Well-known West Australian architect Louise St John Kennedy has been found not guilty of “slashing and swooshing” a knife at a neighbour and then pushing her in the midst of an argument about parking in their million-dollar Claremont strata complex.
The 74-year-old was arrested and charged by police after another neighbour filmed an argument between Kennedy and 81-year-old rheumatologist Dr Prudence Manners in May 2024.
The argument unfolded outside their Chester Road properties that share a driveway and was the culmination of months of tension between the pair over a no-parking by-law outside the property’s garages.
In footage previously shown to the court, Kennedy, could be heard yelling at the doctor to “move your car you f—ing dumb bitch”, and telling her she couldn’t park there.
Manners then alleged the architect brandished a “large kitchen knife” and held it above her head “slashing” towards the older lady for “10 to 15 minutes” before calling her “a f—ing dumb arsehole” before grabbing her by the neck and pushing her.
She gave evidence that she was frozen in fear and thought she was going to die, but on Wednesday Magistrate Lynette Dias told the court the complainant was not a credible witness, nor was she “reliable or honest” and, as such, rejected her evidence.
Dias had also previously reviewed court footage and found Manners was being coached by her daughter while giving evidence, which interfered with the court process and affected her “credibility and reliability”.
In contrast, Dias said Kennedy, who represented herself throughout the trial, was “meticulous” in defending the charges, and she was not satisfied the architect was brandishing a knife at the time of the incident.
Kennedy had previously told the court she was holding an architect’s ruler in her hand at the time she was embroiled in the altercation, and pleaded not guilty to a charge of being armed or pretending to be armed in a way that may cause fear and common assault.
Kennedy also faces a charge of breaching a restraining order after she was arrested again in September last year for allegedly threatening to run over Manners outside their properties.
She has pleaded not guilty to that charge and the court heard on Wednesday that she hoped the allegation would be dropped at her next court appearance in March.
The trial, which at times heard farcical evidence about the women engaging in an ongoing row over parking at their $2 million homes, has been ongoing since 2024.
Kennedy claimed that on the day of the incident she had a medical emergency with her dog but couldn’t get out of the driveway due to Manners’ parking, which led her to engage the woman “in debate”.
Kennedy told the court Manners shouted to her, “hope the dog dies, Louise”, which led her to “momentarily lose control”.
She admitted yelling profanities but was adamant she did not hit the woman and was never holding a knife.
Months of text message evidence was shown to the court outlining how Manners had repeatedly parked in front of a set of garages, blocking Kennedy’s car, despite being told not to by both Kennedy and the strata manager.
On Wednesday, Dias said the altercation was a culmination of ongoing frustration for Kennedy which was “provoked” by Manners, causing her to lose control.
Outside court, Kennedy said she was happy with the outcome.
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