An evicted tenant in Vancouver who severely beat his building manager after he was asked to stop sleeping in the hallway has been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison.

Gerald Eldon Smith, 54, was charged with second-degree murder after 61-year-old Paul Belozer died from his injuries a week after the attack in April 2017.

Smith pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced in late November.

"Mr. Smith inflicted a merciless and brutal beating on an individual he knew had medical issues," B.C. Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Duncan wrote in her sentencing decision.

"This was not a near accident."

On the night of April 1, 2017, Smith was sleeping drunk in a chair on the main floor of the East Vancouver rental building, according to an agreed statement of facts. Smith had been evicted from the residence, but two of his friends still lived there.

Belozer was playing cards in his basement suite with some friends. One of them, a tenant, noticed Smith sleeping and told him he should leave. Smith refused.

Belozer came up and asked Smith to leave but failed. The friend left. At 10:50 p.m. PT, Belozer called 911 to ask for police to remove Smith.

'Slow and painful death'

As Belozer headed back down to his suite, Smith hit him on the back of the head with an object. Belozer fell to the ground and hit his head.

Smith kicked Belozer in the ribcage repeatedly and the man lost consciousness. Smith then stole Belozer's cell phone and left him in the basement.

Smith called his girlfriend using Belozer's cell phone. He told her he had "almost kicked the living shit out of [Belozer]" and wasn't sure whether the man was dead.

"Mrs. Belozer said after they learned of the attack on their son, her husband would awaken suddenly and say, 'Paul is being attacked.'"​​ - Supreme Court Justice Jennifer Duncan

The building manager regained consciousness and made it back to his suite. He called 911 just before 1 a.m. and was taken to hospital.

Belozer suffered severe injuries, including multiple fractured ribs and a partially collapsed lung. He already had a serious lung disease and the chest injuries led to pneumonia, amounting to a "slow and painful death," the judge wrote.

On April 9, he was transferred to palliative care and died within hours.

Attacker showed remorse

Police arrested Smith the morning after the attack. He was found sleeping in a bathroom at the rental building and had blood on his hands, pants, shoes and jacket.

In a victim impact statement, Belozer's elderly parents said they had trouble coping with the way their son died.

"Mrs. Belozer said after they learned of the attack on their son, her husband would awaken suddenly and say, 'Paul is being attacked,'" the decision read.

The judge said Smith, who had previous criminal convictions, showed remorse for the attack and is in therapy to address substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder.

"Mr. Smith would like to work with aboriginal people living in the city and teach them how to reconnect with the land and their spirituality, but recognizes he has to live a clean and sober lifestyle and respect traditional teachings before he can realize his plan."

A psychologist found Smith was at low to moderate risk to re-offend. Accounting for his pre-trial custody, he has 46½ months left to serve.