A SOUTHAMPTON dad has been jailed after stabbing a man he once lived with after the mother of their children died.

Mark Motteram and Steve Cook had vowed to bring up their children together under one roof after the children's mother suffered a fatal heart attack.

But their relationship broke down and ended in violence, a court heard.

Today Motteram, 45, is beginning a four year jail sentence after pleading guilty to stabbing Mr Cook with a kitchen knife.

Winchester Crown Court heard how the two men had sought to keep the four children of Motteram's ex-wife Anne together after she suffered a fatal heart attack in 2011, while heavily pregnant with Mr Cook's baby James, who died seven days later.

Motteram, who admitted to wounding with intent to cause serious harm, sat sobbing as prosecutor Tom Wright told how the men had once shared the same home in Burgess Road, Swaythling.

But the arrangement ended in a legal battle over the custody of the youngest child Catherine, now four.

The court was told that Motteram lunged at Mr Cook, 37, on November 2 last year, while shouting that he was going to kill him.

Sentencing Motteram, Mr Justice Teare said that while there were mitigating circumstances it did not excuse what he had done, adding: “Your offence is serious because of your admitted intent to do serious bodily harm.”

Speaking after the case Bob Light, pastor at the Flower of Justice Community Church, where the funerals for Anne Motteram and her baby were held on the same day, said it was a tragic case.

He said: “The family are devastated. It will take a very long time for them to come to terms with this.”