Jury mulls fate of wife accused of running down cheating hubby and his girlfriend
Photo: AAP
A husband allegedly run over by his wife when she discovered him cheating has been accused of being full of excuses at his jilted spouse’s trial.
Christie Lee Kennedy, 37, 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.
The mother-of-two is accused of intentionally running over Mr Larkin and Ms Noring in her BMW SUV after discovering them together at Wavell Heights in Brisbane’s north.
Kennedy also got out of her car, grabbed Ms Noring by the hair and repeatedly punched her while screaming obscenities, the District Court has heard.
The jury at her trial before Judge Tony Moynihan began deliberations on Friday afternoon.
In her closing argument, defence barrister Penny White accused Mr Larkin of not being a reliable witness when he gave evidence this week.
“From the very first question I asked him … he was trying to find a way to get out of things,” she told the jury.
Husband gets a grilling
“He denied having the affair but after multiple questions he admitted that yes he had sex with Zowie and later accepted yes they were having an affair.
“You might think it was a pretty simple and straightforward question and yet it took us a long time for him to finally accept even that.”
Ms White also took the husband to task for telling Ms Noring he was separated or separating from his wife at the time of the incident.
“She (Ms Noring) said in her evidence that she believed based on what David Larkin told her that he was separated from his wife … on the day of this incident,” Ms White said.
“We know that is clearly not the case.
“This is another example of David Larkin … saying what he can to try and make himself look better … doing whatever he can to get out of a situation”.
Kennedy told the court this week that her initial plan was to find out what her husband was doing when she discovered he was visiting a park she didn’t recognise for the third time that week.
Kennedy said she changed her plan and accelerated down the street to “catch him out” when Mr Larkin and Ms Noring spotted her approaching in her BMW, hitting them accidentally.
‘Matter of seconds’
“This all happens in a matter of seconds. At that specific time … do you believe Christie Kennedy really had the intention to disable them?” Ms White said.
However, crown prosecutor Jennifer O’Brien described Kennedy’s account as totally illogical and her behaviour after the accident as disgraceful.
“If this was a true accident would you get out of the car and start punching a person you had just hit with some force and sent them flying on to the road? Ms O’Brien said in her closing argument.
She said CCTV footage of the incident shown to the jury indicated Kennedy was an “angry woman” caught in a compromising position.
“My submission is it (braking) is very late and after she formed the intent to strike them given how she goes straight at them … like she lined them up,” she said.
Ms O’Brien said it was fortunate that Mr Larkin and Ms Noring were not more badly hurt after being hit by the BMW SUV, which she described as a “large and powerful weapon”.
Kennedy has pleaded not guilty to two counts of malicious acts with intent to disable. She has pleaded guilty to unlawful assault.
-AAP