A 17-year-old boy who stabbed a gay off-duty police officer in his home has been found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.



Willie John Ahsee, 17, was tried in the High Court in Auckland for the July 2010 murder of 59-year-old Denis Norman Phillips.



Ahsee's defence conceded that the teenager stabbed Phillips four times in his Papakura home with a serrated knife.



However, they contended that self-defence and the boy's state of mind at the time were issues the jury needed to consider.



The 11-person jury considered their verdict for four hours before returning shortly after 6pm.



Ahsee stood with his head bowed, blinking away tears, after the verdict was read.



Phillips was a temporary sworn officer who had worked for police for 12 years as a jailer in the Manukau police cells.



He was also known in the Auckland gay community, was sexually attracted to young males and "from time to time" made physical advances towards them that included touching.



After lifting weights at Phillips' home, the pair got drunk.



Ahsee told police he later ''went blank".



"I had blood on my hands, he was on the ground, I just left the house.''



The fatal blow was a stab to the neck that severed his arteries.



He told the court there was no sexual contact - "I ain't bloody gay," he said.



Another teenager told the court of a similar scenario in which he went to Phillips' house and got drunk but left when Phillips made advances by rubbing his thigh.



Ahsee's lawyer, David Jones QC, told the jury they had to "look from

(Ahsee's) perspective - his intent" and think about issues that would be of concern to a 16-year-old boy.



He said it was what was going through his mind that was fundamental, and the questions of murderous intent and self defence were also key issues.



Justice Asher set sentencing for December 15 and Ahsee was remanded in the custody of the Chief Executive of the Ministry of Social Development.

- Auckland Now