A woman in Australia who ran over her husband and his mistress after tracking them on an app has managed to avoid jail.
Christie Lee Kennedy, 38, walked free from Brisbane’s District Court yesterday (3 April) after being handed a suspended sentence, but was ordered to pay her husband David Larkin and his lover thousands in compensation.
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Kennedy, a legal secretary, pleaded guilty to dangerous operation of a vehicle after hitting Larkin and mistress Zowie Noring with her BMW SUV.
She also previously pleaded guilty to common assault over the attack.
Kennedy found out they were having an affair in March 2021 after being married to Larkin for almost a decade, and used a phone locator app to track the pair down.
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The mum-of-two had left work and drove towards Wavell Heights, in Brisbane’s north, where she saw Larkin and Noring ‘kissing and cuddling’, the court heard.
Crown prosecutor Jennifer O’Brien said she accelerated towards them ‘for some time’ on the wrong side of the road and slammed into them.
She then got out of the car and grabbed Noring by the hair, repeatedly punching her and shouting obscenities at her.
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O’Brien said: “She drove on the wrong side of the road, she did not swerve or reposition the vehicle, she drove on the wrong side of the road for about 45m.
“Her vehicle struck both of them with the front side of the car. Mr Larkin was thrown into the air and onto the road.
“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's defence barrister, Penny White, argued that her client had not intended to hit the couple with her car, but just wanted to ‘get there quickly’, claiming this is why she chose to accelerate.
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“She wanted to get to them and confront them about what was going on,” White said.
“The only reason this happened was because her husband was kissing someone else and she wasn't aware of it.”
She also argued that the fact Kennedy hit the brakes showed she was not using the vehicle ‘as a weapon’, and only intended to confront the pair.
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When asked about injuries, White said Larkin had a ‘dislocated little finger and a bump to the head’, and that Kennedy had apologised to him.
Judge Paul Smith sentenced Kennedy to nine months in jail for dangerous operation of a vehicle and common assault, with both sentences suspended.
Smith said he took into account that the jury had previously not been able to reach a verdict on two counts of assault occasioning bodily harm, which were withdrawn yesterday.
In September, Kennedy was also found not guilty on two counts of malicious acts with intent to disable.
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Smith said Kennedy was lucky Larkin and Noring ‘weren’t more seriously injured’, adding: “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.
“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.”
Kennedy was ordered to pay AUD $5,000 in compensation to both Larkin and Noring, with two weeks to pay the AUD $10,000 total.
She has also been disqualified from driving for nine months.
Jess Hardiman