Country pub 'coward punch' killer jailed

A man has been jailed for at least six years for the "coward punch" manslaughter of a pub patron in country Victoria.

Shane Lucas was being a "drunken lout" when he knocked 39-year-old David Blake unconscious outside the Farmers Arms Hotel at Creswick in November 2019.

Lucas, 42, was jailed in Victoria's Supreme Court on Friday for nine years, with a six-year non-parole period.

He and Mr Blake had been sharing stories in a small group outside the pub in the early hours of the morning when Lucas' mood "turned nasty".

Lucas punched Blake, who was 196cm tall and weighed more than 170 kilograms, twice and he hit his head on a concrete path.

Justice Michael Croucher described Lucas, who had been at the pub on a Tinder date, as a "drunken lout".

He "bounced around like an idiot" and "as if he thinks he's Muhammad Ali", the judge said.

"It would seem nigh on impossible that such a man-mountain could be killed by a drunken lout suffering delusions of grandeur," Justice Croucher.

"Blake was passive - he never threw a punch and never raised his hands."

The 39-year-old plasterer was affectionately known to his mates as "Tender", because of his gentle nature.

Bystanders unsuccessfully tried to revive Blake, but he died at the scene.

Lucas "cravenly" fled but handed himself in to police about four hours later.

He went on to plead guilty to manslaughter and has already served 461 days in pre-sentence detention.