An elegant dinner at the Ritz in Paris. A post-midnight drive past the city's floodlit treasures. And then, tragedy.

The story of Princess Diana's death at age 36 in that catastrophic crash in a Paris traffic tunnel continues to shock, even after a quarter-century.

This is an account of Diana's final hours in the French capital.

Eiffel Tower likely one of the last things she ever saw

Entering the Pont de l'Alma traffic tunnel at night, one of the last things you see is the floodlit Eiffel Tower.

Its iron latticework shimmering like lace against a black sky, it likely was one of the last things Princess Diana ever saw.

The tower's lights go off every night at 1am. By that time on Sunday, August 31, a dying Diana lay trapped in a crumpled wreck of a Mercedes, with rescuers trying frantically to treat her while they cut through the metal roof.

The short ride to the tunnel from the Ritz Hotel had been a stunning one, with a view of the city's other floodlit treasures: the obelisk at the Place de la Concorde, the Arc de Triomphe off to the right, the gold-domed Hotel des Invalides across the river to the left.

Four people were in the car: a driver and a bodyguard in front, the princess and her boyfriend in back. Behind them — it isn't clear how far — were several motorcycles and perhaps two cars bearing paparazzi.

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Approaching the tunnel along the Seine River, the shining tower was just to the left. Even through the tinted windows of a luxury car, it would've been hard not to look.

Seconds later, there was a huge crash — witnesses said it was like an explosion. It would soon reverberate around the world, but for a few minutes in the still night, there was only the insistent blare of a car horn set off by the driver's slumped body, and then the clicking of camera shutters.

For the princess, after the spectacular city lights, there was only blackness.

___

10pm: The evening begins for Diana and Dodi Fayed with dinner in the sitting room of the Imperial Suite at the Ritz. It is the best suite in the hotel, and no wonder: The hotel is owned by Fayed's father, Mohamed Al Fayed.

The food comes from the hotel's two-star restaurant, Espadon, which means swordfish. It's known for its 100,000-bottle wine cellar.

Diana is reported to have ordered an appetiser of mushrooms and asparagus, and then sole; for Dodi, turbot.

Dodi may have carried a surprise in his pocket: News reports quote a Paris jeweller saying he'd sold him an "extraordinary" diamond solitaire ring for $300,000, and it is at the Ritz that Dodi may have given it to Diana.

Is it an engagement ring? No one will ever know for sure.

But the day has been tense. The couple has been having problems with paparazzi ever since their mid-afternoon arrival in Paris. First, they trailed Diana and Dodi from Le Bourget Airport outside Paris, on their way to see Villa Windsor — a mansion that once housed the Duke and Duchess of Windsor and that Dodi's father has bought and renovated. Their driver managed to shake the photographers.

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Then, an attempt to have a 9:30pm dinner at the chic Paris bistro Chez Benoit failed, when paparazzi again picked up the trail. Giving up, Diana and Dodi decide to dine at the Ritz, where there is better security.

Hotel video shows the cars arriving back at the Ritz, flashes going off as Diana goes through a revolving door, eyes downcast, looking distressed.

They walk down the Ritz's blue carpet bordered in gold toward the restaurant. Ten minutes later, they walk back down the hallway — "because of the attention in the restaurant," Paul Handley-Greaves, head of Al Fayed's security team, says later in London — and head up a spiral staircase to the Imperial Suite.

Inside, the plush hotel, with rust-coloured marble columns and floors covered with Persian rugs, is calm and peaceful. But outside the entrance, on the elegant Place Vendome, paparazzi have again gathered.

___

10:08pm: Henri Paul, the No. 2 security man at the Ritz, arrives at the hotel after having been summoned on his cell phone at 10pm.

He parks his own car outside, chats with some people and shakes hands with a friend, the night duty manager and the concierge. Their accounts, Handley-Greaves says, "are that he was sober, he didn't smell of alcohol, his gait was steady."

Paul spends the next two hours in the lobby area. At one point, he goes into the hotel bar and sits with two other security people at a table on the edge of the bar area.

There is no security camera in the bar, but both Handley-Greaves and Michael Cole, an Al Fayed family spokesman, said interviews with hotel personnel showed no evidence that Paul was drinking.

