A WOMAN has today been sentenced to 16 years for stabbing a mother-of-two to death in a frenzied revenge attack.

The family and friends of Rachel Jones cheered and clapped as Louise Gardner was unanimously convicted of murder after just an hour.

Outside court they hugged each other and Ms Jones's identical twin sister Becky said: "It's been a long time coming."

This is the second trial the family have sat through after a jury last August were unable to reach a verdict.

Mother-of-one Gardner, of Mallow Road, Kensington, showed no emotion in the dock as she was told she would serve life behind bars.

Her mother wept in the public gallery as the verdict was delivered from the jury of five men and seven women.

Judge Gerald Clifton will sentence the bleached-blonde 26-year-old this afternoon.

During a two-week trial, the Liverpool crown court heard Gardner chased Ms Jones for more than half a mile in retaliation for smashing a window.

After hunting for Ms Jones, who was on a bike, Gardner, 26, chased her down the street screaming threats.

She eventually caught up with Ms Jones in Woodville Terrace, where she repeatedly slashed her in the chest, head and face.

Ms Jones suffered at least 14 knife wounds, two of which penetrated her heart.

One of the slash wounds to Ms Jones 's face caused a second fracture which would have left her permanently disfigured if she had survived.

Following the stabbing, Ms Jones's one-year-old baby Atalia was left lying in their home alone as police tried to identify her the victim.

It was not until late the next afternoon that officers went to Ms Jones's Anfield home and discovered the baby lying in the dark.