Add Category
Anthony Bell with his wife Kelly Landry after the finish of the Sydney to Hobart race in 2011.
FORMER TV presenter Kelly Landry has failed in her bid to have a final protection order imposed by the court against her “accountant to the stars” husband Anthony Bell.
The final apprehended violence order (AVO) was rejected despite the court accepting Ms Landry’s version of events about a violent confrontation with her husband — who Magistrate Robert Williams found had been “intimidating” and “controlling” during a fight at their Watsons Bay mansion.
But Mr Williams told a packed Downing Centre Local Court on Thursday afternoon there was no opportunity for further incidents now they were separated and didn’t agree a final AVO was appropriate or needed by Ms Landry for her protection.
“There appears to be little if no opportunity of future incidents,” he said.
The AVO had been sought by police on behalf of Ms Landry, 37, after an interim order was granted in January.
Outside court, 46-year-old Mr Bell said he was “pleased justice has prevailed, I’m very much looking forward to getting on with my life and my children’s lives.”
He believed it was important “to stand up to this” but he could see why “some partners choose not to”. Despite that he’d thought about whether it was worth it “a million times”.
When asked for his reaction to the court accepting Ms Landry’s version of events he did not answer, walking away from reporters with his legal team and family, including his mother and sister.
Kelly Landry leaves the Downing Centre Local Court after her AVO application was dismissed.Source:AAP
In delivering his judgment, the court heard there were “unhappy differences” in the marriage that had been evident throughout the four-day hearing earlier this month.
Mr Williams said there was an “unnecessary amount of detail” revealed about the private lives of the Sydney glamour couple, but the court was not required to make findings about those and he would “not do so”.
Ms Landry accused Mr Bell — a celebrity accountant and champion Sydney to Hobart skipper — of two episodes of violence. The first at their former Bondi unit in February 2012 and a second at their $12.5 million Watsons Bay mansion in November last year.
Mr Williams said there were inconsistencies in both Ms Landry and Mr Bell’s account of the Bondi apartment incident.
He highlighted two different “versions” of the alleged incident Ms Landry told to two different people and said a “lack of conclusive” evidence meant he couldn’t be sure of the evidence Ms Landry relied on as part of her case for an AVO.
Speaking about the November 2016 incident, Mr Williams said the evidence of Ms Landry and Mr Bell was “clearly different and there no witnesses”.
Anthony Bell said he was pleased “justice has prevailed”.Source:AAP
He noted a number of inconsistencies in Mr Bell’s evidence in court compared with the statement he provided to police.
In particular, there was the complete omission of Ms Landry’s phone, which had been a source of tension between the couple in the lead up to the altercation, from his statement.
The phone recordings of the fight captured on Ms Landry’s phone were “disturbing” in that they showed the “emotive and stressed” discussions of a marriage that was clearly “breaking down”.
The sound of Ms Landry crying out as her arm hit a wall during the argument — and the noise of their child’s head hitting the wall — was “chilling”.
“It won’t easily be forgotten,” he added.
Mr Williams found Ms Landry gave “credible” evidence even though she endured a lengthy cross examination.
The court heard that “on the balance of probabilities” Mr Williams accepted Ms Landry’s version of events.
He found Mr Bell’s behaviour that night was “intimidating” and “controlling” and accepted Ms Landry fled the home at that point because she “feared for her safety” and that of her children.
During the hearing Ms Landry alleged her husband was financially mean to her and paid her “less than the nanny”.
She told of feeling intimidated and feared associates of Mr Bell, who she did not name.
Witnesses called by Mr Bell told of excessive drinking by Ms Landry and his barrister Ian Temby QC accused her of using the AVO as a means of gaining leverage in divorce proceedings in the Family Court.