As I said earlier I will be amazed if this sentence isn't overturned on appeal. She may even appeal the conviction, should any new evidence come to light or it was a point of fact that that she should never have been accussed of manslaughter in the first place.
I don't know if alternative options were given to the jury.
I don't think it matters whether she is an awful woman or not, in law.
The real issue here, if it's true, is that that pavement was designated joint use. The law requires that a pavement be at least 3 metres for joint use and if it has high traffic, it should be a minimum of 5 metres. I wouldn't be surprised if that point of fact wouldn't be enough to overturn the conviction.