An Australian woman has avoided jail after tracking down her husband and his mistress using an app before hitting them with her car.
Christie Lee Kennedy, 38, pleaded guilty to the dangerous operation of a motor vehicle in Brisbane District Court on Monday.
The court heard last year that Kennedy had been married to David Larkin for almost a decade when she discovered he had been having an affair with Zowie Noring in March 2021.
She had tracked down her husband using a phone locator app and found him standing on the roadside in the suburb of Wavell Heights with Noring.
Kennedy then drove 45 meters on the wrong side of the road and hit the pair with her BMW SUV, sending them flying to the ground.
Afterward, she got out of the car and grabbed Noring by the hair, repeatedly punched her in the face before hurling abuse at her, including calling her a "fat moll" and a "s**t", per the Daily Mail.
A jury had found her not guilty on two counts of a malicious act with intent to disable but was unable to reach a unanimous or majority verdict on the offenses of assault causing bodily harm in September.
Two assault occasioning bodily harm charges against the mother of two were also withdrawn on Monday. Kennedy had previously pleaded guilty to common assault for punching Noring in the face.
The incident had occurred after Kennedy used the Find My Phone app to track down Larkin after he told her he was going to pick up their children from daycare.
Instead, she found Larkin and Noring "kissing and cuddling" and accelerated towards them before applying her brakes, the court heard.
The Crown prosecutor said that after driving around 45 meters on the wrong side of the road "her vehicle struck both of them with the front side of the car. Mr Larkin was thrown into the air and onto the road."
They added: "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."
The prosecution had argued that Kennedy should be sentenced to three years imprisonment.
Kennedy's defense barrister Penny White argued that she had not intended to hit the pair with her car but had accelerated in their direction to "get there quickly" and "confront them about what was going on".
White added: "The only reason this happened was because her husband was kissing someone else and she wasn't aware of it."
She told the court: "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," calling for a probation order instead of jail time at sentencing.
Kennedy was eventually handed a nine-month jail sentence for the two offenses, suspended for two years, meaning she will not spend time behind bars.
Judge Smith told her: "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 offense but I do form a firm view that this offending is out of character and it's unlikely you'll re-offend with anything like this."
Kennedy was ordered to pay $5,000 compensation each to Larkin and Noring for the emotional and physical; damage caused, and could face a month in jail if she does not make the $10,000 total payment within two weeks.
She was also disqualified from driving for nine months and had convictions applied to her record.
