A man who admitted to stabbing a carpenter over a bitter love triangle has had his murder conviction and 20-year jail term quashed.

Kevin George Smith, 41, was found guilty in September 2023 of murdering Daniel Pettersson with a large hunting knife after a NSW Supreme Court trial.

But an appeal court on Friday found the jury was wrong to convict Smith of murder because there was reasonable doubt he may have acted in self-defence.

Smith stabbed his love rival once in the chest at a home Mr Pettersson had stormed into in the Newcastle suburb of Jesmond in January 2022.

His 20-year prison term also overturned, Smith now faces a District Court trial for the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Smith had been in an on-and-off relationship with a woman between 2016 and the day of the murder, whil

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