A Melbourne family has been torn apart after a man killed his brother by stabbing him in the heart in a “horrible tragedy”, a court has been told.

Jesse Tovey, 29, returned before the Victorian Supreme Court on Monday after pleading guilty to manslaughter over the death of Joshua Tovey, 29.

Outlining the Crown’s case, prosecutor Angela Moran said the brothers had been feuding over a $600 debt when Jesse stabbed Joshua three times outside their mother’s home in January 2021.

She told the court that Jesse, who was 26 at the time, had been in prison the year prior when his brother deposited $900 into his prisoner‘s account on the condition he pay it back when released.

By January, the pair were exchanging messages about the money, with Joshua threatening to “stomp” his younger brother if he wasn’t paid back.

Jesse wrote back saying he didn’t believe he owed any money.

On January 5, Jesse was attacked by Joshua with a mallet, causing facial injuries.

The elder brother followed up with a series of threatening messages.

“Now you know I ain’t playing, that‘s going to happen every time I see you until I get what I’m owed,” he said in text messages read to the court.

“$600 Jesse or I swear to god you’re going to keep bleeding.”

Jesse replied, saying Joshua “wasn’t getting sh-t”: “If anything you owe me junkie dog.”

In the early hours of the morning on January 18, tensions boiled over as both men met outside their mother’s home in Hastings.

Joshua was stabbed multiple times on the front porch before wandering off and collapsing in a nearby Ultra Tunes carpark.

Despite efforts from staff at an Aldi store and paramedics, he went into cardiac arrest and was declared dead at 8.04am.

Jesse was arrested later the same day after news of the death spread, telling police; “I just want to know why me, why am I here?”

Jesse’s barrister, John Saunders told the court the offending could not be understood without reference to his client’s traumatic and deprived upbringing.

He said Jesse accepted he inflicted the fatal injuries to his brother but said this occurred in the context of Joshua’s assault on Jesse, their “words of violence” and his client’s heavy ice use.

Mr Saunders told the court there was “simply no evidence” on where the knife came from and whether it was brought by Jesse or Joshua.

“There was no intention on Mr Tovey’s part to kill his brother,” he said.

Justice Michael Croucher described the incident as a “horrible tragedy”.

“A brother has killed a brother, he’ll have to live with that for the rest of his life and their family will have to live with that,” he said.

“One brother dead, another going to jail for several years.”

He remanded Jesse Tovey into custody and will hand down a sentence in early September.

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