A deal had already been made to accept a manslaughter plea in the stabbing death of Jermaine (Red) Pitcher by the time they were consulted, Mr. Pitcher's family said yesterday.

The victim's mother and stepfather - Goldie and Vincent O'Neill - reacted with outrage to a statement issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) office yesterday, which said no action was taken on the plea bargain until after both Police and DPP Khamisi Tokunbo had spoken with the family.

Three men were originally charged with murder in the death of Mr. Pitcher - Ryan (Tiger) Ball, Jamal (Knolly) Robinson and Keniel Ingham. In January, Ball changed his plea to guilty of manslaughter and shortly thereafter the charges were reduced against the other two.

The O'Neills said the officer in charge of the case and his senior supervisor did come and speak with them as the DPP's statement claimed.

But, they said, the officers only told them someone had pleaded guilty and that the people who killed Mr. Pitcher would be put away for a long time.

After being told of the deal, Mrs. O'Neill said she decided to go speak to Mr. Tokunbo with her niece Vanessa Paynter.

While the DPP sat with the women and discussed the case, Mrs. O'Neill said she thought (the DPP) was only trying to calm them down and make them feel better rather than considering their feelings on the plea bargain.

She said they were assured the men would be sent away for a long time only to be "shocked" when Ball was sentenced to just 10 years for inflicting the fatal knife wounds on her son.

"Ten years is not a long time," she said. "And he'll be out in less time than that. He should have been sent away a lot longer."

Mr. O'Neill said the family had even considered hiring their own lawyer to ensure their concerns were addressed, only to be told by Police that evidence against the three defendants would ensure a lengthy conviction.

"What the DPP essentially said is: `I made my decision and I'm not going to change it now because I decided to accept the plea of guilty (to manslaughter)'," Mr. O'Neill said.

And he accused the DPP of lying about the matter now, to try and make the case look better before a public outraged that the case was not tried as a murder.

The statement from the DPP's office said the decision to accept the plea was the best option, as there were "concerns about the quality and character of the evidence and witnesses."

And it said the matter was discussed with the family on two occasions before "action" was taken on the plea.

Mr. O'Neill said the plea was already a done deal when the family heard of it.

"We were informed (of the plea), that is why my wife went to see the DPP," he said. "We didn't know anything until it was done."

Mrs. O'Neill said she knew only very sketchy details of what happened the night her son was killed until the only defendant who faced trial - Keniel Ingham - went before a jury last month.

Over the course of Ingham's trial, the court heard that he and Robinson held the victim while Ball slashed and stabbed the man to death. In closing arguments on October 23, Crown prosecutor Dorien Taylor argued the attack "was well planned and well executed".

"The truth was so much worse than I ever knew," Mrs. O'Neill told The Royal Gazette last night. "I waited 18 months to find out what happened."

Ingham was found guilty and sentenced to 12 years in prison on manslaughter.

The other accused man in Mr. Pitcher's death, Jamal Robinson, changed his plea to guilty last month and is to be sentenced Friday in Supreme Court.

Mr. O'Neill said the judge who sentenced Ball to ten years did not have the same evidence before him as the judge who later sentenced Ingham.

If the men had faced murder charges, he added, the jury and judge would have heard all the evidence and been allowed to come to their own conclusions.

"It was wrong," he said.

And the victim's mother said her words now are angry because she is angry. "There is no justice on this Island."

Jermaine Pitcher was killed during a violent street fight on February 27, 2000. He was 27 years old.