Road rage trial: New Zealander Tamate Heke sentence in 'one-punch' test case

Tamate Heke appears set to serve more jail time on the charge of unlawful striking than he would if convicted for manslaughter. Photo / AAP

New Zealander Tamate Heke has been sentenced to six-and-a-half years' jail after a "two-second brain explosion" caused the death of a fellow driver on a busy Queensland motorway.

A Brisbane Supreme Court jury acquitted the factory worker of the manslaughter of Shane Merrigan on Thursday, but found him guilty of unlawful striking causing death.

Heke punched Merrigan during a roadside altercation on the Gateway Motorway on December 1, 2015, causing the 50-year-old to fall into the path of a 13.7-tonne rubbish truck.

Heke sits on the sidewalk after the incident near the motorway. Photo / 9 News

Defence barrister Joshua Fenton said his client was a hard-working, family man who had had suffered a "two-second brain explosion".

Justice Peter Applegarth said the tragic fact was the incident shouldn't have occurred.

"(Mr Merrigan) would still be alive if he and you had not engaged in bad behaviour on the road that afternoon," he told Heke.

The victim's daughter, Megan Merrigan, told the court during sentencing on Friday she found out her dad had died on Facebook.

"I've seen my sister's car in the picture, with a man beside it covered in blood," she said.

Merrigan said she regretted her decision to go to the scene of the crash to check it was her dad.

Wife, centre, and family members of Tamate Heke are seen leaving the Supreme Court in Brisbane. Photo / AAP

"I've suffered nightmares after nightmares almost every week since it happened," she said.

"Every time I close my eyes I get visions of the scene."

Justice Applegarth said Heke's response was "completely excessive" and he needed to impose a sentence that deterred others.

But he noted the new one-punch law he was convicted of meant he had to serve 80 per cent of his sentence behind bars.

Heke will be eligible for parole after he's served about five years and one month.

He will be deported to New Zealand once he's served his sentence.

Shane Merrigan. Photo / Supplied