by Keith Hunt

Lawyers in the car bomb attempted murder case today completed their closing speeches to the jury.

The judge will sum the case up tomorrow and the jury is expected to retire around lunchtime.

Love cheat soldier Nick Fabian, 33, is alleged to have booby-trapped his wife Victoria's Mazda with a grenade outside their home in Highview, Vigo village, near Gravesend, in March last year.

Pregnant Mrs Fabian, 33, a district nurse at Tonbridge Cottage Hospital, suffered serious leg injuries, while her son Charlie, nine, by a previous relationship and unborn child escaped unharmed.

Defence QC Michael Wood said in his final speech it was suggested Fabian wanted to kill his wife so that he could be with his lover Jackie Phillips, 33.

He told the jury of eight women and four men: "What is wrong with 'I am sorry Vicky, it's all over. I have found somebody else?'"

Mr Wood said Fabian knew how to walk away from a relationship as he had done so previously.

"We submit this is a deeply worrying case for a number of reasons," said Mr Wood.

"Stripped of its emotion and prejudice, there is no sensible motive for what the Crown allege Mr Fabian did.

"Are they really suggesting that instead of walking away from his wife, he goes to the lengths of booby-trapping her car, setting it off intending to kill or maim her, leaving behind a wonderful trail of clues?

"He must be obsessed by Jackie or barking mad. Our case is it is not him and he is, therefore, not guilty."

The QC described Mrs Fabian as "a totally honest, straight forward witness in extremely difficult circumstances".

He added: "Given what she has gone through and giving her evidence in the way she did is a real credit to her."

Fabian, he said, had received no training in how to make explosive devices.

Mr Wood said if the jury could not be sure Fabian stole the grenade from an exercise at Warcop, Cumbria, on January 22 last year, it was the end of the case and Fabian was not guilty.

The prosecution suggested Fabian must have planted the grenade the night before it exploded.

"Did he behave any differently?" asked Mr Wood. "Has he behaved oddly? No.

"Never mind The King's Speech, Mr Fabian should be winning Oscars if he is responsible for this."

Fabian described rushing to help his wife after the explosion and putting out flames on her legs with his bare hands.

"The Crown say he only went to help when neighbours were gathering," said the QC.

"Nonsense, absolute nonsense. Neighbours were not gathering at all."

Earlier prosecutor Graham Reeds QC told jurors: "When it became obvious that she was not dead but screaming and on fire, and when it became obvious neighbours were gathering to help her, what was he to do?

"Sit and watch her burn? Of course not. In front of his children and in front of neighbours the only thing he could have expected to do was help her.

"No doubt, it was shocking to see when the car caught fire."

Fabian denies attempting to murder Mrs Fabian, causing her grievous bodily harm with intent and causing an explosion likely to endanger life or cause serious damage to property.

He admits possessing 95 rounds of 5.56mm rifle bullets without a firearms certificate.