Standing trial on a charge of intentionally causing serious injury, they pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of recklessly causing serious injury and perjury.
The court heard Mr Bassett, 40, was armed with a piece of wood when he confronted Thorp at his Point Lonsdale home about 4pm on February 3, 2010 over incidents of bullying between their children.
Judge Sue Pullen said the prosecution had accepted the injuries Thorp inflicted on Mr Bassett with a softball bat in his garage, including hitting him in the head, "constituted lawful self-defence".
Mr Bassett was taken to The Alfred hospital, where parts of his skull were removed as his brain swelled. His life support was turned off on February 5.
His mother, Lynda Lakin, and sister Georgina Knox said they had been waiting for justice to be done before holding a funeral, but they were still waiting.
Ms Knox said she would never trust the law again.
"Why have a maximum of 15 years if you're only going to impose 15 months?" she said. "I lost my brother and was basically told it didn't matter, but he did matter to a lot of people.
"He was a brother, a father, a son. He was somebody and all that got lost in that trial."
She said of the case: "It was all about (Thorp), everything had to be done to protect him from prejudice ... that's not who Clinton was; it was one moment in his life, and it was the last moment."
heraldsun.com.au 19 Jul 2012
The politics is very simple, that being to let out killers, rapists and child molesters out into the community to re-offend, to keep the community at bay.
This is a typical governance tactic, to keep the masses submissive.