Teen jailed for killing Gold Coast father in home invasion

Darren Pullar's generous soul was on full display as he leapt to the defence of a neighbour in trouble. But it would be the last good deed of his life.

Minutes later the Gold Coast father was dead, mowed down by a 17-year-old youth intent on fleeing a home invasion.

Mr Pullar's family learned today what price Alexander Craig Kirke will pay for killing him on Boxing Day in 2016.

The now 19-year-old has been handed a nine-year jail term for accelerating into Mr Pullar after the planned home invasion went wrong.

Kirke later described the deadly impact as like hitting a "human speed bump".

He and three friends had planned to rob a low-level drug dealer. Kirke was to act as the getaway driver.

The gang armed themselves with a baseball bat, cricket bat and knife and set upon the dealer's home at Broadbeach Waters.

They told him "give us your money and your bags (of drugs)" but the robbery was botched.

Mr Pullar, woken by the commotion, came to his neighbour's aid.

He tried to stop Kirke but the teenager drove right over him.

"You must have known that he was at least seriously injured but you left the scene," Brisbane Supreme Court Justice Peter Davis said.

"As the saying goes, you left him for dead.

"The home invasion can be accurately described as a violent rampage.

"Mr Pullar was completely innocent in all of this. He ... was in the position of a rescuer."

After his arrest following a week on the run, Kirke told an undercover police officer the incident had been like running over a "human speed bump".

"To describe a person who you have run over and killed as a human speed bump ... shows a serious degree of callousness, a disregard for the victim of your crime and a lack of insight into your offending," Justice Davis said.

Kirke pleaded guilty to manslaughter and other offences.

He will be be eligible for parole in July 2022, having already served about two-and-a-half years in pre-sentence custody.

"We've always believed whatever the sentence imposed, it would never be enough for the person who took Darren's life in such a brutal and callous way," his sister Sharon Hunter told reporters outside court.

"Darren was a special person with a big heart.

"We are proud of his bravery in acting to protect others, despite such terrifying circumstances.

"Darren was funny, loveable and kind. He was a generous soul and much loved."

Mr Pullar's partner, Collette Dunn, told the court Kirke's "saving grace" was Mr Pullar was a forgiving man and he "would forgive you".