The relatives of a 21-year-old man who was deliberately mowed down in Sydney’s north have angrily stormed out of the sentencing hearing for his murderer.

Sarah May Ward, 38, is being sentenced in the Supreme Court after being found guilty of running down Eli Westlake with her car after he threw cheeseballs at her two years ago at St Leonards.

His mother, Jan Loquet Westlake, today wept as she told the court of the family’s loss.

“Getting a call from our first-born son, Joel, to say he was lying under a car in a pool of blood holding his dead brother’s hand has changed our life forever,” she said.

Ms Loquet Westlake said her family had been gripped by anxiety, insomnia, depression and grief since her son’s death.

She said the family was still regularly seeing a grief counsellor, but her composer husband Nigel Westlake had been unable to earn a living since that night as he felt he could no longer write music.

“To his family and friends, Eli was an inspirational character… who’d emerged into a flourishing adult life…” she told the court.

“Each day we awake to the nightmare that we will never see him again. We yearn for his wonderful companionship and wicked laugh.”

She also told the court of a “deeply harrowing experience” when the family hand dug her son’s grave.

She described how her husband and son, Joel, met with about 20 of Eli Westlake’s friends armed with shovels and picks and took about eight hours to dig the hole they would bury him in.

‘Joel feels somewhat responsible’

A short time later, Joel Westlake became incensed as the defence discussed his involvement in the incident. He stood up in the gallery, swore at Ward’s lawyer and stormed out of the court room, followed by family members.

Justice Roderick Howie said he did not believe Ward’s actions were entirely unprovoked.

“I feel very sorry for Joel because I have no doubt that he feels somewhat responsible for what happened,” he said later.

The court was also told Ward had a violent criminal record.

Justice Howie set down her sentencing for April 22 and said she would spend a “very long time” in jail. He said by the time the 38-year-old would be released, “she is going to be a lot older and we hope a lot wiser.”

Sarah Ward was found guilty of murder nearly two weeks ago after a four-week trial.

She had pleaded not guilty to murder but guilty of manslaughter.

The trial heard Mr Westlake had been walking home with his brother and his friends after a night out drinking when they became involved in an argument with the woman at a convenience store.

The court was told Mr Westlake had jumped out of the way the first time Ward drove towards him, but she reversed and accelerated towards him again.

Ward had drunk two bottles of wine and had taken cannabis, ecstasy and valium before getting behind the wheel.

The defence argued she did not intend to kill Mr Westlake.

Sarah Ward had told police her passenger grabbed the steering wheel just before the victim was hit.

She also blamed the shoes she was wearing at the time for the way she was driving.

The jury also rejected the defence’s arguments that Ward did not have control of her actions given her drunken state and her mental disorder.