THE man who murdered Ravenswood man Scott Rock has been sentenced to 20 years' jail.
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Neville Lindsay Whiting, 32, was found guilty by jury after a three-week Supreme Court trial in Launceston last month.
His co-accused, Sean Timothy Hudson, 37, was acquitted of murder but found guilty of being an accessory after the fact to murder.
Hudson also pleaded guilty yesterday to common assault for dealing the two punches that started the attack against Mr Rock on March 29 last year.
He was sentenced to 7 1/2 years' jail.
Justice Peter Evans handed down the sentence at the Supreme Court in Hobart yesterday while Mr Rock's family and supporters, and counsel on the trial, watched via video link in Launceston.
Justice Evans said that Hudson had followed Mr Rock up Mornington Drive after a dispute at the house of Hudson's partner, Teena Kelly, and punched him twice to the jaw, causing him to fall to the ground.
Hudson then walked away.
Whiting, who had followed the men, then stomped Mr Rock's head into the road and caved his skull in with a six-pack of beer.
``For no explicable reason, seeing Sean Hudson punch Scott Rock incited Neville Whiting to step in and inflict the injuries that killed Scott Rock,'' Justice Evans said.
``He had no personal animosity towards Scott Rock or any knowledge of Scott Rock that would justify or explain his actions.''
Justice Evans said Whiting was very drunk and had lost all ``sensible inhibitions''.
``I have no doubt that the level of intoxication played a significant part in what he did,'' he said.
The men left Mr Rock lying on the road and Hudson returned a short while later to confirm he was dead.
They both wrapped Mr Rock's body in a tarpaulin and put it in Ms Kelly's car before driving to another house in Ravenswood, where Whiting had been drinking earlier that day.
``Their shocking and callous indifference to the death of Scott Rock is of significance,'' Justice Evans said.
``They did nothing to obtain medical assistance for him, left him on the roadway, and then removed his body in order to dispose of it.''
Justice Evans said the men at that house, Scott Keating and Ricky Lockwood, were shown the body in the car before they took Hudson with them on a 3am grog run to a Wellington Street bottle shop.
Whiting then dumped the body and set fire to it near Hollybank Forest Reserve, where it was found by a kangaroo hunter six days later.
Both men later went to a car wash and attempted to remove the blood from the car.
Justice Evans said concealing murder was a serious crime, and an aggravating factor in Whiting's sentence.
Justice Evans said Hudson had prior convictions for grievous bodily harm, wounding and aggravated armed robbery.
Hudson will be eligible for parole in 2016, Whiting will be eligible for parole in 2022.
