On Wednesday, 30-year-old Tristan James Lee of Tolland appeared in Wagga District Court where he was sentenced to four-and-a-half years' jail for the manslaughter of a 37-year-old Junee man.

Lee had pleaded guilty the charge.

Police documents tendered to the court state that the incident happened in 2017 when Lee stabbed the victim during a chase after an argument.

The incident started when the victim and a friend visited Lee's Tolland home about 2am on May 17, 2017 to buy drugs.

When Lee asked them to leave, his then partner Katie Lee Burgess noticed her phone and some of her money were missing from the house.

Lee asked the victim to empty his pockets, but he refused and ran outside, where a physical altercation between the two men began before the victim fled.

As Lee chased him through a dark, grassy laneway, Lee fell on top of him and stabbed him with an outstretched knife he had been running with.

In his sentencing remarks on Wednesday, Judge Gordon Lerve said that the victim was a popular, much-loved and well-liked member of the community who enjoyed life.

"It is always regrettable when a young life is lost in circumstances such as are present in this matter," Judge Lerve said.

He said that while he did not want to be seen as attributing blame to the victim, the victim's presence at Lee's home was "very much a part of the factual matrix of this matter".

"The offender was at home with his partner asleep in the early hours of the morning when a number of uninvited persons including the deceased arrived at the house," Judge Lerve said.

"As Mr King [defence barrister] correctly submitted, there was no intention to kill or to cause grievous bodily harm.

"I could not be satisfied that the offender had an intention to cause any harm whatsoever."

He agreed with the Crown prosecutor Max Pincott who said that to describe the matter as an accident [by the defence counsel] is inappropriate.

"Because of the presence of the knife, the matter is not at the lowest end of objective seriousness," Judge Lerve said.

In the sentence hearing on March 1, family friend Rebecca Milojevic read out the impact statement by the victim's mother.

"A piece of our soul has been taken from us," Ms Milojevic said.

"We are heartbroken and the hurt will never go away."

Lee will be eligible for release in February 2020.

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