© Sam Martin/CBC Jason Dickout killed his mother Kathy Dickout in this home in April 2017 while in experiencing acute cannabis-induced psychosis. He was sentenced for manslaughter Wednesday.

An Edmonton man who stabbed his mother to death in her kitchen three years ago was sentenced Wednesday to three years and nine months behind bars, less time served.

While Crown prosecutors asked for five years, Justice Vital Ouellette said he took into consideration Jason Dickout's "low level of moral culpability," including his early guilty plea.

Dickout, 33, wept in the prisoner's box as he described how the love his mother once showered him with can no longer comfort him after he killed her.

"I do take full responsibility for what I have done. It's something I'll live with all the time. It's not something that goes away," Dickout said, reading from a letter he wrote.

He has dreams of helping society and being a good person, he said.

"This is not me; this is not who I am; this is not who I stand for," Dickout said.

Dickout, who was originally charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his mother in April 2017, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Dickout wept as Crown prosecutor Maxine Bond describe what he did to his mother and the pain he brought to the rest of his family.

Dickout avoided eye contact with his grandmother who sat in the front row of the crowd with her walker and a victim support services team.

Last September, psychiatrists testified Dickout was likely experiencing acute cannabis-induced psychosis the day he killed his mother.

But Bond said stabbing his mother six times and cutting her an additional six times as she tried to defend herself, merits a stronger sentence.

"Given that, it's unfair to say his actions were reflexive," Bond said.

She said Dickout was old enough where society is not willing to chalk up his behaviour to not knowing any better.

Defence responds

Defence lawyer Graham Johnson said the case is difficult with unique circumstances he hadn't encountered before.

Dickout had no prior criminal history.

"[He] consumed a small amount of a cannabis product that's generally considered safe and tripped him in to extreme psychosis and he emerged from it learning that he had killed the mother that he loved very much and was very close to," Johnson said.

Dickout has been in custody since April 2017, Johnson noted.

"In these circumstances, what more would more jail time accomplish?" he asked.

Ouellette sentenced Dickout to three years and nine months, plus three years probation.

With the time Dickout has already spent at the Edmonton Remand Centre, he has about 10 months left before beginning probation.