Man who held Airbnb guest in chokehold gets 11 years for manslaughter
A man with a violent criminal history, including a previous attack on a housemate for which he spent time in jail, has been sent to prison 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 chokehold, angry that Mr Jonuzi owed Levy $210 for an unpair Airbnb bill.
Colton had 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 extradited back to Australia.
He worked mainly in the hospitality industry in Melbourne until Mr Jonuzi's fatal assault.
AAP