A paranoid schizophrenic who stabbed a stranger in the back and left him to die on the side of a Melbourne road has been jailed for more than a decade.
Cody Frost used a large chef's knife to kill Marcus Rowley at West Footscray in August 2017.
The 37-year-old claimed he acted in self-defence and that Mr Rowley had been following him and a female friend after all three alighted a train at Tottenham station.
"(In) what can only be described as a violent and disproportionate response, you stabbed Mr Rowley in the back," Supreme Court Justice James Elliott said on Thursday when jailing Frost for 10-and-a-half years.
"After stabbing Mr Rowley you showed no concern for Mr Rowley."
In April, a jury found Frost not guilty of murder but guilty of the lesser crime of manslaughter.
In a pre-sentence hearing crown prosecutor Mark Gibson QC said Frost stabbed Mr Rowley as he was annoyed and angry at his presence.
He argued Frost's moral culpability was not reduced as although the killer had paranoid schizophrenia and had stopped taking his medication four days prior, there was no evidence his psychosis had relapsed.
Frost's lawyer Ashley Halphen argued Mr Rowley had been aggressive and approached a frightened Frost with his arm raised and a bottle in hand.
The lawyer added Frost's attack was spontaneous, "truly out of the blue" and not premeditated.
Frost handed himself in to police and surrendered the bloodied knife. He never denied stabbing Mr Rowley.
Frost has already spent 795 days in custody and must serve at least seven years and nine months before being eligible for release on parole.
He is likely to be deported to New Zealand on his release.
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Australian Associated Press
