Man jailed for fatal stabbing after row

A man who fatally stabbed another man after an altercation outside his ex-girlfriend's flat has been jailed for 17 years.

John Robinson stabbed 30-year-old Mason Jones in the abdomen outside his on-off partner's Burley in Wharfedale flat on 1 March. Jones later died in hospital.

Robinson, 30, was cleared of murder but found guilty of manslaughter and possession of a bladed article in a public place following a trial at Bradford Crown Court.

Passing sentence at the same court earlier, Judge Jonathan Carroll described the loss Jones's loved ones had endured as "immeasurable".

Jones and his friend, Will Clarke, were invited to the flat by Annabel Ramsey - described in court as Robinson's "on-off" girlfriend, though she had ended the relationship the day before the incident - in the early hours.

Judge Carroll said everyone in the flat had been "drinking, taking drugs or both."

After an argument broke out, Ramsey kicked Jones and Clarke out of the flat, but they later returned.

Another disagreement ensued and Ramsey called Robinson. She could be heard "shouting threats at [Jones] and others", telling them Robinson would "deal with them", the court heard.

Robinson, of Derry Hill, in Menston, was described as "anxious to do what [Ramsey] asked" of him, and travelled to her flat armed with a 17.4cm (6.9in) Japanese chef's knife, which the judge described as "highly dangerous".

The court heard Ramsey told Robinson to "get those others out", and Robinson was "ready and willing" to help.

The situation escalated and Robinson picked up the knife, then stabbed Jones.

He was taken to hospital with "catastrophic" bleeding and died later that day.

Robinson was arrested at his home later that day.

Throughout the trial, the jury heard Robinson claimed he stabbed Jones by accident after he slipped in his socks trying to defend Ramsey.

Robinson also told police he usually took the knife to Ramsey's flat in an Asda bag for cooking and that he had previously worked as a chef.

He stopped working, however, to become a full-time carer for his grandmother.

In mitigation, the court was told Robinson showed "genuine remorse".

In a victim impact statement read to the court, Virginia Witham, Jones' mother, described the pain she had experienced as "unreal".

"I have lost his voice, his smile and his infectious personality", Witham said.

"The reality of losing him still does not feel real to me. Part of me will always wait for him to walk through my door."

Witham also said a grave "should not be somewhere a mother visits their child", adding she would miss her son for the rest of her life.

He was described in another statement read to the court as a "truly amazing person, who brought light and laughter wherever he went."

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