Tasmanian woman knifed partner in back in alleged Hobart social housing murder

A Tasmanian woman accused of stabbing her romantic partner to death following a heated argument over his infidelity has pleaded not guilty to murder in a Hobart court. How the trial will unfold.

A Tasmanian woman is standing trial, alleged to have stabbed her romantic partner in the back. Picture: iStock.

A Tasmanian woman accused of stabbing her romantic partner to death following a heated argument over his infidelity has pleaded not guilty to murder in the Hobart Supreme Court.

Police allege Annette Louise Ruth Hancock, 55, used a large kitchen knife to kill her partner of three years, 51-year-old Benjamin Harris, inside his Harrington Street social housing unit on the night of March 9, 2022.

Walford Terraces (formerly Windsor Court) housing development, Harrington Street, Hobart.

On the first day of Ms Hancock’s trial on Monday, prosecutor Jack Shapiro said the couple had both been drinking heavily in the lead-up to the quarrel, which had escalated when Mr Harris told the accused that the woman he had cheated with “was better than her”.

In a fit of rage, Ms Hancock stabbed Mr Harris in the back with the knife, forcing its blade between his eighth and ninth vertebrae to a depth of 13cm, Mr Shapiro alleged.

The jury heard that Mr Harris received a punctured lung in the attack, before he suffered a fatal heart attack due to blood loss.

“There was a significant ongoing conflict between the couple, primarily relating to infidelity,” Mr Shapiro said in his opening address.

“We allege that they were both very drunk, and fought about the fact that he had slept with someone else.”

A Tasmanian woman is standing trial, alleged to have stabbed her romantic partner in the back. Picture: iStock.

Mr Shapiro said jurors would be played body-worn camera footage recorded by police who responded to a triple-0 call at the unit, and hear evidence from a forensic pathologist that Mr Harris’s death was caused by his injury.

Jurors would also see a video interview Ms Hancock conducted with police the morning after the incident, during which prosecutors allege she denies having meant to kill Mr Harris.

Mr Shapiro said Ms Hancock told interviewing police that she had stabbed her partner because she was drunk, and because she had not taken her regular medication.

Other witnesses at the trial would include several of the deceased’s neighbours at Walford Terraces, medical scientists, and paramedics who attempted to resuscitate Mr Harris inside his unit.

Ms Hancock’s defence counsel, barrister Kim Baumeler, opted not to give an opening address to the jury.

Justice Helen Wood adjourned the court until Tuesday.