"difficulties entering into other relationships"

A Montreal woman who poured fondue fuel over her sleeping boyfriend and lit his penis on fire has been sentenced to four years in prison.

Quebec Judge Louis Legault sentenced Andrée René, 44, to 30 more months in prison, crediting her with 18 months for the time she has already served.

René must also undergo psychological counselling for alcohol abuse and aggression while she's in prison, and is prohibited from owning guns or combustible materials for 10 years after being released.

The sentencing ends a six-year saga that started in April 2001 when René was dating Guillaume Pungu. The couple had spent an evening of drinking and arguing when René poured fondue fuel over Pungu's body while he was sleeping.

He awoke when René set him on fire, scorching his abdomen and genitals. Pungu suffered third-degree burns and was hospitalized for a week, followed by a month of rehabilitation.

Pungu, who died last year of unrelated causes, was traumatized physically and psychologically by René's attack, lawyers said.

He suffered insomnia and nightmares, was scared of lighters and fire, and had problems with intimacy.

"He had difficulties entering into other relationships after the incident," Crown prosecutor Steeve Larivière said Wednesday.

René was arrested after the 2001 assault and eventually released on bail pending her trial. She was arrested again after she failed to appear in court in November 2006 for her sentencing arguments.

During the sentencing arguments, the court heard René has a history of behavioural problems, has been a victim of abusive relationships and harbours deep anger towards men.