A Leda mother who was experiencing psychosis when she stabbed her husband at least 16 times with a kitchen knife has been sentenced to life behind bars over the “brutal and savage” murder.

Cara Lee Hall drove a knife into her husband Glenn’s chest in December 2015, then used the murder weapon to attack her 11-year-old son and his four-year-old brother.

She argued she was acting in self defence after years of mental and physical abuse, but was found guilty of murder after a Supreme Court trial.

Justice Michael Corboy today jailed Hall for a life with a minimum of 18 years for murdering her husband, trying to kill one of her children and causing bodily harm to the other.

He described Hall’s sentencing as the most difficult he had faced in his time as a judge.

Justice Corboy told the court Hall had a difficult and extremely traumatic childhood and adolescence and had been using methamphetamine and cannabis since she was a teenager.

He accepted Hall, who smoked cannabis the night before the murder, was experiencing psychosis when she picked up the knife.

Justice Corboy said Hall’s psychosis was underpinned by trauma, but her use of cannabis was a contributing factor.

“You were aware of and appreciated the connection between your use of cannabis and your mental wellbeing,” he said.

Defence lawyer Mara Barone had argued Justice Corboy should take the rare step of not imposing a life sentence.

She said it would be unjust for Hall to be sentenced to life behind bars, particularly given her mental state.

Ms Barone described Hall as “a woman who was grappling with very serious issues in relation to her past and her trauma”.

She said that would have had an impact on Hall’s ability to make strong and sustainable choices when it came to drugs.

Only one other murderer has escaped a life jail term since 2008.

Hall called triple-0 and confessed about five minutes after she stabbed her husband to death.

“I just killed my husband, he was trying to kill my kids,” she told he operator.

“He was going to sell them into the sex trade.”

Justice Corboy accepted Hall thought her husband was going to harm her and her children but said in his view those thoughts were delusional.

He said she didn’t have reasonable grounds for thinking it was necessary to stab Mr Hall in the head, chest, neck and back.

Prosecutor Brett Tooker said Hall’s medical record showed she used drugs on and off from 2005 to 2015 and was admitted to hospital a number of times over the decade.

He said Hall was diagnosed with drug induced psychosis after an admission to hospital in December 2005 and told doctors she had “decided to quit drugs and commit to the kids”.

Mr Tooker said Hall was aware of the link between drug use and psychosis, arguing she must in part be held responsible for her psychosis at the time of the murder.

In their victim impact statements, Mr Hall’s loved one expressed their horror at the way he died.

They said they were concerned about the impact his murder would have on the couple’s four children, who were all home when their father was killed.

Justice Corboy said the murder must have been “an extremely frightening and traumatic experience” for the children.

He said the experience would stay with them for the rest of their lives.

Hall’s sentence was backdated to December 2015.