A Sydney cleaner who murdered her elderly client by beating and stabbing her has been sentenced to 22 years in prison.
Hanny Papanicolaou will not be eligible for parole until January 2034.
Papanicolaou broke into the Ashbury home of Marjorie Welsh in January 2019 with the intention to steal money from the 92-year-old.
Once she was discovered by Ms Welsh, the mother-of-two proceeded to bash her elderly client with her walking sticks before stabbing her several times with a kitchen knife.
Ms Welsh managed to alert emergency services by pressing the alert button on a medical assistance device she wore around her neck.
The 92-year-old initially survived the assault, identifying her attacker as "Hanny the cleaner".
Ms Welsh died from her injuries in hospital six weeks later.
Today, Justice Robertson Wright said Papanicolaou's displays of genuine remorse and her good prospects for rehabilitation meant the maximum sentence of life in prison was not appropriate.
"The offender must be held accountable for her actions," Justice Wright told the court.
"But I've also taken into account the purpose of rehabilitation, which, in my view, supports a longer period on parole."
Papanicolaou stared at the floor and wept quietly as her sentence of 22 years with a 15-year non-parole period was handed down.
Her sentence will be backdated to include time served from when she was first taken into custody in January 2019.
Papanicolaou's defence team had argued the 38-year-old was not fully responsible for her actions, highlighting suggestions from psychologists that she was suffering from Major Depressive Disorder in the lead-up to the attack.
The mother-of-two had a gambling addiction, losing around $400 at the Canterbury RSL poker machines just hours before invading Ms Welsh's home on January 2.
Justice Wright rejected the suggestion Papanicolaou had been suffering from Major Depressive Disorder at the time of the attack, ruling her actions were financially motivated.
"The offender needed the money because of her gambling losses," he said.
"She knew that Ms Welsh paid in cash and had more than sufficient money to meet her own needs."
Outside court, Ms Welsh's daughters Angela and Elizabeth said they were satisfied with the judge's decision.