___

12:07am: After dinner, as they leave the Imperial Suite, Diana and Fayed stop to discuss the paparazzi "and the concern that the princess had that something would happen," Handley-Greaves says. "Earlier on in the day," he tells a London news conference, "she had expressed concern to bodyguard Trevor Rees-Jones at the foolhardiness of the motorcycle riders, not for the safety of the vehicle she was traveling in.

She expressed concern that the erratic manner in which they were driving might result in one of them falling under the wheels either of the lead car or the backup."

Diana and Fayed are headed to an apartment he owns off the Champs-Elysees, just near the Arc de Triomphe. Knowing paparazzi are outside, they've decided to use two decoy vehicles — Range Rover and a Mercedes. They post the Range Rover outside the Ritz's main entrance, with Fayed's regular driver at the wheel.

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They need a third car, so a rented Mercedes is called into service. The jet-black car, rented from the Etoile limousine company, is known for its silky-smooth ride, but because of its weight, it isn't the best car for weaving in and out of traffic.

"This isn't the kind of car you do slalom in," says Jean-Pierre Bretton, a limousine driver who often picks up well-heeled clients at the Ritz.

Diana and Dodi need a driver, too, and that's why Paul has been called back in from home. Paul, 41, a native of France's Brittany region, is reported to have received special training in Germany to drive the armoured Mercedes.

Police say Paul lacked the special license to drive the car; the Al Fayed family denies it.

Paris prosecutors say autopsy blood tests showed Paul was legally drunk, and judicial sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, put the blood-alcohol level at more than three times the legal limit, at least.

Despite reports that Paul was a heavy drinker, at least two bartenders who knew him told The Associated Press they never saw signs of that.

Tony Poer, a former bartender at Willi's wine bar near the Ritz, says Paul was a regular there, but only drank beer.

"I never saw him extremely drunk," says Poer, now manager of a San Francisco nightclub.

"He even gave me a ride home a few times. I wasn't worried or anything."

And Alain Bousseau, owner of the Mazarin bar not far from the Ritz, says that although Paul was reported to be a regular there, he saw him only two or three times in the last few years.

Once, he drank only a small glass of Cheverny wine; another time, he had a coffee.

___

12:19am: Dodi and Diana stand in an area by the back entrance of the hotel, milling with security officers preparing their departure.

A Ritz Hotel security camera video shows Dodi slipping his arm protectively around Diana's waist.

___

12:20am: The couple leaves the Ritz from the back entrance, and climbs into the Mercedes. Diana is dressed in a black top, black jacket and belted white trousers. Her hair is carefully coiffed and she wears red lipstick.

Dodi looks more casual in a tan jacket and long gray shirt, open at the neck and hanging loosely over stone-washed jeans.

The hotel video shows no paparazzi outside the back entrance, but the decoy ruse clearly hasn't worked.

With paparazzi in pursuit, the Mercedes travels down the Rue Cambon and turns right onto the colonnaded, boutique-lined Rue de Rivoli, with the Tuileries Gardens on the left. Arriving at the Place de la Concorde, it takes a left past the obelisk, allowing a view of the Champs-Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe on the right as it makes its way to the bank of the Seine.

Here, some photographers say, Paul already is driving dangerously. Jacques Langevin says he was told by fellow photographers that at the Place de la Concorde, when they were stopped at a red light, the Mercedes took off with a roar before the light turned green.

Already, the photographer told the Liberation daily, "the Mercedes was fishtailing dangerously and the driver didn't seem to be in control."

Neither Diana nor Fayed are wearing seat belts; only bodyguard Rees-Jones, sitting in the front passenger seat, is wearing one.

The Mercedes is heading along the river now, down the Cours de la Reine, then the Cours Albert 1st, where the approach to the tunnel lies.

__

About 12:25 am: The Mercedes enters the 200-metre-long tunnel, probably to avoid traffic on the crowded Place de l'Alma. The tunnel is brightly lit, neon bulbs reflecting on the white-tiled walls.

The approach is dangerous at high speed. The road swerves slightly to the right, then to the left; then there is a quick dip.

The speed limit is 30km/ph. A cab driver says he once tried the tunnel at 110km/ph and was scared. "That thing is narrow and dangerous," said Jacques Gaulthier. "You'd have to be crazy to take it fast."

