A woman who hid the knife her then boyfriend used in a frenzied, near-fatal attack at the Belconnen bus interchange has avoided jail time.
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Jamie Weaver, 26, was with her former partner Miroslav Jovanovic, 56, when he launched the stabbing attack in broad daylight at the interchange in April 2013.
Jovanovic punched the man in the back of the head before plunging a small knife six times into his body as bystanders watched on.
The blade passed through the victim's ribs, collapsing a lung, damaging an artery and causing severe bleeding.
Jovanovic walked away from the scene, leaving his target bleeding heavily and believing he was going to die in the interchange.
"At the time, I felt like I was dying. I knew I was dying," the victim said at Jovanovic's trial.
About 58 metres away, Jovanovic passed the knife to Weaver, who stashed it in her bag.
Police arrived and arrested Jovanovic, but Weaver kept walking from the scene.
Despite exhaustive searches, the knife was never found.
Jovanovic, who launched the attack as revenge for a fight between his son and the victim, is now serving a lengthy stint in jail.
The ACT Supreme Court sentenced Weaver on Tuesday for her role in the crime.
She had been given a chance to rehabilitate, and her sentencing was delayed for months to monitor her progress.
Weaver had only a minor criminal history and had no convictions for violence.
But Chief Justice Helen Murrell expressed concern in October that she was refusing treatment for mental health problems and intervention for substance abuse. Weaver also had a gambling problem, no pro-social contacts, and a poor attitude to supervision by authorities.
Since then, she has engaged with a drug support group, her general practitioner, is on methadone, and is working.
Chief Justice Murrell sentenced Weaver to a three month suspended jail sentence on Tuesday and placed her on a 12 month good behaviour order.
"If you breach that bond, you could find yourself in jail," Chief Justice Murrell said.
The court heard there were concerns from Weaver's pharmacist that she may be selling off some of her methadone.
Weaver said that was because she hadn't told the pharmacist her dose had increased. She also told the court she may have looked suspicious because she was always in a rush to leave.
She said she often felt humiliated at the pharmacist, because methadone users were made to wait in a separate area.
Chief Justice Murrell told Weaver she must show confidence and accept that methadone was simply a medication that she needed.
"It doesn't matter what other people think, you're there to collect your medicine," she said.
