The man who killed Surrey, B.C. hockey mom Julie Paskall in a botched robbery two years ago has been sentenced to 12 years behind bars.

That means 28-year-old Yosef Gopaul will be serving 10-and-a-half years after credit for time served.

Gopaul, who was initially charged with second-degree murder in Paskall’s death, was sentenced Friday after pleading guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. He also pleaded to one count of robbery for a separate incident involving another woman.

Earlier in the day, Paskall’s husband Al read an emotional victim impact statement describing how he’s struggled to hold on since losing his wife.

"I have no life. I just exist. I am on autopilot,” he told the courtroom.

A lesser charge

Crown said Paskall was approached from behind and hit in the head with a rock the size of a softball while she waited for her teenage son to finish refereeing at the Newton Arena in December 2013.

She was rushed to hospital, but died of her injuries two days later.

Spokesman Neil MacKenzie said prosecutors accepted the manslaughter plea after the coroner ruled the blow to Paskall’s head didn’t kill her.

“The cause of death was, in fact, a cardiac event, what would commonly be considered a heart attack, that occurred during the course of the robbery,” MacKenzie told reporters outside the courthouse.

The Crown’s decision was supported by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team, which led the probe into Paskall’s death, as well as the victim’s sister-in-law Joan Ross.

Ross said she’s just glad the community is safer with Gopaul off the streets.

“I’m not a risk-taker,” she said. “I don’t want to roll the dice and get that little crack open and somehow he walks. That would have been unthinkable.”

A history of violence

An agreed statement of facts read out in court detailed 29 criminal convictions dating back to when Gopaul was a teen.

Gopaul moved to Surrey from Ontario eight weeks before Paskall was killed.

He served a federal sentence for aggravated assault after a woman was viciously attacked in Brampton, Ontario in 2009.

Parole documents obtained by CTV News found that Gopaul was considered a high risk “for both general and violent recidivism.” The board described him as having drug and alcohol abuse issues, and threatening behavior.

A corrections worker said they felt Gopaul viewed violence as an acceptable means of dealing with problems.

With a report from CTV Vancouver’s Michele Brunoro