Just how fast does Paul take it?

Police officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, say the car's speedometer was found frozen at 196km/ph. They call it an almost certain indicator of its speed at impact, but the Al Fayed family disputes that, saying the speedometer was stuck instead at zero. A Mercedes expert says the speedometer moves automatically to 0 or to top speed when power cuts off.

Witnesses also have described the car as going well over 145km/ph, perhaps close to 190km/ph.

Also, police say the car, equipped with anti-lock brakes, left 16 metres of skid marks — another indication of high speed.

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It isn't clear how many paparazzi are tailing the car, and at what distance. A lawyer for Al Fayed says a "cortege" of paparazzi were "swarming" the car. But one photographer, Lazlo Veres, says they were at least 167 metres behind.

Seconds after the car enters the tunnel in the left westbound lane, it goes out of control, striking the 13th concrete pillar dividing the tunnel, rolls over and rebounds into the right wall. It then spins around. When the car stops, it is facing east — the direction it came from.

The driver's body is slumped over the horn. The impact is so great that parts of the radiator are reportedly found embedded in his body. Fayed, behind him on the left side of the car, also is killed immediately.

Jack and Robin Firestone, tourists from Long Island in New York, are walking near the tunnel when they hear the awful noise. They run in. In interviews, they, too, describe photographers "swarming" the wreck.

Yet a doctor who says he was driving through the tunnel in the other direction just after the accident, arriving before rescuers did, says he wasn't hindered by the photographers.

Dr. Frederic Mailliez says Diana "was unconscious, moaning and gesturing in every direction" as she fought for breath.

"There were 10 or 15 photographers around, and they were snapping photos nonstop, but I cannot say they hindered my work," he says.

___

12:27am: Firefighters get the first call for help.

___

About 12:40am: Police and firefighters arrive. Diana and bodyguard Rees-Jones are still alive. The car is a crumpled mass of metal and glass.

Police arrest six photographers and one motorcyclist, confiscating their film and cellular phones.

Rescuers need to cut through the roof of the car to get the victims out. They finally extract Diana through the back. Meanwhile, emergency doctors have been trying to treat her at the scene.

___

2am: Diana is bleeding heavily from the chest when she arrives at Hospital La Pitié Salpêtrière, along with the bodyguard. She quickly goes into cardiac arrest.

Doctors close a wound to the left pulmonary vein, then try to revive her with two hours of chest massage — first externally and then directly to the heart. It fails.

___

4am: Diana is declared dead.

___

6 am: "The death of the Princess of Wales," says British ambassador Michael Jay, with doctors at a hospital news conference, "fills us all with shock and deep grief."

UN Secretary General António Guterres has launched a flash US$160 million ($234 million) appeal for flood-ravaged Pakistan, where more than 1100 people have been killed and 33 million others impacted in one of the worst monsoon seasons in more than a decade.

Tuesday's appeal came as Pakistani officials said the floods had already caused more than US$10 billion ($14.6 billion) in damages and urged more international assistance.

"The Pakistani people are facing a monsoon on steroids — the relentless impact of epochal levels of rain and flooding," Guterres said during the appeal's launch.

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"As we continue to see more and more extreme weather events around the world, it is outrageous that climate action is being put on the back burner as global emissions of greenhouse gases are still rising, putting all of us —everywhere — in growing danger," he said.

"Let's stop sleepwalking towards the destruction of our planet by climate change," he said.

"Today, it's Pakistan. Tomorrow, it could be your country."

Images of water gushing down streets, swallowing villages and destroying bridges serve as a stark reminder of the inequities of the climate crisis, which impacts the developing world disproportionately. Richer countries also bear a much larger historical responsibility for the crisis in the first place.

Pakistan last year ranked as the eighth most affected nation by climate change from 2000 to 2019, in the Global Climate Risk Index by non-profit group Germanwatch. People living in hotspots like South Asia are 15 times more likely to die from climate crisis impacts.

"This is a climate crisis," Abdullah Fadil, UNICEF's representative in Pakistan told CNN.

"A climate that has been mostly done by richer countries, contributing to the crisis, and I think it is time that the world responded to support Pakistan in this time of need."

