Eight years' jail for killing

An Invercargill man who killed his ex-partner's lover in a frenzied knife attack was jailed for eight years when he appeared in the High Court at Invercargill yesterday.

Last month a jury acquitted Leon David Fallow, 27, of the murder of Darnell Glen Leslie on September 27 last year, returning a verdict of manslaughter. But in sentencing yesterday Justice Forrest Miller told Fallow the case was very close to murder, rejecting defence counsel Judith Ablett-Kerr's contention that provocation was a significant factor.

He imposed a minimum non-parole period of two-thirds of the sentence.