A Sydney mother is awaiting sentencing for manslaughter after pleading guilty to killing her husband, Mamdouh Noufl, and dismembering his body. Nirmeen Noufl admitted to the killing in August, citing excessive self-defense during an assault by her husband in May 2023.

During a NSW Supreme Court sentencing hearing on Monday, prosecutors and the defense presented arguments regarding Noufl's remorse. The couple's daughter testified that her mother had become "fragile and broken" and expressed sorrow during visits in prison. The daughter, whose name is suppressed for legal reasons, stated that her mother "can't hold back her tears when she sees me."

Noufl's legal team argued that her consistent offers to plead guilty to manslaughter in lower courts demonstrated contrition. Psychological evidence presented suggested she may have developed a survival mechanism, common among abuse survivors, following the incident.

However, the Crown prosecutor questioned the sincerity of Noufl's remorse, suggesting it was tied to the impact on her family rather than the act itself. "It's very clear she demonstrated not the slightest bit of remorse until only recently," Mark Hay stated in court.

Agreed facts presented in court revealed that after the killing, Noufl told a confidante that her husband had treated her poorly throughout their marriage, stating, "All my life ... he just treated me like shit, spat at me. I had enough."

Court documents indicated that Mamdouh Noufl held conservative Islamic views and was controlling of his wife, who had been undergoing treatment for depression and post-traumatic stress disorder. Days before his death, he reportedly told Nirmeen Noufl he planned to marry another woman he had met years earlier in Egypt but denied Noufl's request for a divorce. According to Noufl's account to psychiatrists, an argument ensued when he returned home, and he assaulted her by pinning her to the ground and choking her. She stated she grabbed a tool and fatally stabbed him once in the chest, believing her life was in danger.

Mr. Noufl's family submitted victim impact statements detailing their grief. Justice Peter Hamill noted the family's difficulty in coping with the absence of a grave to visit. He remarked, "For contrition and remorse to be taken into account ... one really needs some evidence of a positive attempt to compensate."

Justice Hamill cautioned the family, who were observing the hearing remotely, that the imposed sentence might not fully align with their perception of the loss they have suffered. Noufl is scheduled to be sentenced on Friday.