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The deadly floods are threatening to engulf up to a third of the nation by the end of the monsoon season, taking a high toll on lives but also infrastructure, and wreaking havoc on crops across farmland in the middle of a food crisis.

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal revealed the estimated US$10 billion cost to the country on Monday.

"The world needs to come to Pakistan's assistance to deal with the effects of climate change," he told CNN.

In a statement on Monday, IRC's Pakistan country director Shabnam Baloch said that Pakistan produced less than 1 per cent of the world's carbon footprint.

A lack of hygiene facilities and clean drinking water has exacerbated the risk of diseases spreading in flooded areas, with nearly 20,000 people in need of critical food supplies and medical support, Baloch said.

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"Our needs assessment showed that we are already seeing a major increase in cases of diarrhoea, skin infections, malaria and other illnesses," she said.

"We are urgently requesting donors to step up their support and help us save lives."

On Tuesday, the US Agency for International Development (USAID) announced it will provide US$30 million in humanitarian assistance in response to the flooding in Pakistan.

"With these funds, USAID partners will prioritise urgently needed support for food, nutrition, multi-purpose cash, safe water, improved sanitation and hygiene, and shelter assistance," the agency said in a press release, adding that a USAID disaster management specialist has already arrived in Islamabad to assess the impact of the floods and to coordinate with partners on the ground.

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One-third of Pakistan could be under water soon

In a statement on Tuesday, Pakistan's military said rescue missions were ongoing and international aid was beginning to arrive in the country, including seven military aircraft from Turkey and three from the United Arab Emirates.

Helicopters had evacuated more than 300 stranded people and distributed more 23 tonnes of relief items, while more than 50 medical camps have been established with more than 33,000 patients being treated, the statement said.

Also on Tuesday, China will send two aircraft carrying 3000 tents and Japan will send tarpaulins and shelters, the statement said, adding that the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Azerbaijan have announced financial assistance.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) provided another lifeline Monday, releasing US$1.17 billion in bailout funds to avert a default on the South Asian nation's debt obligations as it grapples with political and economic turmoil worsened by the unprecedented floods.

Peter Ophoff, head of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) in Pakistan told CNN he had not seen anything on the scale of the floods in nearly three decades working for the aid agency. The country was, however, hit with similarly devastating floods in 2010.

"Pakistan is in dire need and the damages are here and we will be in this a very long time," Ophoff said.

"It's not months but years we are talking about."

The 33 million people impacted by the floods and rain represent 15 per cent of the population.

Among 1136 people killed since mid-June were 386 children, the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA) said Monday, as the unrelenting rain raised fears of more fatalities to come. Nearly half a million homes have been destroyed, according to NDMA.

"By the time this is over, we could well have one quarter or one third of Pakistan under water," Pakistan's climate change minister Sherry Rehman told Turkish news outlet TRT World last week.

'Water gushed in': Dramatic scenes of disaster

It was raining but not heavily, Ali Jan told Reuters on Monday, as he stood surrounded by water in Chadsadda in northern Pakistan. But that quickly changed.

"Suddenly the outer wall of the compound collapsed and water gushed in," Jan said.

"We barely managed to save ourselves. By the time the women were leaving the house, the water had become almost waist-deep. We evacuated the women and the cattle. The rest is there for you to see. Crops have also been destroyed."

In videos shared by the Alkhidmat Foundation Pakistan, its volunteers used a bed frame and makeshift pulley system to help a child and elderly man cross rushing floodwaters, according to the NGO's digital media manager Ihtisham Khaliq Waseer.

More than 3000 volunteers from the NGO are distributing aid across the country, he said.

"We are getting aid but it's not enough with what we need on the ground, because the damages are very much higher than expected," he said, adding that volunteer teams have been stretched thin delivering supplies to hard-to-reach areas for weeks.

Waseer said he hopes that as rains weaken and flood waters recede in the coming week based on weather forecasts, his team would be able to deliver food rations and set up medical centres in remote areas.

Former Sydney school teacher Chris Dawson murdered his first wife Lynette so he could pursue a relationship with the family babysitter, a judge has found.

In a marathon ruling that spanned five hours, Justice Ian Harrison said Dawson lied about receiving phone calls from his missing wife, and concluded she was killed on or around January 8, 1982.

