A NSW Supreme Court jury found Danielle Stewart, 32, not guilty of murder but guilty of the manslaughter of Chaim Kimel, 55, at their Rose Bay home, in Sydney's east, in August 2006.

Yesterday, acting Justice Jane Mathews jailed Stewart for a minimum of four years and maximum of six years and four months.

She noted Stewart had offered to plead guilty to manslaughter, had a borderline personality disorder and was extremely intoxicated at the time of the stabbing.

During a late-night argument at their unit, Stewart grabbed an antique knife, previously kept in its sheath on a coffee table, and stabbed her husband twice in the abdomen.

The crime occurred in the hallway outside the bedroom of Mr Kimel's 16-year-old son, who heard his father say, ''Are you crazy, what are you doing, are you crazy?''

The boy rushed out to see his father holding his hands across his stomach and covered in blood.

The judge said the teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, would have been ''extremely traumatised'' and undoubtedly the event would remain with him for the rest of his life.

She referred to the ''moving'' victim impact statements read out by Mr Kimel's three children, who were obviously devastated by his death and spoke of his exceptional qualities.

''The sentences imposed by a court are not intended to reflect, and indeed cannot reflect, the extent of the loss to a family and friends, no matter how great that loss,'' she said.

Stewart's blood-alcohol reading at the time of the stabbing was calculated to have been .240.

''I accept the offender has no memory whatsoever of the stabbing, nor of the events immediately leading up to it,'' the judge said.

She said the jury's verdict meant that by reason of Stewart's intoxication, she lacked the requisite intention for the offence of murder.

Stewart's background included losing her mother to cancer at a young age, being sexually abused as a child, attempting suicide on a number of occasions, battling anorexia, and abusing alcohol and drugs.

The earliest date on which Stewart will be eligible for parole will be June 24, 2011. Mr Kimel's children did not comment on the sentence as they left the court. AAP