The man found guilty of a deadly one-punch attack on Sydney teen Daniel Christie in 2013 has been sentenced to a maximum of ten years jail.

Shaun McNeill, 27, was found guilty of manslaughter but cleared of murder in June and will be eligible for parole in 2021.

NSW Supreme Court Judge Justice Robert Allan Hulme said McNeil had “unnecessarily” hit an innocent young man.

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“Daniel Christie was no match for him,” Justice Hulme said. “The offender struck him unnecessarily, without warning. It was a ferocious blow delivered by a powerfully built man.”

“It is not as if violence is out of character for the offender,” he added.

Daniel’s mother Maureen Christie spoke publicly for the first time outside court.

“It’s not acceptable for anyone to have to experience the loss of a loved one as a victim of crime,” Ms Christie said.

“What happened to Daniel is both brutal, senseless and unjustified. Daniel was the most loving person. He was kind, generous, gentle and respectful. He was entitled to so much more life.

Shaun McNeil will not be eligible for parole until 2021. Photo: ABC

“At just 18 our beautiful Daniel lost everybody and everything … There is not a sentence that any court could give that would equate to my family’s loss.”

McNeil was arrested on New Year’s Eve in 2013 shortly after his attack on the 18-year-old, who was out celebrating with his brother Peter.

A police video viewed in court showed McNeil telling a police officer a “scuffle” broke out after a conversation with a group of people in the street.

The jury was told McNeil got into a fight with a separate group of three teenagers who had tried to sell him the drug ecstasy a short time earlier.

The 27-year-old punched one of the teenagers, then kicked him while he was on the ground.

In sentencing, the judge said that as a result of the remorse shown by McNeil in his police interview immediately after the attack “I am prepared to find the offender is probably sorry”.

“I cannot conclude that his prospects for rehabilitation are good, but I do accept they are reasonable.”

But the judge said he could not conclude that McNeil would not reoffend.

– with ABC