Justice Harrison said Dawson, now 74, was "obsessed" with the family babysitter, known as JC, and sought to replace his wife with her.

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"I am left in no doubt. I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that the only rational inference (is that) Lynette Dawson died on or about 8 January 1982 as a result of conscious or voluntary act committed by Christopher Dawson," the judge said.

He also said he was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Lynette did not abandon her family, and would not have left her two daughters.

He also dismissed claims Mrs Dawson had been seen alive after January 1982 or that she had contacted her husband.

"The whole of the circumstantial evidence satisfies me that Lynette Dawson is dead, that she died on or about 8 January 1982 and that she did not voluntarily abandon her home," the judge said.

Days after Lynette was last seen, the teenage babysitter moved in with Dawson.

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The former Newtown Jets rugby league player faced a marathon two-month trial before Justice Ian Harrison.

He was immediately handcuffed and taken into custody after the guilty verdict. He will be taken to Silverwater Jail ahead of his sentencing.

Lynette's family were sitting just a metre away from Chris Dawson as the verdict was reached.

They clasped each other's hands and gasped as he was led away.

Dozens of witnesses, including Chris' twin brother Paul, Lynette's brother and former detectives were called to give evidence.

Sightings of Lyn all dismissed

In the lengthy verdict, Justice Harrison discussed in detail every witness testimony.

He dismissed every testimony from witnesses who claimed they saw Lynette after she went missing.

He said the reported sighting of Lynette Dawson at a bus stop near Gladesville Hospital in Sydney by Chris' brother-in-law Ross Hutcheon was false .

Hutcheon gave evidence to police in 2019 in which he told detectives he was driving along Victoria Road months after she vanished when he saw the missing mother.

Hutcheon is married to Chris Dawson's sister, also called Lynette.

He died earlier this year before he could give evidence at trial, however the video of his police interview was played in court.

Justice Harrison also dismissed a supposed sighting of Lyn at a northern beaches hospital by neighbours, and testimony from a man who said he saw her in a bar in 1982.

"I find it very difficult to accept a casual meeting with a stranger in 1982" without any extra context would "make the occasion remarkable", the judge said.

Phone calls a 'lie'

Justice Ian Harrison said Chris Dawson's claim he received a phone call from Lynette at the Northbridge Baths on January 9, 1982 is "a lie".

"The only evidence that Mr Dawson received a call from Lynette is from Mr Dawson," he said.

"No one apart from Mr Dawson has ever received a phone call from Lynette Dawson since she was last spoken to on Friday January 8, 1982."

Justice Harrison said within the context of an emotional and stressful marriage breakdown: "I cannot accept that Lynette Dawson would merely have telephoned Mr Dawson to say that she needed more time."

He said it is his view "fanciful" to suggest such conversations "lacking in detail" ever occurred.

"It seems remarkable that a woman that was troubled enough to call… Did not feel the need to inform her husband when her final decision was reached."

Justice Harrison said it was concerning to him that Lyn never contacted anybody else besides Dawson.

Idea Lyn would have abandoned family 'ludicrous'

Justice Harrison has Dawson's claim Lyn left her family, in particular her children, is "ludicrous".

The Crown emphasised during the trial that the mother packed no clothes, no bags, no makeup and not even her contact lenses.

"It seems to me to be extremely unlikely that Lynette Dawson would have left without any personal effects," Justice Harrison said.

He repeated the most compelling argument against Lyn walking away from her family is the love she had for her young daughters.

Justice Harrison said: "I am satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Lynette did not abandon her home".

Hitman claims dismissed

The trial heard evidence of two separate instances when Chris Dawson supposedly mentioned hiring a hitman to kill Lyn, but Justice Harrison ruled these were both unlikely.

The first claim came from Robert Silkman, who said Chris Dawson asked him about a hitman in 1975.

Silkman, a convicted criminal, testified that Dawson spoke to him on a flight home from the Gold Coast if he knew someone who could "get rid of" Lyn.

Justice Harrison said this claim "cannot be believed", is "entirely improbable" and a "fabrication".

The second claim came from JC – who said Dawson drove her somewhere in Western Sydney to speak to someone about a hitman.

