Vic ice user jailed over fatal shooting

A Victorian man will spend at least seven years in jail for shooting dead an unarmed victim he believed was going to seek retribution over a failed drug scheme.

Scott Wilson McDonald, 49, was paranoid, upset and had been using the illegal drug ice when he shot Michael Jones in the chest in April 2014.

Mr Jones was nearby his Heidelberg West home when spotted by McDonald, Victorian Supreme Court justice Jane Dixon said on Monday.

"He was walking alone and unarmed," she told the court.

"Mr Jones was at that moment not presenting any threat to you."

But McDonald was worried Mr Jones might try to hurt him over a drug-manufacturing scheme gone wrong.

In the lead-up to Mr Jones' death, McDonald had tried to sell stolen drug manufacturing material to Mr Jones.

McDonald soon realised Mr Jones knew the rightful owner of the items, which had been stolen from a Sunbury methamphetamine lab.

He was worried Mr Jones and the original owners would take the items back and seek retribution.

Convinced Mr Jones and his associates had burgled his home while his partner and her children were inside, McDonald loaded a shotgun and sat in his car with a friend.

He fired at Mr Jones from a distance of some six metres, later claiming he was afraid the victim had a gun.

Justice Dixon said McDonald was influenced by anger, fear, paranoia, and methamphetamine when he impulsively fired.

"None of those matters excuse your conduct," she said.

McDonald fled Victoria after the shooting but returned and made admissions when arrested.

He claimed self-defence and stood trial for murder in 2016 but the jury was discharged after they failed to reach a verdict.

The jury in his second trial acquitted him of murder but found him guilty of manslaughter.

Justice Dixon said McDonald was entitled to a slightly shorter sentence because he offered to plead guilty to defensive homicide before the trials.

The 49-year-old has already spent more than three years in custody.