A Saskatchewan man has been sentenced to 4 1/2 years time served for kicking a defenceless man, who later died.

Fergus Standingready pleaded guilty last week to an aggravated assault on 43-year-old Seydou Camara of Regina.

On Wednesday, Queen's Bench Justice Fred Kovach sentenced Standingready to 4.5 years in prison. With credit for the three years he spent in custody on remand, Standingready has already served that sentence and will be released.

Standingready, 44, was previously charged with second-degree murder in connection with the September 2011 death.

Kovach noted there was no direct evidence linking Standingready to the death of Camara. A toxicology report showed Camara had several drugs in his system when he died, including hydromorphone.

According to an agreed statement of facts filed in court, Camara had earlier approached Standingready’s girlfriend outside their Regina apartment and made a sexual proposition. The woman called out to Standingready, who then came downstairs to find that Camara had already left.

Later that day, another woman phoned Standingready and told him that Camara was at her home in the city. Camara was lying in the backyard when Standingready went to the home with his girlfriend and another man.

Standingready believed Camara had previously been assaulted, and he noted that one of the victim’s eyes was bloodied, according to the statement of facts.

When Standingready’s girlfriend confirmed that the man lying on the ground had approached her on the street earlier that day, he kicked Camara twice in the side of the head.

The statement of facts says those kicks to Camara’s head caused a subarachnoid hemorrhage, which constitutes an aggravated assault.

The Crown had asked for a 6 1/2-year sentence, based on Standingready's lengthy criminal history, which includes more than 60 convictions, with eight of those offences involving violence.

A lawyer for Standingready had argued that a sentence in excess of the four-year maximum for aggravated assault would be "unjustifiable."