A ?very dangerous? convicted killer was sentenced to seven years in prison for wounding his cousin with an ice-pick because he would not buy him a drink.

Winston Wellington Burgess Jr., 42, of Suffering Lane, St. George?s was convicted by a jury on May 26, of wounding with intent and possession of an offensive weapon when he attacked his ?cousin? Howard Burgess in Pembroke on August 15, 2004.

?This case to me is particularly worrying,? Puisne Judge Carlise Greaves said in Supreme Court yesterday. ?This man is very dangerous. He stabbed his victim in the stomach leaving him to the whims of fate in a back street of the city, on the basis of a simple disagreement not to buy him a drink.?

In 1995, Winston Burgess was sentenced to eight years in prison for the manslaughter of Wilfred (Oopie) Ming in St. George?s on September 10, 1994.

He served three-and-a-half years for the killing and was released on October 16, 1998.

?This shows he has learned nothing except he is keen to do it again,? Mr. Justice Greaves said yesterday. ?Ten years later and he is still as dangerous if not worse. What will happen in another ten years??

Crown counsel Graveney Bannister asked for a term of eight years imprisonment for stabbing his victim in the stomach and back outside the Roosters restaurant on Court Street.

During the one-and-a-half day trial Dr. Miller of the King Edward VII Memorial Hospital said Howard Burgess lost two pints of blood from two life threatening five millimetre puncture wounds which kept him in hospital for two weeks.

Defence lawyer Darrell Clarke asked for a sentence of six years in prison and drug rehabilitation for his client.

?To this day my client said he is innocent,? he said. ?My client admits to drinking liquor excessively that night.?

But Mr. Justice Greaves said being intoxicated was no excuse.

?He remembers every other detail about that day except for the stabbing? What do they call alcohol like that? It?s not Cockspur. Is it ?Forget-me-not?? Or ?Amnesiac???

The judge said too many cases were coming before the courts of people getting harassed in bars.

?He harassed him because he would not buy him a drink for him and stabbed him and nearly killed him. This foolishness needs to stop!? he said. ?If you can?t handle your drink, follow the example of the judge and drink milk.?

During the sentencing, a friend of Burgess left the court muttering and cursing.

Less than ten minutes later, and after a short chase, Police brought the man back to face Mr. Justice Greaves on the judge?s orders.

The man was ordered to apologise to both Mr. Clarke and the court and he was told to choose his friends more wisely.

?He who appeases the crocodile waits to be eaten last,? Mr. Justice Greaves said.

Burgess was involved in a fight with Mr. Ming Jr. outside a bar on September 10, 1994.

The men became embroiled in an argument that involved name calling and anti-gay slurs, and began fighting on the steps on Water Street. Jurors heard Burgess pulled a knife from a pouch on his waist and Ming received two cuts to his chest. The jury returned a not guilty verdict to a murder charge and convicted him of manslaughter, an alternative count.