Justice Harrison said this claim is "one of the most contentious" in the trial, Justice Harrison said and he is not satisfied Dawson ever said to JC he was contemplating hiring a hitman.

Hit podcast in the spotlight

The cold case came into the public's attention decades on thanks to a podcast named Teacher's Pet.

That podcast, which had to be taken off the internet during the trial, revealed new evidence which led police to charge Dawson with his missing wife's murder.

Justice Harrison was somewhat scathing of the podcast and it's creator – journalist Hedley Thomas – describing it as "less than balanced".

Dawson 'certain' to appeal guilty verdict, says lawyer

Chris Dawson is certain to appeal his guilty verdict, his lawyer has said.

Greg Walsh spoke outside court following Justice Ian Harrison's decision, and said his client still maintains his innocence.

"In respect of an appeal, I can confirm that it's probable that of course he will appeal against his conviction," Walsh said.

"Mr Dawson has always asserted, and he still does, his absolute innocence of the crime of which he's been convicted, and he will continue to assert that innocence.

"He will certainly appeal."

Walsh said Dawson is "in shock" and "upset" after being found guilty.

He said there could be an application for bail made ahead of sentencing – the date for which has not been said – due to Dawson's health.

"He's not well. He's been suffering from cognitive problems and also a lot of other, physical problems," Walsh said.

Walsh later said Dawson has been diagnosed with dementia, which may be a result of his rugby league career.

Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has lamented the police response after she accused the man who sexually abused her of harassing her online.

Tame on Monday wrote on Twitter that she was dealing with "open threats and harassment" from her her maths teacher Nicolaas Bester, who groomed and raped her when she was 15.

She wrote today she had made a second report against Bester.

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"TasPol's response to the first open threat from April was for me to source the IP address," she tweeted on Tuesday afternoon.

"If it weren't for the fact that I work in the sector and advocate myself, I might have given up then."

"'Knowing is one thing, proving is another', they said," she wrote.

She wrote that her foundation had received "veiled, intimidating emails" that indicated one of their communication lines had been hacked.

"I was also told to identify speech patterns in evidence myself," she tweeted.

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A screenshot of an email included a long and bizarre rant directed at Tame's boyfriend.

Tame has been a vocal advocate for victims of child sexual abuse.

Bester was sentenced to two years and 10 months in jail for maintaining a sexual relationship with someone under the age of 17 and possession of child exploitation material, but released earlier.

Earlier this week Bester tweeted what appeared to be a threat.

"Here it comes! Only four weeks to go. The good old come-uppance is on its way," he tweeted, using Tame's childhood email address.

After Tame drew attention to the tweet, Bester's account was suspended.

"This is targeted harassment of a known victim of his past crimes, designed to cause further harm," she said.

"I've reported them to police, but our reactive justice system is too slow, and nothing's changed."

For help in a crisis call 000. If you or anyone you know needs support, you can contact the National Sexual Assault, Domestic and Family Violence Counselling Service on 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732), Lifeline 131 114, or Beyond Blue 1300 224 636.

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A cheating husband has accused his wife of "aggressively attacking" him years before she allegedly drove into him and his mistress.

Christie Lee Kennedy, 37, had been married to David Larkin for almost a decade when she discovered he was having an affair in March 2021.

She allegedly then got into her BMW SUV, tracked down her husband using a phone locator app, and hit him and Zowie Noring at Wavell Heights, in Brisbane's north.

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Kennedy got out of her car, grabbed Noring by the hair and punched her in the head while screaming obscenities, the District Court was told.

Larkin said there had been "aggression in the past" from his wife.

Years earlier she hit him in the back of the head and ripped his shirt off during an argument, Larkin said.

"She grabbed me and said 'you are not going anywhere' … she continued to try and … stop me from leaving," he said.

But defence barrister Penny White said Kennedy was the only one who was injured during the argument, suffering a rolled ankle that prompted her to visit a doctor.

"You didn't (visit doctor) though, did you? No," White said.

"You are doing everything you can I would suggest to paint yourself as a victim here and my client as the aggressor."

Larkin replied: "I did not harm her."

White then took Larkin to task about telling a hospital social worker after he was hit by the car that he was just friends with Noring.

Larkin had told the court on Monday that he had been having an affair with Noring but only "been intimate" once.

