Rachel Liu, 32, pleaded guilty on Friday to intimidating her estranged husband’s new partner after a high-speed car chase through Earlwood in Sydney’s inner west in December 2024, New South Wales court records show.
Prosecutors said the pursuit began after Liu followed a black Mercedes SUV she believed was carrying her ex-husband. Liu, who had separated from her husband, Chen Ling, in 2023 after more than five years of trying to conceive, had been sent a WhatsApp photograph of the new partner’s positive pregnancy test shortly before the incident, according to media reporting.
Police and court documents say Liu pursued the Mercedes in a Lexus IS300 through residential streets late at night. She approached the vehicle and banged on its window, then drove off. Believing her husband was the driver, Liu repeatedly rammed the Mercedes with her sedan during the chase, authorities said. The pursuit ended when she lost control of her vehicle and collided with a road sign on a median strip on Hamilton Avenue. The Mercedes driver was reported to be uninjured and contacted police shortly after the crash.
An initial charge of predatory driving was later withdrawn by prosecutors, while Liu entered a plea to an intimidation offence. She will be sentenced at a later date. Her lawyer, Greg Goold, said outside court that Liu believed she was following her husband, not the woman who was ultimately injured by the events. He told local media that the breakdown of Liu’s eight-year marriage in 2023 followed years of failed in vitro fertilisation attempts and alleged infidelity, which left his client ‘‘in a really badly depressed state.’’
Liu spent two months in custody after the December incident and spent her 32nd birthday behind bars. Her lawyer said he is arguing for the matter to be dealt with under the Mental Health Act. Liu declined to comment outside court.
The criminal matter adds to a series of incidents in Australia and elsewhere that have prompted debate over how courts balance community safety, criminal accountability and mental-health considerations in domestic and relationship-related offending. The local police investigation produced the report to prosecutors that saw the more serious predatory-driving charge dropped; court filings indicate the intimidation charge will form the basis for sentencing submissions.
The case will return to court for sentencing, where magistrates will consider the prosecution facts, defence submissions about Liu’s mental state and any prior criminal history. Sentencing outcomes in similar matters have included community-based orders, supervision under mental-health legislation, fines and custodial terms, depending on the seriousness of the offending and the offender’s personal circumstances.
No injuries were reported to the Mercedes driver, and there were no other reported casualties from the crash. Authorities have not released details about any civil proceedings or restraining orders arising from the relationship breakdown.
Reporting on the incident cited local television coverage and court appearances on Sept. 12, 2025. The court appearance left the legal timetable open for further submissions before a sentencing hearing is set.