The fact that Kieran Loveridge was "very drunk" when he fatally punched Sydney teenager Thomas Kelly does not necessarily mean he should face a harsher sentence, a court has heard.
Loveridge was jailed in November for at least four years for the manslaughter of 18-year-old Thomas Kelly in July 2012.
Mr Kelly suffered catastrophic head injuries after Loveridge punched him once in an unprovoked attack at Sydney's red-light district, Kings Cross.
His life support was turned off two days later.
After community outrage over the sentence, the DPP announced it would appeal against the leniency of the decision.
In response to campaigning by Mr Kelly's parents and the media, the NSW government introduced a raft of new legislation, including mandatory sentences for some offences involving alcohol.
Although these new laws do not affect Loveridge, crown prosecutor Nicole Noman on Wednesday told the Court of Criminal Appeal hearing that Justice Stephen Campbell failed to properly acknowledge the role alcohol played in the offence.
She argued the attack on Mr Kelly should not have been classified as "spontaneous" as it was hardly an "isolated offence".
Before attacking Mr Kelly, the court heard Loveridge - who was 18 at the time - had already elbowed another man in a similarly unprovoked assault.
Then, soon after seeing Mr Kelly lying motionless on the ground, he went on to assault three others.
During the night, Loveridge had also told an acquaintance: "I swear I'm going to bash someone tonight".
Ms Noman said while Loveridge's choice of victim was spontaneous, his intention to hurt someone was not.
Defence barrister Phillip Boulten, SC, conceded Loveridge was "looking for trouble" that night and "delivered it on five occasions".
But he said alcohol-fuelled violence should not necessarily result in a more aggravated sentence.
If someone was "stone cold sober" and went on a violent rampage that would probably be more serious, he added.
Mr Kelly's mother Kathy cried and hugged her husband Ralph's arm as she listened to the defence submissions.
The hearing continues.