However, he said on Tuesday his memory of the hospital stay was foggy due to medication.

"You told her (social worker) that Christie thought that you were seeing someone else but this was not the case and she (Noring) is just a female friend – remember that?" White said.

"Surely you are not saying you were so under the influence of drugs you didn't know that you were more than a friend with Zowie at the time?"

When pressed Larkin said: "I believe you would interpret that as being a lie, I guess."

The jury on Tuesday was shown CCTV footage from a nearby home of the incident.

White suggested to Larkin that Kennedy asked if he was OK after the incident as he lay dazed on the road.

"You said 'yes, I can't believe you just did that to me'," White said.

"She said 'I am sorry but I can't believe that you did that to me either'."

But Larkin said: "Possibly. I had just been hit by a car, I can't be sure."

The court heard Kennedy had allegedly tracked down her husband and ran him over along with his lover, moments after discovering the affair.

Kennedy then got out of her car, grabbed the mistress by the hair and punched her in the head screaming "fat moll", Brisbane District Court was told.

Noring said she could recall being held by the hair and punched "multiple times" by Kennedy after she was struck by the car and regained consciousness.

"I was being called, excuse my French, 'you're a f—ing fat moll'," she said.

White told a jury, "She (Kennedy) found herself in a position no one would want to be in. She found out that her husband … was having an affair with another woman.

"The events that followed from that realisation … all happened in a matter of seconds after she found out."

Kennedy accelerated towards them in her BMW SUV, driving on the wrong side of road "for some time" before hitting the pair, crown prosecutor Jennifer O'Brien said.

"The footage will show that they were lined up and hit and rolled off the bonnet," O'Brien said.

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"There was no attempt to swerve away or correct course to stop her from hitting (the pair).

"Put simply … the defendant drove her car, a large and powerful object … and ran them over."

Larkin said he had been speaking to Noring for a few minutes before he heard a car "accelerating erratically" and looked up to see his wife's BMW, which he identified due to the personalised plates.

He said the next thing he remembered was "coming to on the roadway".

Larkin suffered head cuts, arm and leg bruising and swelling, rib pain and a dislocated finger.

Noring was treated for head cuts, abdominal pain, arm abrasions as well as thigh and ankle injuries.

Larkin said he had met Noring years ago through friends but had become close in the weeks prior to the incident after they had both been through "traumatic events".

He described his marriage as "fairly rocky" but initially denied sleeping with Noring before conceding he had been cheating on his wife.

"We were having an affair if that is how you want to describe it," Larkin said under cross examination.

Kennedy pleaded not guilty to two counts of unlawful assault causing bodily harm.

She pleaded guilty to unlawful assault.

The trial before Judge Tony Moynihan continues.

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The brother of convicted murderer Chris Dawson has clashed with members of the media outside court.

Paul Dawson emerged from the court to find a scrum of reporters and camera operators.

As he walked away, Paul was jostled into a Nine cameraman.

LYNETTE DAWSON FAMILY REACTION: 'Still need to bring her home'

A police officer had to step in after he pushed off the cameraman.

Paul then shook his finger and shouted at the media before walking off.

Chris and Paul Dawson are identical twins who both played rugby league for the Newtown Jets.

They both became PE teachers on the Northern Beaches of Sydney.

Chris Dawson was found guilty of murdering his wife Lynette, 40 years after she vanished.

LIVE UPDATES & REACTION: Chris Dawson murder trial verdict

Paul and his brother Peter were in court to support their brother.

Chris Dawson's lawyer Greg Walsh said an appeal was "probable".

"Mr (Chris) Dawson has always asserted and still does his absolute innocence of the crime he has been convicted," Walsh said.

The five-hour verdict handed down today came after a two-month trial.

Chris Dawson was immediately handcuffed and taken into custody after the guilty verdict.

He will be taken to Silverwater Jail ahead of his sentencing.

Paul was among dozens of witnesses who testified in the trial.

The whereabouts of Lynette's body remains unknown.

The cold case came into the public's attention decades on thanks to a podcast named Teacher's Pet.

That podcast, which had to be taken off the internet during the trial, revealed new evidence which led police to charge Dawson with his missing wife's murder.

TIMELINE: Key events that lead to Chris Dawson's guilty murder verdict