Lawyers deliver final addresses in Isabella Cisarova attempted murder trial

The first strike a woman inflicted on her mother during a horrific attack with a box cutter on the Cairns Esplanade was straight to her throat, a jury has heard.

The scene of an alleged stabbing on the Cairns Esplanade on November 24. Police later charged 20-year-old Isabella Aneta Cisarova with attempted murder. Bystanders are assisting a 39-year-old woman with a neck wound. Picture: Supplied

The first strike a woman inflicted on her mother during a horrific attack with a box cutter on the Cairns Esplanade was straight to her throat, a jury has heard.

Isabella Aneta Cisarova, 22, is accused of the attempted murder of her mother with lawyers providing their closing addresses on day six of the trial in the Supreme Court on Monday.

Ms Cisarova has pleaded not guilty, maintaining she never intended to kill her mother despite cutting her throat with a box cutter on the Cairns Esplanade on November 23, 2022.

In both their closing submissions, Ms Cisarova’s defence counsel Tim Grau and Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane produced a photograph of the young woman for the jury.

In the photo she is seen standing in front of the Crystalbrook hotel on the Cairns Esplanade, arms outstretched and covered in blood, just moments after she cut her mother’s throat.

Crown prosecutor Nathan Crane told a Cairns Supreme Court jury Ms Cisarova had inflicted a 15cm neck wound to her mother with a box cutter, with the jury shown an image of the bloodied object. Picture: Supplied

Mr Grau told the jury the picture showed a woman who was “in shock” and “in disbelief” of what she had done.

“She walks away from her mother and sits down,” he said.

“Those images capture a young woman in total and complete shock, horrified by her own actions, aghast by what she had done. Not a young woman with murderous intentions.”

Mr Grau said Isabella was a young woman in the midst of family breakdown trying to find answers who “just snapped”.

He reiterated Ms Cisarova’s testimony that, although she took the knife from home when she went to confront her mother, she didn’t “know why” and she didn’t know if the box cutter was open at the time of the attack.

Defence barrister Tim Grau said there was no dispute Ms Cisarova inflicted the injuries. Picture: Brendan Radke

Mr Crane described what he said was a 10-15 centimetre wound that Ms Cisarova inflicted on her mother’s throat as he told the jury they didn’t have to accept everything Ms Cisarova said in the witness box.

“The first thing that Ms Cisarova does is place her left hand on the back area of her mother and use the right hand in the area of her neck,” he said.

“It demonstrates the part of the body she wants to injure because it is the first place she goes.”

Mr Crane said the image of Ms Cisarova didn’t show someone who stopped her attack once she saw the damage she had caused.

“There is blood all over her arms like someone who was still engaged with a bleeding person,” he said.

“We know what she is saying because we have the recording, it’s ‘You ruined my family’.

“She has tried really hard to affect her purpose and she has done it.”

Mr Grau told the jury Ms Cisarova was not disputing that she caused the injuries that very nearly killed her mother.

“That Isabella caused the injury is not in dispute,” he said.

“She has pleaded not guilty to the charge of attempted murder and grievous bodily harm with intent, as she has told you repeatedly in this trial, because she never had the intent to do those things.”

Justice James Henry will deliver his summary before the jury will retire to deliberate.

Originally published as Lawyers deliver final addresses in Isabella Cisarova attempted murder trial