A Melbourne man with a violent criminal history, including a previous attack on a housemate, has been jailed for 11 years for killing an Airbnb guest.
Jason Rohan Colton, 42, was on Tuesday sentenced to at least eight years behind bars after pleading guilty to manslaughter over the violent death of Ramis Jonuzi in October 2017.
Colton was the instigator of the attack, for which his housemates Craig Levy and Ryan Smart are already serving prison time.
With their help, Colton repeatedly beat Mr Jonuzi, dragged him unconscious around the front yard of the Brighton East home and held him in a choke hold, angry that Mr Jonuzi owed Levy $210 for an unpaid Airbnb bill.
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Earlier in March Colton faced a jury charged with murder but at the conclusion of his trial last week, his lawyers submitted there was no case to answer.
That was accepted, as was the manslaughter plea Colton had earlier offered.
On Tuesday Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth called the attack vicious and callous, carried out against a man who didn't fight back and posed no threat.
At a pre-sentence hearing it was revealed the assault on Mr Jonuzi was not the first time Colton had been violent towards a housemate.
Colton, who married a Norwegian woman in 2008 and moved to her home country, was jailed by the Drammen District Court in Norway's south in 2013.
Colton attacked that housemate while he was asleep in bed, punching his face and grabbing his throat.
After serving about three months' jail in Norway, he was sent back to Melbourne, where he worked mainly in hospitality until Mr Jonuzi's fatal assault.
