Killers should no longer expect leniency in the NT
Paul Toohey; 30/8/08
The case of Ronald Djana, who was sentenced this week to the longest non-parole period dealt to an Aboriginal murderer in the Northern Territory, has revealed in shocking detail the levels of degradation in the town camps of Alice Springs. It also has sent a warning that being an impoverished, alcoholic, illiterate, unemployed, wife-killing Aborigine will no longer win the special consideration of the courts. The Djana case represents a significant benchmark in the sentencing of Aboriginal killers in the NT, where Alice Springs remains the per-capita homicide capital of Australia. Judge Dean Mildren accepted the recommendations of Alice Springs crown prosecutor Nanette Rogers that Djana ought to receive more than the mandatory 25 years he was already facing for murdering his wife, Janie Norman, in May last year. Mildren sentenced Djana, 32, to a 27-year non-parole period for what was a cruel and sustained attack over many hours. Djana assaulted Norman in various locations in and around the Little Sisters town camp on the southwest fringes of Alice. Norman’s injuries were terrible: she was jumped on, had her head pounded with rocks, was whipped and impaled in the vagina on a stick or a pole.
See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24261875-5013172,00.html
Tags: Aboriginal, Australia, Domestic Violence, Womens Rights