Family outraged as Sweeny May Woods gets eight years for manslaughter after abusing partner for years

The sister of a man who was subject to years of horrific domestic violence before he was fatally stabbed in the leg by his partner, has slammed the eight-year jail sentence for manslaughter as not enough. Sweeny May Woods, now 51, stabbed her partner of 37 years, Avon Cockie, in the back of the leg with a 24cm kitchen knife as he was walking away. The 6.7cm-deep wound punctured an artery and Mr Cockie, 51, died from blood loss. The court was told Woods had subjected Mr Cockie to years of violent and verbal abuse which the soft-spoken artist would respond to by walking away from the conflict. In the WA Supreme Court on Wednesday, Woods was sentenced to eight years with a non-parole period of six years after pleading guilty to the manslaughter at a Maddington home on August 27, 2024. The maximum sentence for manslaughter in Western Australia is life imprisonment. Justice Bruno Fiannaca said in the days before the fatal attack Ms Woods “pursued the deceased relentlessly” tormenting him and verbally and physically assaulting him over allegations of infidelity. The day before the attack Woods texted Mr Cockie with two emojis showing a “devil” and “evil” face and the words “ you are dead to me, Ha ha ha ha, hurry up and go to Hell”. The following morning Mr Cockie texted back with “I love you” followed by a heart emoji. That evening Woods was drunk when she went to the Maddington house that Mr Cockie was staying at and took a knife from a kitchen drawer. Witnesses in the house recalled Mr Cockie shouting “she has got a knife she is going to kill me”. They saw her lunge, stabbing him in the lower part of his left leg. She left the house and was later arrested by police. Justice Fiannaca told Woods that Mr Cockie was “vulnerable as he did not retaliate”. “You were the instigator of the violence. Right up to the point that you stabbed him he was trying to retreat as is evidence by the fact that you stabbed him to the back of the leg.” He said what was even more concerning was that Woods had stabbed Mr Cookie in another drunken attack four years earlier. On that occasion Woods in a jealous rage, rummaged around the kitchen drawers and found a knife and then stabbed Mr Cockie in the right leg, foot and left arm. “By chance it appears those injuries did not impact major blood vessels but the deceased had to be taken to hospital,” Justice Fiannaca said. On that occasion Woods received an 11-month suspended sentence for unlawful wounding. The court heard the pair, who had been together since Woods was 14, had a “volatile” relationship. In their youth Mr Cockie was verbally and physically aggressive, however in later years Woods was the “main instigator and aggressor” prompted by jealousy and resulting in “controlling” and “abusive behaviour” particularly when she was drunk. Justice Fiannaca noted while generally domestic violence was committed “by males against female partners it is no less a problem when it is perpetrated by a female against male partners”. He said he took into account Woods “difficult, bleak childhood” which was “marred by disadvantage and exposure to domestic violence which would have been traumatic”. “That exposure may have normalised domestic violence.” After she was sentenced, Woods called out to two supporters in the gallery “love youse” and “see you later” before being led away. Outside court Mr Cockie’s sister Florence Caird said her family was “gutted” by the length of the sentence. “The message that it is sending to the community is not a strong one. You can stab someone and go to jail for six to eight years.” She said she believed Woods received a more lenient sentence because she is a woman. “I think that if it was my brother in court today he would have got a harder sentence. When you are talking about domestic violence it is not gender-based any more it’s happening women against men”. 1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732) WA Alcohol and Drug Support Line 1800 198 024