31 January 2012 Last updated at 16:30 ET

Nathaniel Brown found guilty of Tottenham murder

Victim Zandra Maxwell-Nelson had two young sons

A man who stabbed his ex-wife to death in the street as their children looked on has been found guilty of murder.

Nathaniel Brown, 27, killed Zandra Maxwell-Nelson, 24, outside his sister's home in Durban Road, Tottenham, north London in April 2011.

Brown stabbed her up to 20 times in what one witness called a "methodical" manner, the Old Bailey heard.

The defendant, of Finchley, north London, had denied murder, blaming the killing on depression.

'Heartbroken and empty'

However, the prosecution did not accept this as mitigation.

Det Sgt Ash Hornsby, of the Metropolitan Police, said: The attack was carried out in the street in broad daylight in front of their two young children and members of the public.

"Zandra and the boys had just returned from an afternoon barbecue in a local park."

Prosecutor Adrian Darbishire read an impact statement written by the victim's mother Cynthia Nelson, in which she said she was "heartbroken and empty".

Assault conviction

Brown met Ms Maxwell-Nelson in early 2007 and they got married in July that year.

By June 2008 however, the relationship began to break down when Brown hit their baby son. He admitted assault over that incident, the court heard.

They had a second child in 2009.

In September 2010, Ms Maxwell-Nelson started divorce proceedings.

At the time of her death, she was living in Harlesden, north-west London, with her sons, studying a university course and working part time in Primark in Oxford Street.

Brown will be sentenced at the Old Bailey on Friday.