A woman who fatally stabbed her partner in the chest after a night at a Melbourne RSL said she wanted him to show her some respect.
Bree Dellamarta must serve at least five years' jail for the manslaughter of 55-year-old Mark Ward at her Heidelberg West home in January 2020.
Dellamarta, 43, had been upset about how much time Mr Ward was spending at her place, instead of his own, and told police he called her abusive and hurtful names.
She told police she did not feel physically threatened or want to hurt him. Instead, she wanted him to stop being nasty and to give her some respect.
Dellamarta, who has an intellectual disability and cannot read or write, was jailed in Victoria's Supreme Court on Tuesday for a maximum of seven-and-a-half years.
Justice Lesley Taylor said Dellamarta "lashed out in anger" at her naked, unarmed and vulnerable partner in the middle of the night.
"You grossly overreacted to whatever feelings of hurt and anger you were experiencing in the face of Mr Ward's aggression," the judge also said.
All had appeared well when the couple met Dellamarta's family at a local RSL hours beforehand. Mr Ward had a win on the pokies.
The couple went back to Dellamarta's house, and Mr Ward to bed.
He got up again around midnight and an argument, loud enough for a neighbour to hear it, began in the kitchen.
Dellamarta called triple zero immediately after plunging the knife 100mm into her partner's chest so it passed through his heart.
Police and paramedics found Mr Ward in a pool of blood. He had no pulse and wasn't breathing.
His estranged wife, daughter and siblings told the court of their pain and disbelief at his death.
Justice Taylor accepted Dellamarta was remorseful, and that her persistent depression and disability would make her time in prison more difficult.
She was initially charged with murder, but pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
She has already spent 466 days in custody and will become eligible to apply for release on parole after five years.
Australian Associated Press
