Sentencing of Lewis Brown for manslaughter of Lee Butler in Barton

The 20-year-old was found guilty of the charge on Thursday, although jurors at Oxford Crown Court acquitted him of the more serious alternative allegation of murder. He was unanimously convicted of having a knife in a public place without a reasonable excuse.

Remanding him into custody last week, the Recorder of Oxford Judge Ian Pringle QC warned him: "The sentence you will receive will be a significant one.”

READ MORE: Verdicts in Barton 'murder' trial

Lewis Brown's custody shot Picture: TVP

Mr Butler was fatally stabbed in a park off Bayswater Road, Barton, on October 8 last year. He had gone there with his friend, Donna Osbourne, to buy drugs from dealer Brown.

Prosecutors said Mr Butler was stabbed because he had expressed concerns about the quality of the drugs being sold by the line for which Brown worked, called the ‘Bob’ line.

READ MORE: Family's tribute to 'gentle giant'

The defendant, however, said he had ‘pushed out’ with his knife after Mr Butler attempted to rob him at knifepoint during the deal. Ms Osbourne, the only eyewitness to the events of October 8, dismissed that story as ‘appalling’ when it was put to her by Brown’s barrister Frida Hussain QC last month.

Mr Butler was described in a family tribute issued last year as a ‘gentle giant’. “His death is a complete waste of life,” they said.

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