Car bonnet murder case appeal backed

A Taranaki woman who killed her ex-partner by crashing her car while he was clinging to the bonnet has been given a last chance to appeal against her murder conviction.

Cyndi Marcia Fairburn was last year sentenced to life in prison with a non-parole period of 10 years for murdering Darin (Nardy) Maxwell, 42.

On August 6 2007, Fairburn drove her car with Maxwell clinging to the bonnet for 13km until the car swerved into the path of a 4WD, killing Mr Maxwell.

Fairburn said she suspected Mr Maxwell had molested their two-year-old daughter but no evidence was found to support that.

In an appeal to the Court of Appeal earlier this year, Fairburn claimed the trial jury was not allowed to consider self-defence because she feared violence from her former partner.

That appeal was dismissed, with the judges saying that self-defence was not an option for Fairburn and that the jury had been correctly instructed and was satisfied as to the requisite intent for murder.

Fairburn took her case to the Supreme Court who today granted her leave to appeal the conviction, on the grounds that there may have been a miscarriage of justice.

- NZPA