The case against three men accused of the stabbing death of Jermaine (Red) Pitcher might have collapsed had the charges not been reduced to manslaughter, the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) claimed last night.

The DPP's office issued a statement hitting back at claims from critics that the case was mishandled and that murder charges should have been brought against the accused.

And the statement said that, despite recent protests from Mr. Pitcher's family, they were, in fact, kept well informed of the decision to accept a plea on the lesser charge and the reasons behind that decision.

Mr. Pitcher was killed during a blood-soaked brawl outside Champion's night-club in February 2000.

Ryan (Tiger) Ball, Jamal (Knolly) Robinson and Keniel Alfred Ingham were initially jointly charged with murder shortly after his death. All pleaded not guilty.

But in January of this year Ball changed his plea to guilty of manslaughter.

While there were many eyewitnesses to the deadly altercation, the statement the DPP's office released last night read: "After lengthy and painstaking deliberations with the officer in charge of the investigation and his most senior supervisor, a decision was taken, in light of certain concerns about the quality and character of the evidence and witnesses, to accept a plea to manslaughter."

The statement continued: "Before acting on the decision, Police officers met with the mother of the deceased on two occasions to inform her of the action about to be taken and the reasons for it."

All three men have now been convicted of manslaughter - Robinson changed his plea to guilty of manslaughter last month and a jury found Ingham guilty of the same charge on October 25.

But Mr. Pitcher's family has publicly insisted they heard the details of the night of his death only over the course of Ingham's trial.

And the family has taken particular issue with the fact that Ball's plea to manslaughter was accepted although he was the one who inflicted the fatal wounds while the other two men held Mr. Pitcher.

The DPP's office, however, said there was direct and ample communication with the family about its plans to change the charges from murder to manslaughter before Ball's plea was accepted.

"Subsequently, and again before acting on the decision, the Director of Public Prosecutions himself and the Detective Chief Inspector in charge of the major incident room, met with the mother of the deceased and her niece and elaborated in detail on the reasons for the decision and the concerns about the case,'' the statement read.

"For more than 30 minutes they were fully briefed and a wide range of questions were entertained from them and answered. The decision was a correct one taken in the light of the facts and circumstances of that case."

Although he wielded the nine-inch knife which snuffed out Mr. Pitcher's life, Ball was sentenced to ten years in prison while Ingham was given 12 years for his role. Robinson, who changed his plea from not guilty to guilty after an aborted joint trial with Ingham, will be sentenced on Friday.