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Stabbing victim graffitied pub insults

Margaret ScheikowskiAAP
A woman has been jailed for killing her partner who graffitied insults about her in pub toilets.
Camera IconA woman has been jailed for killing her partner who graffitied insults about her in pub toilets. Credit: AAP

A Sydney woman whose partner extensively graffitied the men's toilets in their local pub with crude insults about her has been jailed for at least five years for stabbing him to death.

Glenn Pedgrift, who had been wrongly accusing Lisa Srsa of being unfaithful, wrote "Lisa's a slut, for a good time call Lisa, Lisa is a dog" and recorded her phone number.

Srsa, now 53, pleaded guilty to the manslaughter of her 47-year-old partner whom she stabbed once in the chest on October 10, 2018, on the footpath near their Blacktown home.

Her plea was based on substantial impairment due to an abnormality of the mind, which had affected her capacity to control herself.

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Her mental health conditions included complex post-traumatic stress disorder, alcohol use disorder, panic disorder with agoraphobia, and depression.

In the NSW Supreme Court on Friday, Justice Mark Ierace jailed her for seven years and 10 months with a non-parole period of five years.

He found her out-of-character behaviour was partly explicable through provocation related to the "embarrassment and humiliation" caused by the graffiti occurring in the hotel where they were regulars.

But Mr Pedgrift's "disgraceful conduct" in the hotel and in graffitiing her late-father's furniture had been non-violent and he later complied with a direction to leave their home before he was stabbed.

According to the agreed facts, the couple had been together for four to five years and lived with a number of other people including her adult son and nephew

"The offender and the deceased regularly consumed excessive amounts of alcohol and would argue when intoxicated," the judge said.

The arguments had escalated in the lead-up to the stabbing when Mr Pedgrift accused her of being unfaithful, which she denied.

On October 10, he had bought alcohol, withdrew $50 from her account and went to their local pub where he graffitied the toilets, covering the cubicles, door and mirror with the insults.

When challenged by the manager, he again described her as a "slut and a dog" before being banned from the pub.

Staff phoned Srsa to tell her what happened before she went there to see it for herself.

She was seen to be"drawn and distressed" and referred to Mr Pedgrift having also graffitied the furniture of her late-father which made her feel "very sad" as he had worked very hard to provide a home.

After they argued at home and her son told him to leave, Srsa grabbed a steak knife from the kitchen, followed him up the road and knifed him in the chest before he collapsed.

He was found to have an alcohol blood reading of 0.296g while her level was estimated to have been around 0.260 at the time.

As well as dealing with the hotel and furniture graffiti, Srsa had not slept or eaten due to a relative having open-heart surgery.

In victim impact statements, distraught relatives had described Mr Pedgrift as "loving, mischievous and hard-working".

Psychiatrists reported on Srsa's background which included being raised in a dysfunctional home with a strict violent father and an alcoholic mother, her extended panic attacks, and her use of alcohol to cope with her mental issues.

Although she initially said she had thrown the knife, the judge found she now accepted responsibility for her crime and was remorseful.

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