A TRANMERE man who stabbed his friend through the heart in a row over illegal Sky cards worth just £40 has been jailed this afternoon for five years and five months.

Mark Collins, 36, has been on trial this week accused of murdering his friend, Lee "Willow" Willingham, 30, during a petty argument.

But on the fourth day of his Liverpool Crown Court trial today, Collins pleaded guilty to manslaughter on the grounds of provocation.

Jailing him, Judge Gerald Clifton accepted he had been subjected to a "substantial degree of provocation.

"In this case there was an attack by two people, one with a dog, one with a baton.” In themselves, not necessarily life-threatening, although very unpleasant.

"In my judgement, having heard the evidence, I believe that there was a substantial degree of provocation occurring over a short period."

But he added: "You took the knife you had, you opened it and stabbed the deceased once in the heart, killing him. Killing a man who to some people was a dear man and loved."

Mr Willingham's long-term partner and mother of his two children, Sharon Gardner,broke down sobbing as the sentence was delivered and had to be helped from court.

The jury heard that the argument was sparked by two faulty forged television cards Mr Willingham, a car wash manager, had sold to Collins’s friend Russell Evans.

Mr Willingham was "affronted" the men had come to his house to complain on January 14.

At 11pm that night, he was in his van with friend Andrew McGowan and his large dog, when he suddenly decided to call at Collins’s home in Park Road, Tranmere.

John McDermott, QC, prosecuting, claimed that when Collins came out of his home, the pair fought before Mr McGowan’s dog locked on to the defendant’s leg. The two men separated but came together again - Collins armed with a knife and Mr Willingham with a baton.

Judge Clifton said he was satisfied Mr Willingham, McGowan and his dog had attacked Collins, before the defendant plunged a knife into the victim's heart.

When the fatal fight came to an end, Mr Willingham got back into his van and drove off, unaware his heart had been pierced by the knife. He collapsed and crashed in nearby Fairfield Road.

When Collins, who is just 5ft 6in tall, was arrested he had a severe gash to his head and "classic defence injuries" to his arms. Mr Willingham did not have any other injuries apart from the lethal knife wound.

Stuart Driver QC, defending, said Collins was "entitled" to use some force to defend himself.

He said that Mr Willingham would have been able to defeat Collins without any weapon or any help but Mr Willingham used some sort of metal object on his head.

"Not only was Mr Willingham stronger, he was accompanied by a second man who was armed with an aggressive, powerful dog.

"Mark Collins was mauled, mauled so badly by that beast that he required an operation to remove fragments of its teeth from his leg."

The court heard Collins had been become "over-sensitive and over-protective" after being assaulted in his own home in 2008 and was seen by friends sharpening knives and machetes.