very often, our detectives work around the clock, often at great personal sacrifice, to follow up every lead, support devastated families and hunt those responsible.

“But what this programme really captures is, that while our detectives will lead the investigation and the hunt for suspects, it really is a force-wide effort to support victims, solve crime, hunt offenders and bring them to justice.

“Murder 24/7 really shows that when these terrible crimes happen our whole force comes together to catch a killer.”

Murder 24/7 will air on BBC Two at 9pm on Monday.