A 33-year-old man will be sentenced April 1 for manslaughter after stabbing a friend who took offence when his text message auto-corrected itself into an insult.

Neil Brook was found guilty by Manchester Crown Court in England last week. He originally had been charged with murder in the death on July 25, 2010, of Josef Witkowski, his friend and neighbour.

Brook had sent Witkowski a text message calling him a “mutter,” slang for a wannabe streetwise teenager, but his telephone substituted the word “nutter,” British slang for someone who’s crazy, court press officer Robert Pett told the Star.

The text abuse escalated and Witkowski went to Brook’s apartment with a knife, the court heard. Brook had taped up two knives, one behind his door and one in his bathroom; when Witkowski attacked him, he counterattacked.

Witkowski was stabbed 104 times. He died en route to hospital, Greater Manchester Police have said.

“Anybody looking at the facts of this case would be struck by the level of violence, whatever the level of provocation is assessed to be,” Judge Michael Henshell said after the jury verdict was announced.

“Obviously, the sentence will be a long one.”