SA court hears of killer's time on the run

A 22-year-old Adelaide man who bashed and strangled his mother before fleeing to China was "flying under the radar" with no intention of returning to face the consequences, a court has heard.

Wei Li built a useful life for himself while on the run and it beggars belief that he always intended to return, a prosecutor says.

In sentencing submissions, prosecutor Jim Pearce said the law student spent several years working illegally as a teacher under a false name and had forged a future for himself in China.

"He was flying under the radar," Mr Pearce told the Supreme Court on Wednesday.

"When he left Australia he had no intention of returning to this country."

The prosecutor said it was only when arrested by Chinese authorities over an expired visa and for working illegally that Li realised he had no choice - he could languish in custody or come back.

Li killed his mother, Emma Tien, 41, in the family home in Adelaide in 2011.

He argued that he acted in self defence after she attacked him and was eventually found not guilty of murder but guilty of manslaughter.

After the killing he fled first to Melbourne and then to Singapore and China where he was not found until 2014.

During some of his time in China he stayed with an aunt who told the court that Li had wanted to kill himself when he first arrived and talked about returning to Australia.

She said he often visited a memorial park in China where his mother's ashes rested.

But his aunt admitted it was not until Li was detected by Chinese authorities that she bought him a plane ticket and also paid two fines, including one related to him working illegally in the country.

Li has asked for a suspended jail sentence but the prosecution says that would be inappropriate.

Justice Trish Kelly will sentence Li on March 17 and says she will do so on the basis that the jury's verdict is consistent with a finding of manslaughter by provocation.