A Sudanese-born Melbourne man who fatally stabbed another countryman with a screwdriver has been jailed for 10 years, with the judge issuing a strong warning that alcohol-fuelled violence will not be tolerated.

Stephen Tito, 22, drank a bottle of bourbon and multiple beers before he struck 19-year-old Afram Kodi after the pair attended a Boxing Day barbecue in Reservoir in 2008.

Tito then stabbed Mr Kodi with the screwdriver three times, the final blow of what Supreme Court Justice Terry Forrest described as an "unprovoked attack" piercing his skull.

Tito, of Reservoir, then kicked Mr Kodi in the chest before pulling the screwdriver out of his head and fleeing the scene.

He was found guilty of Mr Kodi's manslaughter in April.

During sentencing today, Justice Forrest said both men were young members of the Australian Sudanese community who had come to Australia for a better life.

Tito's family had moved here when he was 16 to avoid him becoming a child soldier.

Referring to victim impact statement's from Mr Kodi's family, Justice Forrest told Tito he had "cut short the life of a decent young man".

"By your actions, you have inflicted a blow from which the Kodi family may never recover," he said.

"Your family may never fully recover either."

Justice Forrest noted that Tito was "substantially intoxicated" at the time of the offence.

"It is clear enough that the abuse of alcohol is a problem for you, as it is for so many young Australians," he said.

"Young people in this state are being killed or seriously injured in alcohol-fuelled fighting on an alarmingly regular basis.

"People inclined to participate in these sorts of drunken fights must understand they do so at their peril and that the courts will not tolerate that type of conduct."

He ordered Tito to serve six years and three months before being eligible for parole.