A TRINANT man has been jailed for life, to serve a minimum of 20 years today for the murder of his friend at a party.

Paul Mapps was sentenced at Cardiff Crown Court after being found guilty of murdering his friend by stabbing him to death with a kitchen knife.

He had denied murdering father-of-one Ian Davies, 27, in January, claiming he acted in self-defence.

Gwent Police were called to reports of an incident on Marshfield Road at around 7.30pm on Saturday, January 11. Mr Davies suffered a fatal stab wound to his abdomen and was taken to the Royal Gwent Hospital where he later died the same night.

Ian Davies’ older sister Carrie spoke on behalf of the family, saying: "We are feeling relieved today knowing that some justice has been brought.

"It goes without saying that this has been an extremely difficult and challenging time for the family. Although today's outcome doesn't ease our great sense of loss, we can now start to move forward with our lives, and focus our efforts on looking after and supporting Caine, Ian's six year old son."