A wife who hit her then-husband and his mistress with her car before assaulting the lover has managed to avoid jail time.
“A Brisbane District Court trial was told last year that Christie Lee Kennedy, 38, had been married to David Larkin for almost a decade when she found out he was having an affair with Zowie Noring in March 2021,” 7 News reported.
“Using a phone locator app, Kennedy quickly tracked down her husband and discovered him talking with his lover by the side of the road at Wavell Heights, in Brisbane’s north.”
Christie, 38, drove 45 meters and struck the couple with her BMV SUV. After hitting them, she got out of her car and repeatedly punched Noring, uttering obscenities.
“Her vehicle struck both of them with the front side of the car. Mr Larkin was thrown into the air and onto the road,” the crown prosecutor said.
“Ms Noring was also thrown onto the road. After hitting Ms Noring, (Kennedy) immediately attacked her which shows a lack of remorse for her actions at the time by punching a person who was laying on the ground after being hit.”
Kennedy pleaded not guilty on the two counts of malicious acts intending to disable.
However, the jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict on the assault offences against Christie.
The mum-of-two faced a retrial this week and pleaded guilty of dangerous driving.
“She had earlier pleaded guilty to an assault charge stemming from the same incident.”
“Kennedy was sentenced on Monday to a nine-month suspended jail sentence, disqualified from driving for nine months, and ordered to pay Larkin and Noring $5000 each.”
On Monday’s court hearing, The Crown argued that Kennedy should face jail time for at least three years.
Her defense minister, Penny White, argued and told the court her client did not intend to hurt the pair, but unfortunately, her vehicle just ‘got there quickly’ when she tried to accelerate.
“She wanted to get to them and confront them about what was going on,” Penny White said.
“The only reason this happened was because her husband was kissing someone else and she wasn’t aware of it.”
“A sentence of actual imprisonment is not within range for this offending in circumstances that there’s no deliberate intention to hit them and she used her brakes to stop,” she continued.
Judge Paul Smith sentenced Christie to nine months in prison for the two offences, with both sentences suspended.
“I think it would be fair to conclude that you would be quite shocked about what you saw there despite what suspicions you had prior,” the judge said.
“You’re obviously an excellent employee and a very good mother and it’s a real shame you committed this offence but I do form a firm view that this offending is out of character and it’s unlikely you’ll reoffend with anything like this.”
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Sources: 7 News
