A Winnipeg woman who stabbed a police officer in the chest with a butcher knife should serve just two more years in prison, her lawyer argued yesterday.

Defence lawyer Sarah Inness is recommending Vianna Redhead be sentenced to a total of 71/2 years in prison, minus double time credit of 51/2 years for time served.

That's half the 15-year sentence the Crown is seeking.

Inness argued such a long sentence would leave Redhead with little hope of turning her life around.

"At what point does rehabilitation become crushed by a lengthy term of imprisonment?" Inness said.

Redhead, 21, was found guilty of attempted murder following a trial earlier this year. She was arrested March 5, 2007, after police responded to a 911 call at her sister's Kennedy Street apartment.

Court heard police officers loudly announced their presence before opening an unlocked door and entering the silent apartment.

Redhead was waiting around a corner and plunged a knife into the lead officer's chest, yelling: "I'm going to f------ kill you."

Redhead was shocked with a Taser and struck with a baton, but remained so belligerent ambulance attendants refused to treat her prior to her arrival at hospital.

Crown attorney Melinda Murray said Redhead should not receive the standard double credit for time in custody, arguing she has been "a disciplinary nightmare" while in custody and has been charged with assaulting a jail guard.

"She will be a danger to police officers, the community at large or anybody in authority," Murray said. "The best way to rehabilitate her is to keep her in custody for a very long time."

Inness conceded Redhead has had "challenges" while in custody, but argued she has also taken steps to rehabilitate herself, including attending church and Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

"She hasn't thumbed her nose at the whole system, saying 'I don't want any help,'" Inness said.

Redhead had a tragic upbringing marked by violence, abuse, and alcoholism, Inness said.

Redhead's mother was convicted of killing her father when Redhead was three-years-old. She spent the next 15 years moving from one foster home to another, a dozen in all. Redhead's sister is serving a prison sentence for killing her common-law husband.

When Redhead received an $18,000 inheritance from her father's estate, she spent almost all of it on drugs and alcohol, Inness said.

Redhead apologized in court to the police officer she attacked. She said she wants to reconnect with her aboriginal culture "and become a positive role model for my younger siblings."

Justice Brenda Keyser will sentence Redhead on Dec. 10.

dean.pritchard@sunmedia.ca