Summer Jade Roughan, 24, was before the Invercargill District Court yesterday to be sentenced for wounding the 26-year-old Invercargill man with intent to do grievous bodily harm.
She had known the victim for a few years and described him as a "dickhead", the court heard.
Roughan had been drinking tequila with friends before heading into the Invercargill CBD to celebrate Halloween last year.
There she consumed MDMA and half a tab of LSD.
About 3am she was driven back to her Ōtātara home with a group of people, including the victim, to continue partying.
In the living room, Roughan and the man got into a heated argument, resulting in him calling her a "whore".
The court was told she then got up and began punching the man in the head, telling him to leave her house.
The victim retaliated by striking her in the head, causing her to bleed, and shoving her into the door frame.
The partner called a mutual friend to collect the unwelcome guest while Roughan tended to a bloody nose and poured more drinks.
The couple then decided to check if the man was still there.
Judge Michael Turner said on the way out the woman selected a 65mm knife from the kitchen for protection, concealing it from her partner as she thought he would "freak out".
The judge said the intoxicated woman found her victim at the end of the driveway and stabbed him with a "hammer-fist’’ action seven or eight times, causing wounds to his shoulder, arm and underarm.
The blade entered his chest cavity, puncturing his lung and the outer membrane of his heart.
Roughan then ran back inside the house, dropped the knife, and changed out of the nun’s costume.
The victim said the underarm stab wound "effectively killed me twice" as he was repeatedly pronounced dead by medical staff.
After he was rushed to hospital, unconscious and bleeding profusely, his condition deteriorated and he was flown to Dunedin.
His condition stabilised and he returned home to recover.
However, three weeks later his heart began filling up with fluid and he had to be flown to Dunedin again for more specialised care.
Because of sustained loss of oxygen to the brain, the victim said he was suffering from "pretty severe" memory loss that was impacting his work.
He was unsure how long it would continue.
Despite this, he held no grudge towards the victim and forgave her.
Counsel Roger Eagles said while there was no real provocation, the "conduct of the victim" led to the young woman’s attack.
"Would it have occurred if she hadn’t been punched to the ground by the victim? The answer is no."
Mr Eagles said his client had a history of difficulty in relationships, depression, and drug and alcohol use.
A clinical psychologist’s report noted Roughan had abused alcohol and drugs from an early age and was a binge drinker with self-harming behaviours.
The psychologist said as a result she was prone to "resentful, argumentative, impulsive behaviour" and angry outbursts.
During sentencing, Judge Turner gave Roughan discounts for her youth, her clean record and for the impact her imprisonment would have on her 3-year-old child.
She was jailed for four years, two months.
