A THUG who stabbed another man to death in a "drink-fuelled temper" is facing life behind bars after being convicted of murder.

Sentence was adjourned on Daniel Mazza until Tuesday (October 16) as his QC was not available when the jury’s unanimous verdict was returned on Friday.

Judge Andrew Patience, QC, told Mazza, of Clifton Gardens, Margate: "It is inevitable I will pass a sentence of imprisonment for life, but I have to determine the appropriate period that must be served."

Maidstone Crown Court heard during the two-week trial how David Gavin lost his life after Mazza, 24, had a row with his girlfriend Siobhan Laming.

He returned home and told her: "I hope you are happy now. I have f------ killed him. He is brown bread."

He at first denied being responsible for Mr Gavin’s death but later claimed he lashed out in self-defence when threatened with a knife.

Mazza plunged the blade into 26-year-old Mr Gavin three times - once in the head and twice in the neck.

The victim staggered into his basement flat in Athelstan Road, Margate, but bled to death in the lounge.

Cairns Nelson, prosecuting, said Mr Gavin was "no angel" and no stranger to the courts, but he was unarmed at the time.

The two men knew each other well, hanging around the town and drinking together. Mazza, who denied murder, lived with his mother, not far from his friend.

On March 14 this year, Miss Laming saw that her boyfriend had a kitchen knife stuffed up the sleeve of his duffel coat.

She put the knife back in the kitchen drawer. Mazza later went to his local off-licence and bought cider, before returning home. He had also been drinking wine and lager.

Shortly after 5pm, Mazza and Miss Laming, who had a previous relationship with Mr Gavin, had an argument. She went out to calm things down and returned shortly afterwards.

"Four minutes later, the stabbing was done and dusted," Mr Nelson told the jury of six men and six women. "This must all have happened very quickly."

Mr Nelson said Mazza, who showed no emotion when the verdict was announced, had accumulated 63 convictions, including robbery.

Det Insp Dave Withers, of Kent Police’s Major Crime Unit, said: "The conviction of Daniel Mazza for the murder of David Gavin brings an in depth investigation to an end.

"This investigation has seen more than 50 police officers and the Crown Prosecution Service working together to put the evidence before the court and ensure that Mazza is imprisoned for his brutal crime.

“Our sympathies are extended to David’s family and friends. I would like to think the conviction of Daniel Mazza will allow them to bring closure to this part of their lives and begin to move forward.”