AN insanely jealous boyfriend who stabbed his girlfriend to death at a Southampton bedsit has been jailed for four and a half years.

Jose Pedro stabbed Nokukhanya Mkhonta 27 times in a savage attack that left the tip of the knife inside her body.

Angolan-born Pedro then set fire to their bedsit in Exmoor Road, St Mary's, Southampton, in a suicide attempt.

Winchester Crown Court heard yesterday that at the time of the killing in December 2005 he was suffering a severe psychotic depression made worse by large amounts of alcohol. He was the equivalent of two and a half times over the drink driving limit when he killed her, the court heard.

Pedro had developed a delusion that Miss Mkhonta, 20, a Swaziland-born nursing home carer, was being unfaithful.

In the weeks before the killing Pedro had showed violence towards his girlfriend and had been arrested for assault. The killing happened while he was on bail.

Pedro had denied murder and was standing trial at Winchester last February when Miss Mkhonta's mother launched into an outburst from the public gallery that caused the trial to be abandoned. He later changed his plea to guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility.

Afterwards Pedro was sent to hospital but last month was deemed fit enough to return to Winchester Prison to await sentencing.

The court heard that Pedro had come to Britain in 2002 and was studying accounting at Southampton City College. He was a talented student who had been the Angolan junior chess champion and of previous good character.

Oba Nsugbe QC, mitigating, said apart from his obsessional illness Pedro was a "normal, mild-mannered man with impeccable manners, considerate, kind, a loving son."

Mr Nsugbe added that Pedro, although out of hospital, remained in "an extremely fragile mental state. The more pressing risk is a risk to himself rather than others."

Consultant psychiatrist Jan Vermeulen told the court: "I am a bit concerned whether a prison sentence would minimise the possibility that morbid jealousy will recur in a future relationship."

Sentencing Judge Guy Boney QC said: "The dreadful truth is your irrational and growing jealousy destroyed your relationship and the love that she had for you. As the relationship deteriorated, so did your treatment of her. The final assault was preceded by escalating threats of violence and assaults of increasing severity."

The judge said Pedro could pose a danger to women in future should depression and alcohol misuse recur, but he added it was not a "significant risk."

Judge Boney recommended that Pedro be deported at the end of his sentence. He has served almost two years already on remand.

In a victim impact statement, part of which was read to the court, Miss Mkhonta's father, Daniel, said: "It is almost impossible to express in words how we feel about our daughter's death. The impact on the whole family is immeasurable. You expect children to outlive yourself. I will never have this chance."

After the hearing, Miss Mkhonta's family issued a statement. It said: "Khany's death came as a shock and was very devastating to us, her family in Swaziland. She was a loving, caring, responsible and outgoing girl who will be remembered by her family as always full of cheer and smiles all the time.

"Though she has gone, she will never be forgotten. Death robbed us of a loving girl with a promising future. Khany innocently over-trusted people who never deserved to be trusted. Our lives feel empty without her but with God's grace we will pull through."