Worker jailed for CD row killing

Danilo Furtado had argued with other residents, the court heard

A Portuguese factory worker has been jailed for seven years for stabbing to death his Polish housemate.

Danilo Furtado, 45, stabbed Zbigniew Okon, 25, in Llangefni, Anglesey, in February this year.

It followed an argument between Furtado and other foreign workers over the playing of a Polish folk music CD.

A jury at Mold Crown Court cleared Furtado of murder on Tuesday, but convicted him of manslaughter on the grounds of provocation.

As a result of the provocation, you lost your self control and stabbed a respectable, much-loved young man, fatally Judge John Rogers QC

During the trial, the court heard that the provocation towards Furtado came from a number of workers living in the shared house, rather than from Mr Okon, nicknamed Sibi.

On 12 February this year, Furtado and another man began fighting following a row over loud music.

Furtado, who was working at Welsh County Foods, on Anglesey, to support his wife and five children in Portugal, went to his room and returned with a large butcher's knife.

He stabbed Mr Okon in the chest and the 25-year-old bled to death.

Furtado had claimed he acted out of fear and said he was afraid the other men were going to kill him.

But Roger Thomas QC, prosecuting, claimed that Mr Furtado had a "short fuse".

Mr Okon tried to intervene in the argument when he was stabbed

He added that the stabbing was a wicked act by Furtado who had been asked to leave the third address he had shared with foreign workers by the agency which employed him.

He was due to leave the Llangefni house the day after the stabbing.

Defending barrister, Gerard Elias QC, said that there had been provocation over a lengthy period of time which played upon the mind of Furtado.

The court heard claims that Furtado had been upset and angry over several months over loud music, smoking and the house being untidy.

He complained of feeling isolated and of being abused by some of the other housemates.

Mr Elias added that the defendant's lack of English, and the fact that he was a long way from home, meant that his prison sentence would be "lonely in the extreme".

'Tragic consequences'

Sentencing Furtado for the manslaughter, Judge John Rogers QC said: "You are a hard-working man who came to Anglesey to work long hours for the benefit of your wife and children in Lisbon.

"You found it difficult to live and to work with much younger foreign nationals.

"I am quite satisfied...that you were provoked in many different ways over a long period. The consequences were tragic.

"As a result of the provocation, you lost your self control and stabbed a respectable, much-loved young man, fatally."

The judge recommend that after Furtado had served his sentence, he should be deported to Portugal.

Mr Okon's father, Ryszard, thanked North Wales Police and said in a statement: "The pain we feel will never go away."

Detective Chief Inspector John Clayton, of North Wales Police, added that the case showed the dangers of using knives.

He said Mr Okon was "a young, fit lad with strong family ties with his life ahead of him."

He added: "His life has been wasted because of a row which did not involve him.

"Sibi intervened as a peacemaker and according to his family it is the sort of thing that he would do.

"The Okons have gained some comfort from seeing the killer of their son jailed."