A man has been found guilty of murdering a family friend during a drunken brawl.

Sean Maher, (pictured right) who was arrested at his mother’s house in Herne Bay after the incident, agreed the person who knifed 36-year-old victim Darren Turner five times in the back, chest and neck went “completely over the top”.

He was jailed for 14 years less the 215 days he served while on remand.

Maher claimed he did not stab Mr Turner or see anybody else plunge the kitchen knife into him.

The prosecution alleged Maher, 21, deliberately carried out the stabbing at Karen Moore’s four-bedroom detached home in Wilderness Hill, Margate, “in an act of anger and revenge”.

A jury at Maidstone Crown Court heard how Maher intervened in a fight between his father Terry and Mr Turner on March 31.

During the evening there had been eight adults and eight children there.

Some of the children witnessed the violence.

Johanna Cutts QC, prosecuting, said Terry Maher had the upper hand in the fight when his son took a knife from a kitchen Sean drawer and stabbed Mr Turner.

He then went to his mother’s home in Peartree Close, Broomfield, where he was arrested.

Senior investigating officer Det Ch Insp Maria Shepherd said: “Police were called to an address in Cliftonville after a man had been seriously injured in a fight.

“He had been stabbed with a knife. The man responsible was Sean Maher.

“He ran from the scene and tried to cover his actions by discaring his clothes.

“One of the most distressing facts about this case is that there were young children in that address. One, a very brave 11-year-old, called police pleading for help while the fight was going on.

“It is shocking that they witnessed such extreme violence.”