THE family of a Hereford man stabbed to death in Thailand have said the verdict of unlawful killing is "what they expected".

They were speaking after the inquest of Richard Collins, known to friends as Richard Hart or "Harty", who died from a stab wound in the Thai town of Krabi on March 8, 2005.

The 35-year-old was killed by Uthain Duangnoi, a Thai national who was sentenced to 15 years in prison, which was halved after he later admitted the crime.

A Thai police statement read out at last week's Hereford inquest said Mr Duangnoi had become suspicious that his wife was having a relationship with Mr Collins.

The police said Mr Collins had been spotted with Mr Duangnoi's wife and two other people in a car in Krabi. One of those people in the car was Mr Collins' girlfriend.

After his wife had returned home, Mr Duangnoi confronted her over the alleged relationship and asked her to call Mr Collins to his apartment to sort out matters.

Police said Mr Collins then travelled to reassure Mr Duangnoi that there was no relationship between the pair. This, the inquest heard, was also the opinion of Mr Duangnoi's wife.

But when Mr Collins arrived, Mr Duangnoi came outside with a three-inch knife attached to his waist and a photobook full of pictures of himself and his wife.

The inquest learned that Mr Duangnoi then spoke to Mr Collins in Thai and steadily becoming more irate.

Mr Collins had a grasp of the language but Herefordshire Coroner David Halpern said it was unlikely he would have understood everything Mr Duangnoi was saying.

The coroner was told that neighbours saw a fight break out, which resulted in Mr Collins being stabbed twice in the chest.

He was taken to a local hospital where he died later that evening. The police seized the knife on arrival and arrested Mr Duangnoi.

Mr Halpern added that he had since seen the knife which had been used in the incident, adding it was clear the knife had a substantial blade that was "more of a weapon knife than a domestic knife".

A statement from pathologist Dr Edmund Tapp stated Mr Collins had two clear stab wounds on the left side of his chest, one of which had penetrated his heart ventricle and caused his death.

Mr Collins, from Belmont, had been in Thailand working on a new airport in between his job as a scuba diving instructor.

The last time he was in contact with his family was on Mother's Day 2005, when he rang his mother, Yvonne Hart.

Hereford coroner David Halpern recorded that Mr Collins was unlawfully killed from a stab wound to the heart.

Kirsty Saunders, a foreign office spokesperson, told the Hereford Times that following his conviction in December last year, Mr Duangnoi had been released on bail pending an appeal against the judgment, which, she added, was standard practice in Thailand.