WARNING: This article contains the names of deceased Indigenous people.
The family of an Aboriginal man who was tragically struck and killed by a driver who later boasted about the incident is left feeling devastated and outraged. They are grappling with the fact that the man responsible for their brother’s death has once again managed to avoid serving time behind bars, even after an appeal.
In the incident that occurred in June 2024, Jake Danby drove his car into two Aboriginal men on a street in Darwin, resulting in the death of one man and the injury of the other.
Initially, Danby received a 12-month community corrections order that included five months of home detention—a sentence that sparked widespread public indignation for being too lenient.
In response to the public outcry, the Northern Territory Director of Public Prosecutions deemed the sentence “manifestly inadequate” and sought an appeal.
On Friday, in a move that partially responded to the appeal, a panel of three judges from the Court of Criminal Appeal extended Danby’s home detention from five months to two years, acknowledging the gravity of his actions.
Delivering their decision in Darwin, Chief Justice Michael Grant said Danby would also be required to wear an electronic monitoring device.
But the family of the victim, known as Mr Whitehurst for cultural reasons, have expressed their anger and sadness over the latest punishment.
“I have a lot of questions, but right now, my heart is just broken,” Toni Whitehurst said.
“I’m strong but I got upset when I was told the new sentence. It’s not fair, he (Danby) is still out there, there is no justice.”
It emerged in his earlier court case that the 24-year-old driver had bragged in text messages that the man he killed was an “oxygen thief” and he would not go to jail.
He called it a “two for one combo” and texted it was “pretty funny watching them roll around on the road after going over my bonnet”.
Ms Whitehurst said those words continue to hurt the grieving family, as she rubbished the new punishment.
Prosecutors argued on appeal on December 11 that the text messages elevated Danby’s crime to the aggravated level.
Prosecutor Pat Williams said a jail term of more than two years was required given the seriousness of the offending and public expectations.
But defence counsel Jon Tippett said the sentencing judge had taken note of Danby’s text messages and while being appalled by them gave them appropriate weight.
Supreme Court Justice Sonia Brownhill had given his client a chance of rehabilitation and counselling and he was abiding by his corrections order amid public condemnation of his actions, the defence said.
“The renunciation in this case has been a tarring and feathering by the community,” Tippett said.
Courts shouldn’t sentence people on the basis of their stupidity or vile comments, he said.
Mr Whitehurst’s nephews often ask where their uncle is and remember him as a funny, humble and kind man.
“They miss him,” Ms Whitehurst said.
Danby was not in court on Friday and Tippett declined to comment on the revised sentence outside court.
NT Attorney-General Marie-Clare Boothby has come under fire over the Danby case, accused of not reporting a conflict of interest after it emerged he was her sister’s stepson.
Boothby said she never attempted to hide the fact Danby was an extended family member and at no time was she or her office involved in the criminal matter.
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