A judge has wept in sentencing a man to at least three years and three months in jail for killing his brother while trying to defend his family from him.
Shane Brown, 33, was in his bedroom talking to his niece on June 10, 2016 while Wayne Brown intimidated his family and threatened to hurt his partner and daughter, the Supreme Court heard on Wednesday.
Wayne, who had a history of family violence, refused to leave the family's Cranbourne home, ignoring requests from both his parents and Shane to do so.
When his mother tried to call the police, he knocked the phone out of her hand.
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Wayne's daughter, who he had recently met for the first time, confronted him after she thought she heard him hit her mother.
Shane confronted Wayne with a knife after his niece returned to his room crying, the court heard.
He stabbed his brother once in the chest and then fled. Wayne, 38, told police that his brother had attacked him when they arrived at the house. He later died at the scene.
A post-mortem examination of Wayne's body revealed he had alcohol, methylamphetamine, cannabis and methadone in his system.
Justice Michael Croucher cried throughout the sentencing hearing as he described what happened, saying it was an "unusual case calling for an unusual sentence".
While Brown had "reasonably feared" his brother could harm his family, his decision to stab him in order to stop him was "unreasonable and excessive".
Family witnesses later told police there had been a scuffle between the pair before Wayne was stabbed, but Shane rejected this, the court heard.
Brown's relatives, who were in court to support him, broke down as the judge sentenced him to six years and three months' prison, with a non-parole period of three years and three months.
A Melbourne man who stabbed his brother to death to protect his family has been sentenced to six years jail. @JaydeVincent #9News pic.twitter.com/8ND6rjNKZ5
— Nine News Melbourne (@9NewsMelb) May 10, 2017
The judge said the family's victim impact statements showed how torn they were, and the "terrible sense of loss they feel" over Wayne's death.
The brothers' father Colin Brown said in his victim impact statement "I feel like I have lost two sons, not (just) one."
Their mother, Iolanda Brown, said that she thought Shane was trying to protect their family when he stabbed his brother.
She said that she had previously disowned Wayne and told him she hated him when he had threatened her in the past.
"I wish I could take it all back," she said.
Justice Croucher accepted that Brown was remorseful for his actions.
Despite running from the house, he had contemplated taking his own life after stabbing his brother, and ultimately handed himself into police and pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Brown would always live with the knowledge that he had killed his brother, the judge said. He said he was unlikely to act violently in future.
Justice Croucher later addressed the Brown family, saying he found the case distressing and difficult, and that he was sorry for their loss.