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Vic man jailed over fatal family fight

A Victorian man has been jailed for a violent fight with his father-in-law, who later died in hospital.

Geoffrey Kilburn, 74, grabbed a metal bat when Jordan Furlan, 49, arrived at his Croydon home in May 2011 to look for his children who were sleeping inside.

A violent altercation ensued and spilled into the street, during which Furlan flipped the older man onto his back and kneeled on his chest.

Mr Kilburn suffered 10 broken ribs and died in hospital six weeks later.

Furlan was on Thursday jailed for three-and-a-half years for recklessly causing serious injury, after a Victorian Supreme Court jury acquitted him of manslaughter in April this year.

Justice Michael Croucher said there had been tension between the two men, and that before the scuffle, Mr Kilburn had grabbed a metal baseball bat and pushed the butt of it into Furlan's chest.

Furlan flipped Mr Kilburn on to his back before kneeling briefly on his chest, pushing down on his neck with his forearm and later kicking him, Justice Croucher said.

Furlan's eldest daughter Bianca pulled the metal bat from her father after he had wrestled it from Mr Kilburn.

The judge said Furlan might have been acting in self-defence initially but it wasn't the case after Mr Kilburn went to the ground.

"By that point Mr Kilburn had been disarmed and was on his back, winded and harmless," Justice Croucher said.

Justice Croucher said Furlan had not shown remorse for the fight because he denied kicking Mr Kilburn, but accepted he regretted what happened.

The court heard Furlan suffered a brain injury in 2006 which had impaired his judgment.

He will be eligible for parole after 18 months.