The family of slain man Luke Tipene says they're disappointed with the sentence handed down to the man responsible for his death.

Vincent Angene Skeen, 18, was sentenced to five years and two months in prison at the High Court in Auckland today for the manslaughter of Mr Tipene.

The 17-year-old died in the early hours of November 2014 from blood loss after Skeen swung a broken beer bottle in a brawl outside a Halloween party in Grey Lynn.

The jagged bottle hit Mr Tipene in the neck, causing wounds that would prove fatal.

Crown prosecutor Brian Dickey called for a sentence starting point of eight years in prison, while Defence lawyer Lorraine Smith urged for a starting point of seven years with a significant discount for an early guilty plea, youth and remorse.

Justice Mary Peters acknowledged Skeen may not have intended to hit Mr Tipene in the neck with the bottle , but said she believes he did aim for the upper body.

She issued Skeen with the first of three strike warnings for violent offending.

Ms Smith said Skeen was "extremely remorseful" and would carry the burden of Mr Tipene's death with him for the rest of his life.

She said there was no doubt Skeen should be jailed, but said he had good support and urged the judge to consider the impacts a sentence of imprisonment could have.

In a victim impact statement read to the court by the Crown, Mr Tipene's mother, Terry Wilson said the impact of her son's death was "indescribable" and told of how she was "paralysed by pain."

She said she had looked to the heavens and asked to be taken too.

Outside court, family spokesperson Sean Wilson said the result isn't what they hoped for, but it's now time to move on and keep the memory of Luke alive.

He said they came for justice, and have to respect the result.

It's the second trial in the case after the first ended in a hung jury last year.