A man who caused the death of an elderly man by punching him in the face in an unprovoked attack in Adelaide's CBD will spend at least five years and five months behind bars.
Francesco Candido, 89, was walking along Grote Street in September 2021, when Joel Raymond Page, 35, punched him in the head.
Mr Candido fell to the ground and hit his head.
He was taken to the Royal Adelaide Hospital with a fractured skull and bleeding to the brain, but died two weeks later.
Page — who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the month after the attack — previously told the Adelaide Magistrates Court he was so intoxicated, he could not remember what happened.
CCTV footage showed Page stumbling down Grote Street before the attack.
During sentencing in the Supreme Court, Page received a 25 per cent discount for his early guilty plea and was handed a six-year-and-nine-month sentence.
He faces a non-parole period of five years and five months, backdated to December 2021.
In handing down her sentence, Supreme Court judge Laura Stein told the court that Page had an "extensive" and "serious" criminal history, and had been imprisoned multiple times prior to his attack on Mr Candido.
Speaking outside court, Mr Candido's son Larry said the sentence was "not justice" and said that fact he could be out in less than six years was like releasing "a lethal weapon" into the community.
He said he was "angry" that Page's prior convictions did not result in the maximum imprisonment for manslaughter.
Attacker thrust chest then punched victim
The court heard Page was severely intoxicated and on drugs while walking down Grote Street, calling men who passed him "bastards" and accusing them of trying to "hurt his girl".
Page was receiving assistance from two women when he jumped to his feet, thrusting his chest multiple times into Mr Candido before "roundhouse punching" him in the cheek, the court heard.
Justice Stein said Page then stood over the 89-year-old as he lay unconscious on the ground and yelled, "You hurt my woman, you see what happens".
"Your previous convictions and incarceration have not deterred you from offending," Justice Stein said.
"While you acted without pre-planning or intention to kill, and assaulted Mr Candido while impacted by the effects of alcohol and drugs … your intoxication can not excuse your conduct.
"Your offending is extremely serious and has had fatal consequences."
In a victim impact statement, Mr Candido's eldest son, Peter, said his father's death has "left me feeling empty" and that he "did not have the opportunity to say goodbye" as he lived interstate.
Justice Stein said the victim's family had "suffered intense and palpable loss" as a result of Page's actions, and that the sentence needed to "deter from continued offending" as Page posed "a significant concern for the community".
The court was told that Page had a traumatic upbringing and has been diagnosed with a severe personality disorder, anxiety and depression.
