Leigh PageWILTSHIRE TIMES EXCLUSIVE: THE KNIFEMAN who stabbed to death Trowbridge father-of-four Paul Rodgers could be free by the end of next year.

Grief-stricken sister, Margaret Joyce, said her family felt betrayed and outraged after care worker Leigh Page was cleared of murder and sentenced to four years in jail for manslaughter on Tuesday.

Senior Wiltshire police officers said an appeal against Page's sentence was in the pipeline after the Bristol Crown Court jury found the 30-year-old did not intend to kill the ex-England pool player.

Judge Thomas Crowther told Page he would serve at least two-thirds of the sentence but he could still be back on the streets within 20 months. He has already spent 12 months in custody.

Mrs Joyce, 44, of Philip Close, Melksham, said the justice system had made a mockery of her brother's memory. She said: "We are devastated and disgusted. It is unbelievable. I am totally numb.

"Leigh Page took Paul's life and he could be out next year. We never believed this was a possibility.

"The whole family are horrified.

"How can you explain what a family feels when there is a sentence like that? No words will ever be able to explain it.

"I wanted to go to the court case to know the truth and we wanted to do it for Paul.

"We owed it to Paul to be there. We had to see there was justice, not just for us, but also for Paul's children.

"At the end of the day we didn't get any justice. We feel let down by the judge and the system. How do you explain to the kids why the man who took their daddy away will be out in a year?"

Mrs Joyce, who works in Jones Day and Night store in Forest Road, was in court every day with Mr Rodgers' younger brother Wayne and nephew Scott.

Monday will mark the first anniversary of the 32-year-old's death just a day before what should have been his 34th birthday.

"It feels like we have been told about his death all over again," Mrs Joyce said.

"I don't think we will ever be the same again. There will always be someone missing.

"I feel like Paul's life has been taken for nothing.

"We heard how Page had tunnel vision and bulging eyes and how he marched up the street. It wasn't just one knife it was two. He openly admitted saying 'I'll stab him' and he went out to go and find him.

"Paul never even touched a hair on Page's head.

"The police and prosecution were excellent. I feel as much for them as I do for us. They were disappointed."

The jury of nine men and three women took less than three hours to find Page not guilty of murder, or manslaughter by provocation.

Page stabbed Mr Rodgers once in the rear of the chest with a meat knife in Broadcloth Lane, Trow-bridge, just after 3.30am on May 5.

The knife penetrated Mr Rodgers' left lung and killed him almost immediately. The 'trivial' row was said in court to have been sparked by an unpaid taxi fare. Judge Crowther told Page he took an 'appalling risk' by using knives for protection.