A woman who stabbed her partner to death after years of alcohol-fuelled abuse at his hands has been jailed for four years.
Stacey Nancy Woods, 29, of Gisborne was sentenced in the High Court in Gisborne yesterday after earlier admitting manslaughter of her partner Douglas Leslie James Tukotanui Tupaea at
their home on May 22 last year.
The two had been a couple for 10 years and had children aged nine and seven at the time.
The court was told Woods stabbed Tupaea twice in the chest with a serrated seven-centimetre kitchen knife after a night of drinking, arguing and domestic violence. The second blow was fatal.
The couple had argued at a relative's home and escalated to blows as they drove home, when Mr Tupaea punched Woods in the face twice, giving her a bloody nose and a swollen upper lip.
The argument continued at home with Woods initially hiding at the back of their home before the stabbing occurred in the kitchen.
Woods' lawyer Russell Fairbrother said she was hysterical but tried to resuscitate her partner.
He said Woods was mindful of her children if she received a life sentence.
She was also concerned about the death of her partner, had no self-pity and acknowledged the need for punishment.
She would not be able to live with herself if acquitted of causing Mr Tupaea's death, Mr Fairbrother said.
Woods loved Tupaea, despite their violent relationship.
Police had been called to their home 18 times between August 2001 and May 2010 because of domestic violence.
Woods had twice been the "offender" and Mr Tupaea had been jailed for assaulting her.
Woods had effectively been the mother of her 10 siblings because her mother had also been a victim of domestic violence.
She was genuinely remorseful and had undergone a degree of reconciliation with her partner's family, Mr Fairbrother said.
Crown prosecutor Clayton Walker said the offence was too serious for a sentence of home detention and recommended a starting point of five to five-and-a-half years' prison.
Justice Judith Potter said mitigating factors included the alcohol-fuelled assaults suffered by Woods, her guilty plea and genuine remorse.
- NZPA
