Contrasting pictures of Edward (Sleepy) Dill have been painted by two of the many women in his life.

His girlfriend Andrina Smith, who was yesterday found guilty of manslaughter for stabbing him to death, claimed he subjected her to regular beatings that left her with black eyes and split lips.

During her trial, she told the jury she stabbed him in self defence as he tried to choke her on the night in question — having falsely accused her of messing around with another man.

She also alleged that he would cut up drugs in the bedroom they shared with their baby, then store the knife under the infant's crib.

From the detective investigating Mr. Dill's death, the court heard of his string of previous convictions for grievous bodily harm, weapon possession and sexual assault.

However Wendi Francis — mother of another of Mr. Dill's seven children — did not recognise the abusive man described in court.

"During the many years of knowing him, there's nothing I've seen like that," Ms Francis told this newspaper while the trial was still in progress. "I don't know how he came to this because to me, I would wake up in the morning before work and if there was not a flower or a teddy bear, I got one (from him) by the end of the day.

"We didn't have arguments, and would do a lot of stuff together. He was romantic in his own way. There was a time I'd get home from work on a Friday and he'd say 'let's go' and he'd set up a hotel room for the weekend.

"I guess me knowing his personality, I have to deal with that (picture painted of him during the case.) That's the hardest part. They're painting something I know is not him."

Ms Francis met Mr. Dill when they were kids — he grew up in Spanish Point and she grew up in Cox's Hill. His nickname Sleepy, she explained, came about because "his eyes would look like they were closed when they were open. He had droopy eyes."

Asked about her memories of Mr. Dill, she said: "He was funny. he liked to do jokes. He was definitely outgoing. He was constantly on the go — he couldn't keep still. He liked to cook and play football. He was popular — a lot of people knew him."

He used to play for BAA, and also the team he supported, Dandy Town. He also loved cars and bikes, collecting and fixing them up in his spare time.

A jack-of-all-trades, Mr. Dill had various jobs, with Ms Francis explaining: "At one point he was into construction and he tried to do a little plumbing, which he didn't know nothing about!"

The pair had a lengthy relationship which produced a son, Dameko Dill, now aged five. Besides the baby daughter Mr. Dill had with Andrina Smith — aged one at the time of his death — he also had five other children by three other women.

Of his role as a father to Dameko, Ms Francis recalled how when their son was first born: "If he cried, he'd jump up to him... if we went somewhere he would carry him."

The youngster was badly affected by Mr. Dill's death.

"He asks for his daddy and wishes he had his daddy. When he gets sick he wants to speak to his daddy and his other kids are the same with missing their daddy," she said.

"I took his death hard and I think most of it was just watching my son at the wake and watching the rest of his kids, that was hard as well."