was yesterday sentenced to 14 years in prison.

Randy Burgess was silent as Chief Justice Austin Ward handed down his punishment, saying the jail term had to reflect the "savage butchery'' of the incident.

Burgess, 34, was found guilty of the manslaughter of Dean Antoine Young at Supreme Court on Thursday.

Mr. Young, the father of a four-year-old boy, died after receiving 23 knife wounds in a confrontation with Burgess that followed months of bad feeling.

The incident stemmed from a love triangle involving 28-year-old Trina Todd, the ex-girlfriend of Mr. Young and the mother of his son Shiloh.

Miss Todd left Mr. Young in March of last year after he learned of her long-running affair with Burgess.

Mr. Young, known as Big Dean, was alleged to have made threats toward both Miss Todd and Burgess over a number of weeks, resulting in a complaint being made to Police and an exchange of solicitors' letters.

But soon after 2 a.m. on October 9 last year their alleged feud came to a head when Mr. Young telephoned his ex-girlfriend at her Border Lane, Pembroke home.

Burgess, of Cashew City, St. David's, and Miss Todd were arguing over her desire to cool their relationship, which allegedly led to him punching and choking her.

Mr. Young heard her screams over the telephone and raced to the property, where he thought his son was sleeping, from his home in nearby Princess Estates, Pembroke. Within seconds of him arriving, the two men were fighting in the house and the fatal stabbing took place.

Throughout the eight-day trial, Burgess maintained that he was terrified of Mr. Young and had only acted in self defence and fear when he lashed out with the nine-inch knife.

But yesterday, Chief Justice Mr. Ward said it was a "brutal'' assault that ultimately led to the death of the 31-year-old.

He said: "The infliction of 23 external wounds in a short space of time speaks for itself.'' He sentenced him to 14 years behind bars, with time already spent in prison taken into account, and he ordered Burgess get psychiatric counselling for anger management.

The Chief Justice, when referring to the sentencing of murder and manslaughter defendants earlier, said: "We must not behave as though human life has no value.

"Human life is all we have. Once it's lost, it's lost.'' Before sentence was passed, Burgess apologised for his actions and pleaded for mercy.

While sobbing into his hands, he told how he had nightmares about what happened and was unable to sleep.

He added: "I would like to send my sympathy to Mr. Young's family.

Manslaughter sentencing "Every night I ask myself why this had to happen to me. I did not ask for this. I had no intention of hurting anyone here. I did my best to avoid him.

What was I supposed to do? "This man was choking me and I couldn't breathe. This young man was telling me he was going to kill me.

"It would have been better to just let him kill me. I had dreams and I am sure this young man had dreams. My dream was to teach people how to play tennis.

"I'm just sorry this had to happen.'' During the trial it was revealed that Burgess had three previous convictions for assault, but was never jailed. For one he received an unconditional discharge, for the other two he was fined.

Prosecutor and Director of Public Prosecutions Khamisi Tokunbo asked the Judge to jail Burgess for a minimum of 12 years, saying it was "one of the worst cases of manslaughter that had come before the court''.

Afterward he said he thought the sentence was appropriate and would prove to people who committed fatal crimes that they could still face a significant jail term if they were found guilty of manslaughter instead of murder.

He added: "This is one of the worst cases of manslaughter that you can get.

The sentence had to reflect that. Nothing but the 14 years would have reflected that.

"He had been convicted for assault previously. They were serious offences. On one occasion he had an offensive weapon, a baseball bat. This sentence is most appropriate.'' Burgess' lawyer Mark Pettingill said he will appeal against the sentence.

Mr. Young's family said they were glad the trial was finally over and, although they appreciated the long sentence, they said it would never right the wrong that had been committed.

Mr. Young's mother Carolyn, from Somerset, said: "Randy Burgess took a life, Dean's life, and he should pay for that.

"But I don't think he truly showed how he felt in that court. He was not really remorseful. All he seemed to cry about was himself and what he had gone through.

"What about what we have gone through and what Dean went through? "I'm quite happy about the 14 years, but no matter how long he got, it won't bring back my son.'' Convicted: A sombre Randy Burgess is led out of Supreme Court following yesterday's sentencing.