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BANGKOK, Thailand - A court in northern Thailand has sentenced a Canadian woman to 3 1/2 years in prison in the fatal shooting of her American common-law husband two years ago.

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS/Wichai Taprieu

Margaret Crane, center, a Canadian woman smiles as she talks with an unidentified woman upon her arrival at criminal court in Chiang Mai province, northern Thailand Thursday.

Fifty-year-old Margaret Crane of Victoria, B.C., was sentenced to two years for fatally shooting George Dubie, 56, in the city of Chiang Mai in July 2006.

She also received 1 1/2 years for possessing and carrying a pistol in public.

Judge Thanakorn Pasayapaiboon said during sentencing Thursday that Crane committed the crime as charged.

But he explained the relatively light sentence by saying she did so "in a rage after being provoked and pressured."

The judge added that a confession by Crane meant that the four years she might have served for manslaughter was halved to two.

Crane told the police following her arrest that the dead man - who claimed to be a part-time CNN correspondent-had been physically and verbally abusive and hit her and their six children repeatedly, said her lawyer Pongsatorn Pijadi.

Crane said she went to see Dubie at a restaurant to get money he promised her but was verbally abused, Pongsatorn said.

Witnesses earlier told police that the couple were arguing at a restaurant when Crane pulled out a pistol and fired three shots before fleeing in a car.

"She was under intense pressure," Pongsatorn said.

He denied to comment on Thai media reports that the couple's relationship worsened when Dubie became involved with a Thai woman.