Two of stab victim Edward (Sleepy) Dill's seven children have spoken of their pain at his loss.

Amber Dill, 14, and Ajaleon Dill, 12, said the recent conviction of Andrina Smith for killing their father only made things worse.

"To tell you the truth, it made me real mad. I don't know what was going through her mind when it happened," said Ajaleon. "He was one of the nicest persons you could ever know."

Amber added: "He was fun, he gave us everything we wanted or asked for. He was a loving daddy and cared about us. I feel very mad and sad. I just want to know why she killed him."

The pair are Mr. Dill's children by his ex-wife, Heather Dill, 34, who also has a third child by him, Ayleal Dill, aged five. Ms Dill contacted The Royal Gazette because they wanted to "set the record straight" over some things said about him during Smith's trial.

The defendant, 26, was Mr. Dill's girlfriend and the mother of another of his daughters, now aged two. On trial accused of his murder, Smith admitted knifing Mr. Dill in the neck at her Devonshire home in October 2006, but claimed she acted in self defence after he punched her, threatened to kill her and started to choke her.

She described Mr. Dill as someone involved in drugs, who was violent during their four-year relationship.

However, prosecutors claimed the victim only slapped Smith once — with this sending her into such a rage that she stabbed him with the full intention of killing or badly wounding him.

A jury cleared Smith of murder last week, but found her guilty of manslaughter after apparently accepting there was some degree of provocation involved.

She is currently on remand and her lawyer, Charles Richardson, plans to appeal.

Ajaleon, a Saltus student, is seeing a guidance counsellor to deal with his grief and anger — but he still can't speak about his father without crying.

"How could someone who loved him kill him? How is she supposed to tell her daughter? All of us are sad and furious," he said. "Me and my daddy used to go to town and play games. We used to do everything together. I can't understand why she killed him, I just want to ask her. Why would she do it when so many people loved him and so many people liked him? I don't believe he was beating her. I don't believe one word they're saying."

Heather Dill said she's heard some people make comments about her ex-husband such as "he's just another woman abuser who got what he deserved".

However, echoing earlier remarks from Wendi Francis — another of the five women Mr. Dill had children by — Ms Dill said he was never violent toward her. She wishes she and Ms Francis had been called by the prosecution to give evidence to Smith's trial about his character.

"They were portraying him as a monster," she said of the defence case. "They could have let us get on the stand and speak, because he's not here to defend himself."

Asked what Mr. Dill was like, she replied: "I'm not saying he didn't hit her (Smith) — I was not there — but that's not the Sleepy I knew. As big as he was, he was a puppy. The Sleepy I knew was a fun, caring, funny guy. He didn't take life too serious — everything was a joke to him. When they try to portray him as a woman beater, I know Sleepy would walk away first. He didn't like confrontation."

The pair married in 1994 and remained friends after their divorce in 1998 — going on to have Ayleal during a period of reconciliation.

Ms Dill is candid about the fact that her ex-husband was involved in drugs, but stressed: "Sleepy was into that lifestyle, but when he was with me that was a no no. I don't accept that type of lifestyle for my children."

Mr. Richardson has indicated that he will seek a non-custodial sentence for Smith, if the planned appeal is unsuccessful. However, Ms Dill — a former prison officer who now drives buses — believes a community sentence would only make things worse for Mr. Dill's children.

"No matter how much time she gets, it's never gonna bring their daddy back to them. Spending time on remand is not punishment enough. I want justice to be served for the children — they need to know they're safe to walk down the streets and not see her," she said.

She also expressed hope that Smith will one day apologise to all Mr. Dill's children, explaining: "It's not going to bring him back, but it will bring some closure."