Vic Airbnb killer assaulted past housemate

A Melbourne man who instigated the fatal bashing of an Airbnb guest had previously served jail time in Norway for assaulting a housemate.

Jason Colton, 42, and two other men have pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of Ramis Jonuzi, killing him after a minor dispute arose over a $210 unpaid accommodation bill in October 2017.

Colton played a leading role in the three-on-one assault at the Brighton East home, putting Mr Jonuzi in a choke hold and punching him in the head until he was unconscious.

Prosecutor Mark Gibson SC said Colton became unnecessarily involved after there was a "minor" dispute between another housemate, Craig Levy, and Mr Jonuzi.

"He initiated the physical contact. He was the aggressor," Mr Gibson told a pre-sentence hearing in the Supreme Court on Friday.

He said Mr Jonuzi, 36, was entitled to feel safe in his temporary accommodation.

Justice Elizabeth Hollingworth said the victim was crying out for the assault to stop as he was restrained and bashed by the trio.

"It was a cowardly, brutal attack on someone who was unable to defend himself," the judge said.

This wasn't the first time Colton had been violent towards a housemate, the court was told.

Colton, who married a Norwegian woman in 2008 and moved to her home country, was jailed by the Drammen District Court in Norway's south in 2013.

"He got violently stuck into his housemate," Justice Hollingworth said.

Colton attacked that housemate while he was asleep in bed, punching his face and grabbing his throat.

After serving about three months' jail in Norway, he was sent back to Melbourne, where he worked mainly in hospitality until the fatal assault.

Mr Jonuzi's three sisters made tearful statements to the court, describing their brother as a kind man who had never been in a fight.

"He had a heart of gold and a kind soul. He had a laugh you could hear from a mile away," sibling Naime Balla said.

"He didn't need to have his life taken in such a horrific, brutal and degrading way.

"My brother meant nothing to you (Colton) but he meant the world to us."

Colton had been on trial for murder until Tuesday, when his guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter was accepted.

The other housemates, Levy and Ryan Smart, are already in prison after confessing to manslaughter last year.

Colton is scheduled to be sentenced on Tuesday.