A Victorian man who beat his friend to death in a drunken fight before hiding his body in a ditch has been jailed for seven and a half years.
The body of Brett Harrap, 30, was found in May last year beside a Melbourne road after he was reported missing by his former partner.
Glenn Isaac Carleton, 40, of Dandenong, pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He admitted kicking, kneeing and stomping on Harrap at a Cranbourne unit on April 14.
Both men had been drinking heavily.
Neighbours reported hearing two men arguing and fighting that night, and said a man shouted "help me".
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Carleton put Mr Harrap into a bed, and later hid his body in a ditch and covered it with branches near Worsley Road in Carrum Downs.
Victorian Supreme Court Justice Stephen Kaye said Carleton reacted with disproportionate violence after Mr Harrap provoked him.
"(You) hit him while he was clearly in pain and stomped him while he was on the ground and defenceless," he said.
Justice Kaye said Carleton had robbed Mr Harrap's young son of his father.
"By your criminal actions you have taken your friend's life and you have also caused his son immeasurable grief," he said.
Carleton was sentenced to seven years and six months in jail, with a non-parole period of five years and six months.
