The ex-partner of murder accused David Benbow was on a mission to find the man he's accused of killing on the day he disappeared.
The cross examination of Joanna Green is continuing into its third day. The defence case is that her pointing the finger at her ex early on shaped the police investigation and resulted in "tunnel vision".
Benbow is accused of killing his friend Michael McGrath after discovering he was seeing his former partner Green.
Defence lawyer Kathy Basire raised Green's phone call with the alleged victim on the Sunday evening, having spent five hours with him that afternoon.
He told her Benbow had visited him at home asking him to help with a job at his Candys Road house the following morning.
On the Tuesday night Green said she rang McGrath's mother to ask if he’d turned up for tea. He hadn’t. This was after she had tried calling him 22 times.
Basire put to her “You asked 'has Michael turned up?'"
"She said no and you said 'I’m concerned David’s done something to him'.”
Green said "I was on mission to find Michael”.
Basire then asked her about her next phone call to Benbow when he said he hadn’t seen McGrath.
“I think I said 'liar' or 'bullshit you saw him on Sunday and he was supposed to come around Monday morning'."
Basrie said Benbow replied he didn't show up. "You know what's he's like."
"You said 'you’ve got one chance to tell me if you’ve hurt him or I’m calling the police'," Basrie said of Green, who said that was correct.
Basire said “he sounded annoyed didn’t he?"
Green replied “yes, he raised his voice'."
Basire said "and you hung up'."
She replied “yes”.
Basire continued: “In that phone call didn’t he say to you what’s happening, do you want me to come around…? You said 'no I’m at Mike's'. Do you recall how that phone call ended?"
Green, holding back tears, replied: “No. I was on a mission to find Michael. I would do anything to find Michael”.
After that evening Green told Benbow there would be no access to their girls until McGrath was found.
However, defence counsel pointed out that she had never gone through with a protection order and visits with the children were resumed.
Drinking habits questioned
The defence lawyer then asked about Green's drinking.
Basrie put it to her that in the two years preceding their separation she was drinking multiple gins a night.
Green denied that and asked why this was relevant.
The defence said they wanted to show how her drinking may have affected her memory around this time. Benbow had drawn a line on the gin bottle to monitor how much she was drinking - Green said this was another example of how she was being controlled.
It was put to her that she slapped Benbow several times when she was drunk, something Green denied vehemently.
She became very upset as her texts to her friends at that time were then read out in court, including one where she called herself a booze hag.
“I’ve bought three gin bottles to kill some more brain cells” and “I’m giving the gin bottle a hug”.
The defence asked if at times she forgot things she said or did.
"At times, yes" was the reply.
She was then asked “when Mike didn’t reply on Monday you thought it might be because he was pissed off with you?"
It was put to her that she couldn’t remember the conversation she’d had with him the previous night.
“Mike didn’t like you drinking did he?"
Green replied: “No, he said I was a guts”.
The defence asked if McGrath didn't drink much himself, a statement Green agreed with.
When asked by the Crown prosecutor Claire Boshier if her drinking habits had changed after her separation from Benbow, she agreed. “Yes, I didn’t drink so much”.
Her cross-examination has concluded.
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