A Pembroke man has been sentenced to six years in prison after fatally stabbing his friend, Steven Iris, last August.

Choking back tears, Tyrone Pedro asked the Iris family for forgiveness before his sentence was handed down in Supreme Court.

“[Mr Iris] was like a brother to me. He’s gone now and that’s my cross to bear,” said 23-year-old Pedro, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Puisne Judge Charles-Etta Simmons agreed with prosecutor Maria Sofianos, who argued that by entering a guilty plea before the trial was put to a jury, Pedro was entitled to a 20 percent discount on his sentence, or one and a half years.

Pedro was initially charged with murder, which he denied, but entered a guilty plea when the offence was downgraded to manslaughter.

The court heard that it was shortly after nine o’clock on a Friday morning when Trina-Nicole Pedro heard her brother swearing in the street. He began calling her name, yelling over and over for her to dial 911.

She emerged from her apartment to find Mr Iris bleeding from his abdomen. Pedro knelt beside him.

The two had been out celebrating Mr Iris’ release from prison two days earlier. After partying with friends, Mr Iris returned to Pedro’s apartment with a woman. After letting Mr Iris and the unnamed woman “enjoy themselves in the bedroom,” said defence counsel Larry Mussenden, Pedro woke up in the morning and was slapped across the face by Mr Iris.

Mr Mussenden said Mr Iris continued slapping Pedro and proceeded to harass him . . . shoving and kicking him.

What might have begun as jocular ribbing, said Mr. Mussenden, then escalated to violence.

Workers on a passing truck saw Pedro knelt beside his friend with his hands pressed against the wound.

“Help me. Help him. F**k. Help me,” Pedro pleaded with the workers, who then got out to assist.

After putting Mr Iris in his car, Pedro rushed his friend to King Edward VII Memorial Hospital where he was pronounced dead. The 22-year-old died from a single stab wound to the abdomen, according to the pathologist.

Blood samples taken at the time showed the party drugs escatsy and ketamine were in Mr Iris’ system.

Pedro would later tell one witness Mr Iris “kept coming at him with a baseball bat”. However, Puisne Judge Simmons indicated that drugs and alcohol had clearly played a role.

“If there is one message that should leave this courtroom, it is that all children should be protected from the scourge of alcohol and drugs,” she said in her sentencing remarks.”

“If only we could turn our clock back, we might have two friends . . . standing together today,” said Mr Mussenden.