A man who killed his friend of 30 years during a drunken argument is "distraught" that he caused the death of the only father figure in his life, the Supreme Court has heard.
Johnny William Walters, 49, was acquitted of murder but found guilty of the manslaughter of his friend John "Jock" McLellan.
The court heard the pair had got into a drunken argument at Gilberton in 2020 over a "petty complaint" about a bottle of whisky, which escalated into a fight.
The prosecution submitted Walters committed a lengthy, sustained beating over the course of several hours, but Walters's defence lawyer Mark Norman KC said it was "dangerous" to speculate about the length of the assault given the many questions that remained unanswered about what happened.
The court heard an expert was of the opinion that the assault would not have killed a "fit, healthy man" and no lethal blow could be identified.
During sentencing submissions, prosecutor Patrick Hill told the court there were no special circumstances to warrant a lenient sentence.
"The offence was committed in the course of a violent and sustained attack upon a man who was older, smaller and weaker than Mr Walters," Mr Hill said.
Mr Hill said nothing explained Walters's overreaction during the argument with Mr McLellan, but referenced the "three-day amphetamine and alcohol binge" he'd been on prior to the fatal assault.
Sitting in the dock, Walters said "do you think because I take drugs I go around killing people, are you for real?" before being shushed by his lawyer.
Mr Norman told the court the fight started through "intoxicated belligerence on both sides".
"These are not sober men. There is a real impact in this case of intoxication because the level of intoxication in this case was so enormous."
'It had been Johnny and Jock for 30 years'
Mr Norman said his client wanted to visit his friend's grave when he was eventually released from prison.
"He wants to go and sit at the grave of Mr McLellan and apologise and we simply ask that your honour is able to let him do that sooner rather than later," Mr Norman said.
"The remorse in this case is utterly genuine, he is very much distraught for what he did to his friend.
"It had been Johnny and Jock for 30 years, Mr McLellan actually called Mr Walters 'son.'"
Mr Norman said both his client and Mr McLellan had their own "demons" and a "disposition towards aggression" as both had come from backgrounds of dysfunction and abuse.
"These are two men who are genuine friends and kindred spirits," Mr Norman said.
He said it was an "incredibly unfortunate incident" and an unusual case of manslaughter for the courts to consider.
"There isn't a single lethal blow, if it wasn't for Mr McLellan's condition he clearly would've survived," Mr Norman said.
"Put simply, if Mr McLellan had been healthier, and quite possibly not intoxicated, he wouldn't have died as a result of whatever Mr Walters did."
The court heard Walters had a lengthy criminal history for assaults and had grown up in an Aboriginal community in poverty, and had a childhood marred by abuse and violence.
It heard Walters was regularly beaten as a child and developed aggression and substance abuse issues.
"He says, frankly, as he grew, he learnt to fight back," Mr Norman told the court.
"His life has never been normal, he's never had the support of a loving family or a stable job or a stable relationship or a permanent home and instead his whole life has been one of pain and suffering and no doubt pain and anger.
"He has to live with the burden of knowing he killed his friend who he was very close to."
Justice Laura Stein will sentence Walters later this month.
