An Australian man has been jailed for more than 10 years for fatally punching another man while intoxicated outside a birthday party in Sydney's west, becoming the first to be sentenced under the country's controversial "one-punch" laws.
Hugh Garth, 25, was found guilty by a jury in May this year of delivering a single, fatal blow to 21-year-old nurse Raynor Manalad.
On Friday, he was sentenced to more than 10 years in jail, backdated to August 2014, under the one-punch laws introduced to reduce alcohol-related violence and convict perpetrators of fatal one-punch assaults while under the influence of drugs or alcohol.
Those convicted can expect to receive eight to 25 years in jail.
The laws against one-punch attacks - also knowns as "king hits" or "coward punches" in Australia - were introduced after public outrage over the deaths of two Sydney teenagers, killed from single blows to the head.
"It is now notorious that a single punch can not only cause catastrophic injuries but also death," Judge Antony Townsden told the New South Wales District Court on Friday, during the sentencing.
"Such offences are cause for grave disquiet and the community is understandably angry and frustrated by their occurrence."
Townsden also said Garth was already on a good behaviour bond for assault at the time of the incident. While Garth admitted he had drunk a lot of alcohol, he said he was acting in self-defence during a fight.
Garth showed no remorse, took no responsibility for his actions and his prospects for rehabilitation were not good, Townsden said, according to local broadcaster ABC.
