A man who killed a Melbourne father with a fishing knife in a brutal suburban assault has been sentenced to nine-and-a-half years jail in Victoria’s highest court.

Chris Taylor was 45 years old when Darryl Kennedy, a man who he used to live with at the same Bayswater address where he lost his life, arrived unannounced and stabbed him three times with a fish knife over a supposedly unpaid debt on September 12, 2021.

Kennedy, 44, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Supreme Court of Victoria in April and was sentenced in the same court on Monday.

The court heard that after entering the home Kennedy stabbed Taylor once in the armpit and multiple times on the head and face before he fled the scene.

A witness saw Taylor staggering and disoriented outside his home, saying “I’ve been stabbed,” before he collapsed.

Kennedy fled to a nearby McDonalds covered in blood, where he disposed of the knife he had used to kill Taylor moments earlier.

But before he fled Mr Kennedy told a neighbour “not to get involved” because it wasn’t their business.

By 7.19am, the court heard, Taylor had been pronounced dead with a pierced left lung and pulmonary artery.

Kennedy was arrested by police after he was found with blood over him not long after the incidence, and was initially charged with murder.

In sentencing Kennedy, Justice Michael Croucher referenced his extensive criminal history, which included previous stints in prison for offences such as robbery, unlicensed driving and assaulting police.

Justice Croucher said Kennedy had a “limited” formal education and left school at 14, and had a history of drug use.

Kennedy will be eligible for parole after six-and-a-half years, with the 667 days spent in custody so far also to be taken into consideration.

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