Man jailed for 15yrs for friend's murder

A man who murdered his best friend in a savage drug and alcohol-fuelled attack has been sentenced to at least 15 years in jail.

Mathew Beattie had lethal levels of alcohol in his system and had taken speed and prescription medications when he bashed his friend Dennis O'Brien at a Port Stephens granny flat in June 2013.

The men had been drinking happily but things turned sour when Mr O'Brien attempted to intervene in a fight between Beattie and his wife.

Beattie, then 26, punched, kicked and headbutted O'Brien and bashed him with a fan in what Justice Richard Button described as a severe, sustained and unprovoked beating.

Beattie broke his hand during the course of the fatal assault, the Supreme Court heard on Friday afternoon.

O'Brien's mother, Lisa Carr, witnessed the attack.

She encouraged her son to defend himself against the man he had moments earlier told he loved like a brother.

"At one stage (Beattie's wife), who was also present, tried to interrupt the offender by asking him to think of their child, but he merely stared at her blankly," Justice Button said.

Beattie and O'Brien went out for dinner with family before the attack after placing bets at a TAB.

The men continued drinking together at an RSL and, over the course of the day, Beattie had more than 30 vodka and apple juice mixed drinks.

He was able to consume that amount as he had taken amphetamines and had a high tolerance to alcohol.

Ms Carr called triple zero after the attack and said her son had been beaten to a pulp.

Beattie was aggressive when police arrived but was subdued, arrested and put in a cell.

"When he awoke, many hours later on the Sunday afternoon, he had no memory of what he had done," Justice Button said.

"He was genuinely shocked when he was told by his wife that his close friend was gravely injured, and that he, the offender, was responsible for his injuries."

O'Brien had been taken to hospital and appeared to be recovering but died a week after the attack, on July 7, 2013.

"When (Beattie) heard that the deceased had died, he handed himself in to a police station," Justice Button said.

He found that Beattie was remorseful and had a "guarded optimism" about his prospects of rehabilitation.

He had pleaded guilty to manslaughter but was found guilty of murder by a jury in March.

Justice Button imposed a 20-year maximum sentence and, with time served, Beattie will be eligible for parole on July 6, 2028.

As Beattie was being led away, a man in the court leaned over and pointed at him.

"I'll never forget," he said.