Nicholas Rasberry sentenced to 7 years in prison for killing Craig Kelloway

Nicholas Rasberry, the Calgary man who admitted to stabbinghis new neighbour to deathbut claimed it was in self-defence from a sexual assault, has been sentenced to seven years in prison.

With credit for time served, he has fiveyears andfourmonths left to spend behind bars.

"Of course we're disappointed with the sentence," said Rasberry's lawyer, Hersh Wolch.

The prosecutionproposed a 15-year sentence, while Rasberry's lawyer asked the judge for a far more lenient punishment oftime served about 13 months, before he was granted bail plus probation.

Originally charged with second-degree murder,Rasberry was foundguilty of manslaughterin Octoberfor the 2013 death of his neighbourCraig Kelloway who is originally from Nova Scotia.

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Three knives were broken in the attack. Kelloway was stabbed and slashed 37 times.

Rasberry andhis wife metKellowayand his girlfriendin their backyard in May2013and began drinking and barbecuing together.The festivities later took them fromKelloway'shome to Rasberry'shome.

Rasberryhas never denied killingKelloway, but has maintained that Kellowaythreatened to sexually assault him.He also said he felt he needed to protect his wife who was sleeping upstairs.

The judge rejected that Rasberry was acting in self defence but did find he was provoked,which resulted in the conviction on the lesser charge of manslaughter.

In delivering his decision, Justice Robert Hall notedthe number of stab wounds, the broken knives and the lack of injuries to Rasberry to be aggravating factors.

As mitigating factors, Hall noted the fact that Rasberry is a first-time offender, was cooperative with police, and called 911 in an attempt to help Kellowayafter stabbing him.

Like every other day of this trial, the courtroom was full, with at least half of the people in the gallery there to support Rasberry.

"They all know he's innocent, they all know he was attacked," said Wolch. "They all know he and his wife were put in danger and they all know he was traumatized by it."

Bail breach arrest

Rasberryhad been out on bail pending the sentencing butwas arrested in the early hours of Thursday morningfor breaching his bail conditions.

He was allegedly caught drinking while acting as his parents' designated driver, shuttling them home from their Christmas party, according toWolch, his lawyer.

The prosecution has already appealed the manslaughter decision, asking the Alberta Court of Appeal to overturn acquittal on the charge of second-degree murder.

Wolch has already indicated he expectsto appeal the sentence.