Sydney axe attacker gets more jail time

An intoxicated transgender woman who tried to murder three Sydney strangers with an axe, has had her minimum jail term almost doubled.

Evie Amati's total term of nine years was increased to 14 years, after the NSW Court of Criminal Appeal upheld a crown challenge and found her original sentence was "manifestly inadequate".

"The sentencing judge allowed the respondent's subjective factors to overshadow almost entirely the objective gravity of these serious offences," Justice Peter Johnson said today.

"It is in the public interest that an appropriate sentence be imposed upon the respondent."

Amati, now 27, attacked Ben Rimmer and Sharon Hacker inside a 7-Eleven at Enmore in January 2017 and then chased down nearby pedestrian Shane Redwood.

Mr Rimmer suffered a fractured nasal bone, eye socket and cheekbones, and bled profusely onto the petrol station shop's floor.

Ms Hacker, struck in the back of the neck, had the potentially fatal blow softened by thick dreadlocks, while Mr Redwood blocked the axe with his backpack.

Before the late-night attack, Amati had been on a Tinder date, felt shamed for being transgender and took a cocktail of alcohol and other drugs, the court heard.

"One day I'm going to kill a lot of people for hating something so innocent," she messaged her date an hour before the attack.

A District Court jury in 2018 found her guilty of wounding with intent to murder, attempting to wound with intent to murder, and inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent to murder.

Judge Mark Williams sentenced her in January 2019 to nine years in jail with a non-parole period of four-and-a-half years.

Sitting with Acting Justice Carolyn Simpson and Justice Ian Harrison, Justice Johnson today said the offences involved deliberate and separate attacks on different people and the sentence failed to reflect the criminality involved.

He was satisfied the sentencing judge was "diverted" by Amati's undoubtedly strong subjective circumstances.

"I do not seek to understate the difficulties affecting her as a result of gender dysphoria and associated mental health difficulties including depression," Justice Johnson said.

"She is an intelligent person with a troubled history which has given rise to mental health issues and presented her with clear difficulties in her life."

But, the judge noted, she's been intoxicated by the voluntary ingestion of alcohol and drugs on the night when she attacked her victims who were subjected to a terrifying and life-threatening experience.

Speaking outside court, Ms Hacker said she thought the original sentence had not properly reflected the severity of the crime.

"Now at least there is some sense that there will be a chance for her to repair the emotional problems," she told reporters.

Although jail was not the perfect solution for Amati, Ms Hacker said it was better than "being left in a life that you're not happy with".

"I actually feel like now I can get on with my life, that there's a little bit more closure, and keep going on and living, because that's the chance I was afforded after this."