Deportee jailed over Brighton stabbing death

A 24-year-old man who was deported from Northern Cyprus has been jailed for 12 years after being found guilty of the manslaughter of a man in Brighton.

Michael Bishop, of no fixed address, was convicted at Lewes Crown Court at a previous hearing.

Stuart Slade, 35, of Old Steine, was found with stab wounds to his chest in Hampton Place on 30 December 2008.

Bishop was deported after Turkish Cypriot authorities arrested him in October on suspicion of illegal entry.

After the hearing, police issued a CCTV image of the two men in the Kitchen Bar in Preston Street which was taken shortly before Mr Slade died.

During the trial, the court heard the pair had never met and Mr Slade did not know Bishop.

Det Ch Insp Steve Johns said: "Stuart Slade was fatally wounded and left for dead in the street.

"He had been drinking in a Brighton bar for some time before, within feet of Michael Bishop, a man he did not know."

In a statement issued through police, Mr Slade's family said: "Our lives will never be the same, and what hurts most is that Stuart's son, our grandson, has been put through this horrific ordeal."

The statement added: "Although Michael Bishop's conviction will never bring Stuart back, we are so greatly relieved that he is now behind bars and cannot do this to any other family again."