A WOMAN who murdered a Sydney man by running over him after he threw cheeseballs at her car has been sentenced to a maximum jail term of 25 years.

Last month, Sarah May Ward, 38, of Pymble, was found guilty of murdering Eli Westlake, 21, in the early hours of June 7, 2008, in the northern Sydney suburb of St Leonards.

Ward was affected by drugs and alcohol at the time of the impact but denied stalking and deliberately running down Mr Westlake in revenge for his having thrown cheeseballs at her car.

In the New South Wales Supreme Court today, Ward was sentenced to a minimum of 18 years and nine months for the offence.

Justice Roderick Howie said he believed there was more to the incident than Mr Westlake's brother and friends claimed, but Ward was definitely the aggressor.

"I do not believe that she was set upon in the way she described," Justice Howie told the court.

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"She was not provoked, but incensed by the fact that she had been humiliated, as she saw it , she clearly wanted to teach the young men a lesson."

Ward betrayed no emotion as the sentence was read out and Mr Westlake's family were equally silent.

There were raucous scenes at her sentencing hearing earlier this month when Eli's brother, Joel Westlake, stormed out of the court behind his father, pointing and swearing at Ward's defence counsel.