A Grampians woman who was found guilty of murdering her ex-partner by stealing his ute and running him down has had her 24-year jail sentence reduced on appeal.
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The Court of Appeal handed down its judgement on Monday and found the sentence imposed on 70-year-old Janice Bufton was too long and 'wholly outside the range'.
The three appeal judges resentenced her to 20 years' imprisonment with a non-parole period of 14-years.
In 2017, Bufton was furious after her lover of less than two years, Colin Snooks, said he was leaving her and 'heading north'.
She jumped into his Holden Rodeo and drove down the driveway of her Fyans Creek property.
The bonnet of the ute hit Mr Snooks and he was crushed under its wheels, dying of his injuries a short time later.
Bufton also appealed her conviction, with her defence counsel arguing the jury's verdict was unreasonable.
Her lawyer said the prosecution could not have excluded the possibility Mr Snooks' death was an accident.
He said Mr Snooks may have caused his own death by jumping from the driveway onto the grass verge and into the path of the ute.
But Court of Appeal judges dismissed her appeal on conviction on Monday.
They found there was no substantial miscarriage of justice in the jury trial and it was open to the jury to be satisfied beyond reasonable doubt Bufton was guilty of murder.
Bufton, aged 68 at the time of sentence, was diagnosed with cancer in May 2017.
She had no prior criminal convictions and had divorced her husband of 25 years before meeting Mr Snooks in January 2016.
Her counsel had argued the sentence of 24 years' imprisonment was more than other offenders had received for killing their intimate partners and was 'crushing'.
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