AN IRISH woman who stabbed her fiancé to death in Sydney has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
Tina Cahill, 27, originally from Co. Wexford, admitted fatally stabbing 29-year-old David 'Motcha' Walsh, also from Wexford, following an argument outside their home in the Sydney suburb of Padstow in February 2017.
Her charge was downgraded from murder to manslaughter on the basis of substantial impairment by abnormality of the mind, caused by post-traumatic stress disorder.
According to a report from Daily Mail Australia’s Holly Hales, the presiding judge took her mental health into account when sentencing the defendant.
"She was suffering from a major depressive disorder so given her mental health at the time, that had a big effect on the sentence,” Hales wrote.
"She would have been looking at much longer if the relationship wasn't as volatile as it was."
Cahill will be in prison until February 2022 at the earliest. At that point she is expected to be deported to Ireland.
Walsh died after Cahill stabbed him in the neck with a broken bottle just five weeks into their engagement on February 17, 2017.
Walsh, a father of three girls who lived back home in Ireland, was pronounced dead at the scene after emergency services were called to the house on Watson Road in Padstow, southwest Sydney.
Tina Cahill and David Walsh had been engaged just five weeks at the time of his death in February 2017
During the trial, it was revealed Cahill had a previous conviction for being violent towards Walsh, who her lawyer James Trevallion claims was "abusive".
Speaking at New South Wales Supreme Court former housemate Isabel Jennings said she saw Cahill stab her then boyfriend "three to four times in the head" after a row at their house on October 3, 2015.
Cahill was placed on a two-year good behaviour bond in April 2016 after being found guilty of recklessly wounding the construction worker.
According to court documents seen by News Corp Australia, the couple had been out drinking with friends at the Cock'N'Bull Hotel and the Doncaster Hotel in central Sydney before they got into an argument and Walsh went home.
Cahill, two female friends and a male friend - Matthew Hyde - later returned to the house where Walsh appeared to be asleep on a sofa.
Shortly later, Walsh attacked Hyde because he didn't know who he was.
Cahill screamed: "Stop it Davey, get off, get off … he’s with Grace", the documents said.
She fell to the ground while trying to stop the attack before punching Walsh with a closed fist, Walsh then pushed her again and tried to punch her in the face.
Soon after, "the offender opened and closed the cutlery drawer quickly taking out a large, very sharp, bladed knife".
One witness heard Walsh repeatedly say "put it back", but Cahill replied: "No, he needs to be taught a lesson. It’s not fair. Look at poor Matthew."
