A regular churchgoer 'snapped' and stabbed his nephew to death after suffering a campaign of terror triggered by his wife's affair.

A court heard how Lee Ryan twice struck up relationships with his married aunt and then 'declared war' against the family when these finally soured. Andrew Ryan, 37, of Girlington Road, Bradford, yesterday pleaded guilty to his nephew's manslaughter - the best man at the couple's wedding - and was jailed for four years.

The court heard how Andrew Ryan's wife Amanda recently gave birth to the dead man's child.

Judge Robert Taylor accepted Ryan - also known as Harry - had acted under provocation, highlighting violence and numerous threats aimed at his estranged wife and five children.

On the day before the 24-year-old's death - just hours after being arrested and bailed for throwing a brick through his aunt's window - Lee Ryan sent her a mobile phone text warning "It's war."

Simon Jackson, prosecuting, said: "It was this three-way relationship which set the background for the defendant killing the deceased."

On July 9, Ryan had gone to a house in Parkway, West Bowling, to collect a £10 debt from a friend. Unbeknown to Ryan, his nephew was drinking at the house and shouted at him to leave.

A female friend tried to split them up but saw Ryan "kneeling down and pulling out a long kitchen knife from the ankle of his left leg." Ryan stabbed him in the stomach and chest seven times, wounds penetrating his lungs and heart. As his nephew lay motionless, he repeatedly kicked and struck him with a child's scooter.

James Stewart QC, mitigating, described Lee Ryan as a heroin addict "capable of severe violence". Of his break-up with Amanda, Mr Jackson said: "Lee Ryan wouldn't accept their parting."