This was published 10 years ago
WA man avoids jail over fatal assault
AAP
A man who grabbed his friend by the throat and forced him to the ground, causing a fatal head injury, has avoided an immediate prison term.
Peter Geoffrey Thompson, 36, fatally assaulted 31-year-old Damien Ruppell during a dispute in December 2013 and was sentenced in the West Australian Supreme Court on Thursday to 16 months in jail, suspended for one year.
Justice Jeremy Allanson accepted Thompson was not the instigator and his aim was to get Mr Ruppell to calm down.
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