THE KILLER of a bouncer and father-of-11 has been jailed for nine years.

Rocky Brown, aged 25, pleaded guilty to stabbing the doorman in the neck after being stopped entering the Rising Sun pub in Rushey Green, Catford.

Although 40-year-old Steve Brereton was wearing bullet-proof body armour, Brown's knife found his neck and head, severing his jugular vein and penetrating his skull.

Passing sentence, Judge Christopher Moss QC heard how on September 13 last year, Mr Brereton and three bouncers got into a scuffle with four black youths, including Brown, who were trying to push their way into the pub.

The court heard how Brown had said: "You going to want to die just because you don't want to let a man in?"

The youths then rushed the door and Mr Brereton was stabbed before the gang ran off along Rushey Green Road.

Bleeding heavily from his wounds, colleagues took him to Lewisham Hospital but a scan showed his brain had been damaged and on September 16 his life support machine was switched off.

Described at the Old Bailey as a hard-working and popular man who shared ownership of a car recovery businesses, Mr Brereton was an active father of his 11 children.

He lived in Croydon, where more than 600 people attended his funeral.

Brown, of Lyndhurst Road, Thornton Heath denied a count of murder but admitted manslaughter.

The judge sentenced him to nine years.