bad was yesterday found guilty of manslaughter.

The family of accused Randy Burgess let out a cheer when the seven-woman, five-man jury at Supreme Court returned a not guilty verdict to the charge of murder after an eight-day trial.

But the packed court room fell silent when the jury foreman said their verdict on the lesser charge of manslaughter was guilty.

It was not what either side had hoped for.

Burgess, who will be sentenced today, stabbed devoted father Dean Antoine Young 23 times with a kitchen knife during a fight last October.

The incident stemmed from a love triangle involving 28-year-old Trina Todd and the court heard how bad feeling had grown between the two men for several months prior to the fatal fight.

Miss Todd left 31-year-old Mr. Young, who was the father of her child, in March of last year after he learned of her long-running affair with Burgess.

Mr. Young, known as Big Dean, was alleged to have made threats towards both Miss Todd and Burgess, resulting in a complaint being made to Police and an exchange of lawyers' letters.

Throughout the trial, 34-year-old Burgess, of Cashew City, St, David's, never denied killing his love rival.

But he said he was frightened of him and was acting out of fear and self defence when he picked up the knife and lashed out soon after 2 a.m. on October 9 last year.

But the prosecution claimed Burgess, a car painter at Bermuda Motors, had challenged Mr. Young to a fight during a jealous rage and frenzy.

Prosecutor and Director of Public Prosecutions Khamisi Tokunbo claimed the attack on Mr. Young, who lived at Princess Estate, Pembroke, was unnessary and intended.

He had asked the jury not to consider a manslaughter verdict at all and instead convict Burgess of murder.

In his summing up speach to the jury Chief Justice Austin Ward explained the legal definition of self defence and said it was for them to decide if they believed Burgess' claim.

A child loses a father -- Page 2 Parents speak out -- Page 3 Jury finds Burgess guilty of manslaughter He said: "If you accept the defence then the proper verdict would be not guilty.

"There is also guilty as charged -- guilty of murder. Before you can find the accused guilty of murder you would have to address the issue of intention.

"If you were to find that he had the necessary intent, then the proper verdict would be guilty of murder.'' It took the jury four hours to reach their unanimous verdicts yesterday afternoon.

When they eventually returned to take their seats and announce their decisions, tension in the court was running high.

It took just seconds for the verdicts to be read.

Afterwards, Mr. Young's family, including his mother and father and three brothers, said they were too upset to speak. They left the court almost immediately and stood gathered outside hugging each other. Mr. Tokunbo and the family of Burgess also said they had nothing to say.

But barrister Mark Pettingill, who has defended Burgess throughout, said he was happy with the outcome.

He said: "I am particularly pleased with the not guilty result on the murder charge.

"I always had to feel confident that there would be an acquittal with regards to murder.

"Of course, we had hoped for an outright acquittal, but manslaughter was certainly an issue which always had to be looked at.'' As for the accused, he said Burgess never tried to lie to the jury.

Mr Pettingill added: "I think what you saw of Randy Burgess on the stand is how he is.

"He told the court he prayed for the family and feels for Dean. I believe he does pray for them and cries every day about what happened.

"He always maintained he was defending himself.'' Despite the result, Mr Pettingill said he and barrister Richard Horseman, who assisted him, were considering lodging an appeal over matters of law that had arisen in the trial.

The court heard earlier how the two men came to blows in Miss Todd's home in Border Lane, Pembroke.

Mr. Young called the house in the early hours while Miss Todd and Burgess were rowing over her desire to end the relationship.

Burgess was allegedly punching and choking Miss Todd, causing her to scream and leading Mr. Young to race around to the house.

Fearing what would happen if the two men met, she told the court that she fled the house in an attempt to meet Mr. Young half way.

But before she could move her car off the driveway, the deceased arrived, and, leaving his car engine running, bolted into the property where the men clashed.

Burgess claimed he was pinned up against the wall by his throat and was unable to escape.

He told the court his only option was to grab a kitchen knife and lash out.

Mr. Young suffered 23 knife wounds. Not all were were direct stab wounds.

Some were cuts and slashes caused as the knife was waved around, others were believed to be defence wounds caused as Mr. Young tried to defend himself.

But the young father suffered major injury to his left arm and suffered an eight-inch wound through his back, which pierced his left lung and caused massive internal bleeding.

He collapsed outside in the street and was certified dead about 50 minutes later on arrival at hospital.