A farm worker found guilty of the manslaughter of a Queensland grandfather after amputating his leg with a circular saw has been sentenced to nine years in prison.
John Yalu, 41, appeared in the Supreme Court in Cairns on Monday, where he learned his fate for the death of Kalman Tal, 66, in February 2022 in Innisfail, Far North Queensland.
Yalu will be eligible for parole in August 2026, having already served four years in custody since his arrest over the crime.
A jury took less than three hours on Friday to find Yalu not guilty of murder, instead convicting him of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
The trial heard shocking allegations of how Tal spent years asking people to amputate his leg, claiming he suffered chronic pain linked to a workplace injury. He had appealed to doctors to remove the limb, but they refused his request.
Yalu agreed to amputate Tal's leg, saying he believed he was helping relieve Tal's suffering rather than intending to seriously injure or kill him.
Speaking through an interpreter during sentencing, Yalu broke down in tears apologising to Tal's family.
"My thoughts right now are with the man's family," he said. "I would just say that what I did, I wanted to help him, but he died from what I did. I was trying to help him."
"That's why I want to take this opportunity to apologise and say sorry to his family, on behalf of my family, my tribe, my island and my country Vanuatu. I'm very sorry, and that's all."
The court confirmed Yalu will be deported back to Vanuatu upon his release.
Victim impact statements from Tal's son, two brothers and sister were read out via the prosecution, with his family revealing the trauma of what they had gone through due to the "unusual" death. Tal's brother John Janos Tal said he didn't understand how "something so gruesome happened to such a gentle man".
His family also revealed Tal had been diagnosed with schizophrenia and had stopped taking his medication when he began asking people to remove his leg.
Amputation took only three minutes
Prosecutors had earlier alleged that Yalu amputated Tal's left leg above the ankle using a battery-powered circular saw after agreeing to perform the procedure for a $5000 fee. Jurors heard Tal himself brought the battery-powered circular saw to a park in Innisfail. The court heard it took about three minutes for Yalu to sever Tal's lower left leg.
Confronting CCTV footage was shown to jurors allegedly showing the moment the amputation took place and the aftermath of the amateur surgery.
Jurors were also told attempts to stop the bleeding using sticky tape and plastic shopping bags as makeshift tourniquets were unsuccessful. Tal attempted to apply a tourniquet to himself before driving away from the park and contacting emergency services, but died from blood loss, the court heard.
Possible body dysphoria considered
After Friday's verdict, Tal's family told 7NEWS they believed the grandfather may have suffered from body integrity dysphoria, a rare condition where a person believes part of their anatomy does not belong to them.
"He hasn't been diagnosed with it but we're just assuming it was that, we did some research," a family member said at the time.
Defence barrister Angus Edwards said Tal had been "shopping around" for someone willing to amputate the limb, saying Tal had repeatedly approached strangers asking for help because he was "in pain" and believed "nobody was helping him".
"It was a debilitating pain, that lasted some four to five years and he couldn't get help for it," he told jurors.
Edwards said Tal organised almost every aspect of the encounter himself and directed parts of the process once the amputation began.
