Woman sentenced to five years for accidentally killing abusive partner.
12 replies, posted
A Melbourne woman has been sentenced to five years' jail for the manslaughter of her abusive partner, who she killed in a "freakish accident" by causing a sign to split his head open.
Jessie Donker, 31, began driving towards Richard Powell in a carpark at Sunbury, north of Melbourne, after he attacked her as she slept inside her car in the early hours of January 8, 2017.
The court heard Mr Powell, 32, had pulled Donker out of the car by her hair before punching her in the face.
It heard she got back in the car and began driving at him in an attempt to taunt and frighten him, something she felt he had done to her over many years.
But Donker's car hit a parking sign, which bent and struck Mr Powell on the head, splitting his skull.
He was killed instantly.
Donker will be required to serve two years of her sentence before becoming eligible for parole.
Jessie Donker sentenced to five years' jail for manslaughter of ..
Really?
It gets better:
Outside court, Mr Powell's mother, Antonia Powell, said she was very upset listening to the judge's sentencing remarks.
"It was only giving her side of the story," Mrs Powell said.
"Throughout their relationship, it has been violent, but she's also been an instigator.
"She could be out in January, it's just not enough.
Rich.
The couple's relationship became abusive when Donker was pregnant with their first child, the court heard.
Mr Powell, who abused the drug ice, would physically, psychologically and verbally abuse Donker, including by grabbing her around the throat.
The court heard Donker would sometimes react violently by trying to assault Mr Powell.
Ah yes, hitting a person strangling you is "assault".
I'm actually staggered she is being jailed for this. I don't normally get on board with this type of thing but fucking hell.
On one had, I feel bad for her and the mother is a fucking idiot. But the other hand its still manslaughter considering the dude wasn't a threat to her at that moment. I can see how the judge saw it in a literal sense, but id give her a lot less time than 5 year or 2 with probation.
If she serves two years that sounds reasonable in my opinion. Doesn't change that it's a pretty sad story.
Wow, quite a nuanced domestic abuse case. The fact that it happened in such a way with the sign post and not as a full on hit and run makes all the difference here.
Yes driving at someone to scare them is stupid as hell but no one would ever imagine that would result in a weaponized traffic sign.
Like, what are the odds.
Its a shame that she has to go to jail for standing up for herself (and obviously killing her SO). But manslaughter is manslaughter. Hope she doesnt have a worse time in jail than she did with her partner
Jessie Donker, 31, began driving towards Richard Powell in a carpark at Sunbury, north of Melbourne, after he attacked her as she slept inside her car in the early hours of January 8, 2017.
The court heard Mr Powell, 32, had pulled Donker out of the car by her hair before punching her in the face.
I mean he clearly was a threat since just before this he was literally attacking her in her sleep. It's totally reasonable for someone to panic in a state like that.
The law is still pretty clear cut as to what is and what isn't justifiable use of force. Had she hit him over the head while he was attacking her and he died there's a pretty good chance she would have gotten off with self defense.
However, as the attack was already over and done with, she decided to threaten him by driving the car at him which while accidental ultimately lead to his death.
It's a pretty shitty situation all around.
I don't see how a jail sentence serves the public interest tbh, she'sisn't exactly a threat to the public. A suspended sentence/peobation/whatever the aussies call it wpuld be more appropriate if you had to charge her with anything, this isn't justice.
Man that just sounds like a death scene from a movie or something. I can see how the manslaughter charge is fair but the mother can fuck off tbh. Maybe if the guy hand't been an abusive fuck none of this would have happened?
Beyond the fact that the judge is probably in a better position to decide that than us, she still did decide to drive a car towards him to scare him. Even if she was under psychological duress, that's still dangerous behaviour, and a person - however unsympathetic - ended up dead because of her actions. It's hard to say without knowing everything that came out in court.
But shes in the car and can get away, meaning shes no longer in danger to him standing on the side of the road. If a robber punched you in the gut and left, you cant chase after him and shoot him dead as self defense because youre no longer in danger.
5 years is probably too harsh but it Australia's penal system was anything like America's, most people would consider it getting off lightly.
Yeah 5 years is too much imo, but as I wrote earlier, I don't think two years served would be unreasonable, especially as she has already served quite a bit of that. I just don't agree that she should get off scott-free simply because her husband was an asshole.
I read in a different article that they apparently lost custody of the children - now this might be exclusively (or near enough) the fault of the husband, and I don't want to speculate too much, but in general the articles are pretty vague. Like the part quoted in the OP:
"Mr Powell, who abused the drug ice, would physically, psychologically and verbally abuse Donker, including by grabbing her around the throat.
The court heard Donker would sometimes react violently by trying to assault Mr Powell."
I mean we can assume (like Download did) that this means she would sometimes react violently to being strangled (which would obviously be justified), but it could just as easily be in response to verbal abuse as far as the wording goes. I don't wanna take the part of the parents, but what if Mr. Powell also had a habit of "reacting violently" because of abusive comments? Or reacting violently to Donker "trying to assault him"?
The judge obviously seems to think that Jessie was the more sympathetic part, and I'm gonna assume that judgement is sound. At the same time abusive relationships are often not one-way streets, and I think assuming that she's necessarily the nicest and most innocent person around is a bit much. I think the article is a bit too vague to pass judgement on that tbh.
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