A witness who gave evidence against a man who was acquitted of a notorious multiple murder was jailed for ten years yesterday for killing him.
Peter Stevens, 23, of Fernwood Road, Lemington, Newcastle, was found guilty of the manslaughter of Gary Cornish, also 23, at Newcastle Crown Court.
The two men had been friends, but relations soured after Mr Cornish was acquitted of the 1998 Chepstow Road murders, when four people died in a house fire in Scotswood, Newcastle.
Stevens was a prosecution witness in the trial against Mr Cornish.
Mr Cornish, of Armstrong Road, Scotswood, Newcastle, was stabbed six times during a fight in Newcastle's Cloth Market on Friday, October 15, last year.
Detective Chief Inspector Jim Napier, the senior investigating officer, said: "This incident clearly illustrates the inevitable and tragic consequences that can result from a culture of knife-carrying among young men.
"This death need never have happened. Peter Stevens is now paying for the consequences of his actions."
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