A judge has been urged to show as much leniency as possible to a South Australian woman who ran down and killed her partner after a long history of domestic violence.
In the SA District Court, Noelene Kenny admitted the manslaughter of Edward John Baker, 43, in the state's far north in February 2019.
However, prosecutors conceded the 42-year-old did not intend to kill the man or cause him grievous bodily harm.
The incident came amid arguments during a long drive home after the pair and another man had gone to buy alcohol.
Both Kenny and Mr Baker were drunk at the time.
The two men had got out of the car after it hit a kangaroo at which point Kenny got behind the wheel.
She initially drove off but then returned and drove towards the men, ultimately trapping Mr Baker under the engine block after he was unable to flee.
In sentencing submissions on Monday, defence counsel Greg Mead SC said the relationship between Kenny and Mr Baker, which began when his client was just 15, was marked by incidents of domestic violence.
He asked Judge Gordon Barrett to show as much leniency in sentencing as possible, arguing that special reasons existed for a lower than mandated non-parole period.
But a prosecutor told the court that Kenny's offending had resulted in the taking of a human life and that given she had used the car as a weapon could not be considered at the lower end of the scale for such crimes.
Kenny will be sentenced at a later date.
1800 RESPECT (1800 737 732)
Australian Associated Press
