A man who killed another man in a "cowardly" attack with a gun in Ipswich has been jailed for more than eight years.
Ethan McPherson was sentenced in the Supreme Court in Brisbane, after pleading guilty to a downgraded charge of unlawful striking, causing the death of David Murphy.
The court heard the 22-year-old had threatened to shoot Mr Murphy, 49, before whacking him in the face with the butt of a shortened rifle beside a Springfield Lakes road in October 2019.
This caused Mr Murphy to fall backwards and hit his head on the gutter, the court heard.
Rather than helping Mr Murphy, who the court heard was "bleeding profusely", he instead yelled "next time it will be a bullet", before attacking another man, then driving away.
Mr Murphy's injuries to his brain and skull were so severe he later died at the scene.
The court heard the fatal confrontation between the two men had taken place not long after an incident involving his 20-year-old daughter and her ex-partner, who was friends with McPherson.
Kynan Vital and Julia Murphy had recently ended a "tumultuous relationship", but the 19-year-old had been harassing her, and on that night had broken into her home and refused to leave.
The court heard McPherson had been waiting outside in a car, armed with the weapon, and the pair took off shortly after Mr Murphy arrived to help his daughter at her request.
Mr Murphy, his 16-year-old-son and another man, Bradley Murchie, then became involved in a "cat and mouse chase" with the two men, which ended at the spot where Mr Murphy was killed, the court heard.
McPherson also admitted to assaulting Mr Murchie.
'Dad died trying to protect me'
The grieving wife and daughter of Mr Murphy both submitted victim impact statements that were read to the court by the prosecution.
Cinamon Murphy described her husband as "the most genuine human" and said "words cannot describe the pain" his death had caused.
"How do you put into words the loss of a person you love," she said.
Julia Murphy said she still suffered "immense guilt" for "knowing my dad died trying to protect me".
"Losing him in such a sudden and tragic way broke me," she said.
"I deserved more time with him, he deserved more time in general."
Ms Murphy said her grief was "like an earthquake" and she still experienced "aftershocks".
"It hits you and it all falls apart," she said.
'Cowardly' actions
The court heard since being in custody, McPherson had suffered a "near-death" gang bashing where he was beaten and stabbed, which had left him with a brain injury.
When determining his sentence, Justice Peter Applegarth took this into consideration, but said it was unrelated to the attack McPherson carried out on a "defenceless" Mr Murphy.
"To call [McPherson's] actions cowardly is completely accurate," he said.
Justice Applegarth called McPherson's offending "outrageous" and commented it was committed "without any real provocation".
"Anyone who takes the life of another deserves to be punished," he said.
McPherson was sentenced to eight-and-a-half years in jail.
He will be eligible for parole in 2026 after serving 80 per cent of his sentence.
