James Gould, who beat a woman to death during a party in 2007 and was convicted for manslaughter, has been sentenced to 12 years in prison plus time served.

He has also been declared a long-term offender, and will be closely monitored for a full decade after his eventual release.

Further, the judge decided that the three years Gould served behind bars while on trial will not reduce his sentence.

No sentence reduction for time served

Standard procedure in criminal cases is for a judge to grant credit for time served while on trial, with each year behind bars on trial counting double when it comes to reducing the length of a sentence.

In Gould's case, the judge refused to do so, noting that Gould was often violent during his incarceration, and repeatedly attacked other prisoners.

His defence lawyer plans to appeal the sentence.

Murder at house party

Gould, now 25 years old, killed Karina Esquivel at a Dorval house party in 2007.

In court he testified that the night before the murder, he had consumed about 13 pills of ecstasy, and had not slept.

The day of the deadly beating, April 23, 2007, Gould drank a case of beer, several shots of hard liquor and smoked pot, before getting into an argument with his girlfriend Imane Akraif.

Akraif and Esquivel wanted to leave her apartment, but Gould objected and started hitting Akraif.

Esquivel intervened, and Gould repeatedly punched and kicked her until her skull was broken.

In court, Gould said he kicked her "once or twice."

Swapped shoes

After the beating, Gould left the apartment with his brother, and the pair swapped shoes, because Gould's now had blood on them.

After several days of hiding at several different houses, and learning of the warrant for his arrest, Gould called his lawyer, who told him to expect a life sentence.

Gould continued to hide until May 3, 2007, when he was found in Ville Saint-Pierre.

A jury found him guilty of manslaughter in April 2009.

Dangerous offender status denied

After he was found guilty, the crown asked for a psychiatric evaluation of Gould in its bid to have him declared a dangerous offender.

The psychiatric report found that Gould was at his worst when he was drinking alcohol, and that there was a possibility of rehabilitation.

If Gould had been declared a dangerous offender, it would have required a minimum sentence of 20 years.

Instead Justice Sophie Bourque ruled that Gould, who has been in and out of jail since he was 13, is a long-term offender, and he will be supervised for ten years following his release.