A man who bludgeoned his brother to death with a spanner over several hours has launched an appeal against the severity of his sentence.
Michel Francoise Theodoor Willemyns, 62, attacked his younger sibling Patrick West of Brisbane while suffering a "hyper manic episode" in March 2017.
After becoming paranoid about his brother, Willemyns struck the 53-year-old with the spanner and stomped on his head repeatedly, stopping at times to record a video of his badly injured victim.
Willemyns pleaded guilty to one count of manslaughter by reason of diminished responsibility in September last year and was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment.
Willemyns watched via videolink from custody as his legal team applied for leave to an attempt to reduce his sentence in the Brisbane Court of Appeal on Wednesday.
Willemyns' barrister Kylie Hillard said her client's sentence should be lowered to just over seven years and his label of serious violent offender should be lifted so as to not require him to serve 80 per cent of his sentence without parole.
Ms Hillard said the Supreme Court's original sentence was excessive in part because the judge had failed to take full account of his mental health and overstated the role of illicit drugs in the killing.
"Her Honour said it was of no mitigation and did reduce the seriousness of the offending that there was some history of recent physical violence or that he may have been somewhat affected by cannabis at the time," Ms Hillard said.
Ms Hillard said the judge's comments showed that she did not consider Willemyns's paranoid beliefs about Patrick stealing his money.
Justice Peter Flanagan told Hillard that she would need more evidence to support those particular grounds for an appeal.
"You have to prove the judge failed to take it into account," Justice Flanagan said.
Justice John Bond said the fact that Willemyns's original charge of murder was reduced to manslaughter suggested the court was aware of the issue of diminished responsibility.
Crown prosecutor Greg Cummings said the evidence at trial showed Willemyns' offending to be more serious than other cases of domestic violence killings where an appeal was granted.
"The times the videos were recorded ... showed the suffering of the deceased was protracted over a number of hours," Mr Cummings said.
The Court of Appeal adjourned the matter to consider the submissions from Ms Hillard and Mr Cummings.
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