killed him, Supreme Court heard yesterday.

He beat him with the four-foot weapon until his victim lost count of the blows.

The wounded man, Lionel Outerbridge, crawled to nearby Bernard Park with blood pouring from his forehead. He lay there for several hours before passers-by found him and called an ambulance.

Melvin Stuart Wolffe, 41, of no fixed address, admitted having an offensive weapon and causing grievous bodily harm.

He was convicted by a magistrate and sent to Supreme Court, where yesterday Chief Justice the Hon. Austin Ward sentenced him to two years in jail.

Crown prosecutor Mr. Melvin Douglas said Outerbridge needed 21 stitches in his head wound and treatment for a fractured rib.

Outerbridge told Police that in the early hours of October 23 he was sleeping under the porch of St. John's pre-school in Pembroke.

He was woken by Wolffe, an argument started and he was repeatedly beaten. Mr.

Douglas said Wolffe was arrested at the scene.

He told Police: "I'm the one you're looking for, I killed him. He was messing with my family -- I wanted to kill him.'' He added he was in mourning for two of his close friends and not in the right frame of mind. In a later statement he denied saying anything about his family.

The court heard Wolffe was unemployed and had previous convictions for violence.

He told the judge he used to drink heavily with Outerbridge, who had a habit of continually teasing him.

Wolffe said he not been not stable at the time of the offence. He had not really wanted to kill Outerbridge.

Mr. Justice Ward said: "You could easily have killed him because you were beating him around the head.''