Ronae Caillon Burgess was sentenced to life in prison after a Supreme Court jury found the 20-year-old man guilty of murder yesterday.

Jury members appeared aghast when it was revealed after the sentence was passed that Burgess had been convicted of a brutal attack on a man four months before fatally stabbing Clarence (Trees) Smith.

A Police detective told the Chief Justice, the Hon. Mr. Justice Ward, that Burgess had smashed a man's head five times with a hammer outside the Southampton Rangers Sports Club, the same place he killed Smith.

The courtroom atmosphere was tense when the jury returned after two and a half hours to deliver its verdict.

Burgess, who had remained impassive throughout the five-day trial, showed no emotion as the jury foreman pronounced him guilty by nine votes to three. But his mother doubled over with grief and sobbed uncontrollably when the Chief Justice sentenced Burgess to life.

"The sentence is fixed by law -- this is a sentence of life imprisonment,'' he told Burgess.

Moments later, he thanked the jury and said: "You had a duty to perform and you performed it,'' Before the Chief Justice passed sentence, Police Det. Sgt. Stephen Shaw read a lengthy history of Burgess's convictions including the assault of Terry Jones with a hammer on June 12, 1993. His hammer wounds required 25 stitches to close.

A two-year probational sentence was imposed on condition Burgess abstained from drinking alcohol, said Det. Sgt. Shaw.

Over the past five years, Burgess's criminal convictions also included violently resisting arrest, possession of cannabis and stealing.

Burgess, who was 19 at the time of the stabbing and the father of a two-year-old daughter, told the court: "I'm sorry. I didn't intend to do it.'' Crown counsel, Mr. Brian Calhoun declined to comment on the verdict but defence lawyer Mr. Julian Hall pronounced the death of Clarence (Trees) Smith, "a horrendous tragedy''.

"My client deeply regrets what happened. It is also deeply tragic that a 20-year-old man is sentenced to service life imprisonment.'' Earlier yesterday, the Chief Justice summed up the evidence in two hours before the jury retired at midday.

He reminded the jury that in the hours preceding the stabbing of Clarence Smith last February 20, Burgess claimed he drank 18 Heineken beers on a pub crawl with his father. But several witnesses at the scene said Burgess did not appear drunk that night.

Clarence (Trees) Smith died on the operating table at the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital after two, three-inch deep stabs wounds lacerated his liver, pancreas and colon.

The stabbing outside the Southampton Rangers Sports Club followed an argument between Burgess and the victim's brother, Glenn (Bird's Nest) Smith over a bag of pawpaws.

A heated verbal altercation ensued when Clarence Smith told Burgess not to speak rudely to his brother. Burgess left the club telling Smith to be there when he got back. He returned shortly after with two kitchen knives and called to Smith to come outside, Burgess told the court last week.

Burgess alleged he intended to brandish the knives to scare Smith, not kill him. But prosecution witness, Enelda Smith, told the court last week she saw Burgess run into Smith twice holding one of the knifes. Burgess knocked her hat off as she grabbed his coat to prevent a third attempt, she said.

Family members wept as the jurors filed out and Burgess's mother sobbed as she was helped to her feet.