Jonathan Peterson, 25, was sentenced in the County Court in Bendigo on Wednesday, having pleaded guilty to intentionally causing injury and attempted armed robbery.

Judge Sarah Dawes described the December 29, 2018 attack - which put the victim in hospital - as "violent [and] unprovoked".

Late on that night, the victim was walking in the Long Gully area playing Pokemon Go when he passed Peterson in an alleyway.

Read more: Man admits to stabbing Pokemon Go-playing stranger after asking for cigarette

Peterson asked for a cigarette and $5, both of which the victim said he did not have.

Peterson then produced a small knife and demanded the victim give him everything he had, before attacking him.

The victim fled to a nearby service station and was taken to hospital by ambulance with two stab wounds to the neck and another to the shoulder.

Fortunately, there was no major injury.

But in a statement read to the court, the victim described the ongoing impacts the attack had had on his life, causing a deterioration in his mental and physical health.

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Judge Dawes noted that the crimes did not appear premeditated, but Peterson had not explained why he was carrying a knife that night.

She said the attack was a serious example of the offence of intentionally causing injury.

Peterson had a history of similar offending: in 2015, he pleaded guilty to armed robbery and other offences, and was sentenced to 15 months' imprisonment and a three-year community corrections order.

Judge Dawes took into account Peterson's guilty plea and noted he had demonstrated remorse for his offending.

He was also a youthful offender, she said, so rehabilitation remained a sentencing consideration.

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A psychiatrist found Peterson's schizophrenia, which was unmedicated, and his use of drugs contributed to his offending.

Judge Dawes determined Peterson's deprived upbringing reduced his moral culpability.

His successful reintegration into the community, she said, would require strong support, which he had never had before.

Judge Dawes sentenced Peterson to a maximum of four years and six months' imprisonment, with a non-parole period of two years and eight months.

If he had pleaded not guilty and been found otherwise, he would have been jailed for six years with a minimum of four years.

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