Woman mourns partner she stabbed to death

A woman who stabbed her partner to death after an argument fuelled by an evening of drinking and drug taking will mourn him for the rest of her life, her lawyer said today.

Anamari Margaret Stone, 40, was today sentenced to three years' jail after pleading guilty to the manslaughter of Daniel Poata, 33.

Stone, of Upper Hutt, is the sister of Steven Williams who is serving at least 17 years' jail for the 2003 murder of his stepdaughter Coral-Ellen Burrows.

Both Williams siblings had been smoking pure methamphetamine, known as P, when the offences occurred.

The High Court at Wellington was told Mr Poata was a "hugely jealous" man and on the evening of July 30 had accused Stone of cheating on him. He then began punching her in the head.

Stone asked him to leave and, when he refused, went into the kitchen and got a 15cm knife.

She "jabbed" Mr Poata in the leg but the knife went through his jeans, through his femoral artery and out the other side of his leg. He began bleeding profusely as soon as Stone removed the knife.

Mr Poata asked her for a towel but told her not to call an ambulance. He staggered into the kitchen and tried to remove his jeans, struggling for breath.

Stone "freaked" and called 111. When emergency services arrived she was cradling Mr Poata's head on the floor and had to be prised away from him.

Crown prosecutor Grant Burstyn said Stone deliberately stabbed Mr Poata when he wouldn't leave and her sentence should reflect her taking of a human life.

"His children, his family have lost a loved member of their family."

Defence lawyer Greg King said Stone had only taken the knife to persuade Mr Poata to leave after she had been seriously assaulted by him. "It was extreme provocation."

It was a "freakish" injury which would have been minor if the blade had entered his leg just millimetres from the 6mm artery.

Stone has been profoundly and deeply affected by the death of Mr Poata. When spoken to by a counsellor a few hours afterwards, she was inconsolable, Mr King said.

"She will mourn Mr Poata for all her days. She loved him and he loved her."

Justice Ron Young said although the couple's relationship was clearly volatile, he accepted Stone did not intend to kill Mr Poata whose "death was unlooked for and unexpected".

Mr Poata's family yelled "murdering whore" and "what a joke" as Justice Young sentenced her to three years' jail.

Outside the court, Mr Poata's former partner and mother of their two children said she wanted Stone sentenced to five years' jail.

"Rapists get longer and so do drug dealers," she said, asking not to be named.

Mr Poata, who was killed the night of his daughter's eight birthday, was a good father who spent every Saturday night with his daughter and 12-year-old son.

"The little one is too little to understand, but she does miss her dad. Our son, he's a lot quieter. His dad was his mate."

Mr Poata's uncle, who also did not want to be named, said the family was angry because Stone had accepted a plea bargain after initially denying responsibility.

Stone pleaded not guilty to an initial charge of murder but admitted the lesser charge of manslaughter during a depositions hearing last month.

- NZPA