WARNING: This story contains distressing content.
The Northern Territory coroner has been scathing of the actions of police leading up to a 28-year-old woman's death at the hands of her violent partner.
Coroner Elisabeth Armitage handed down her findings today into the death of the woman, known as Roberta, and said police had been "rude" and dismissive to her in the many calls she made before her death in 2019.
While trying to escape her violent partner Lorenzo Deegan in June of that year, Roberta rang Katherine police on a number of occasions pleading for help.
“The police told her not to call again and she did not. Two weeks after he found her and five days after she reported him to police, Roberta was killed,” Armitage found.
'Failed to follow procedure'
The mother of three had suffered a series of assaults at the hands of Deegan, including a journey from Darwin to Katherine which coroner Armitage described as “tantamount to kidnapping.”
She had even been assaulted by Deegan in the main street of Katherine. Most of these attacks happened in front of witnesses and family members, but none were reported to police.
When Roberta finally rang the authorities, they did nothing to help her.
“To the contrary, the police members were rude to her and dismissed her complaints. They failed to follow any of their procedures concerning domestic violence complaints,” the coroner found.
Deegan had a history of domestic violence against both Roberta and a previous partner, and was serving a suspended sentence for a separate violent crime and wearing an electronic monitoring device.
Coroner Elisabeth Armitage said police had been "rude" and dismissed Roberta's concerns before she died. Source: Supplied
"They failed to use available electronic monitoring device (EMD) information to assist them to locate and arrest Lorenzo.”
As part of the strict conditions of his suspended sentence, Deegan was banned from drinking alcohol and contacting Roberta.
The coroner blamed a communication breakdown between police, Territory Families and Community Corrections for his flagrant breaches.
“She was killed after he had participated in an alcohol-fuelled night, while she remained largely hidden in a bedroom and sober. Lorenzo’s seventh known assault on Roberta resulted in her death.”
The coroner said that Roberta’s death marked a grim milestone: 65 Aboriginal women in the Northern Territory have been killed by their current or former partners since 2000.
“The contagion of domestic violence rages unabated,” Ms Armitage wrote.
The coroner made two recommendations: that a Memorandum of Understanding between police, Corrections and Territory Families on the sharing of information, especially data from electronic monitoring devices, be finalised as soon as possible.
She also recommended Community Corrections provide more comprehensive supervision to violent offenders.
If this story has raised issues for you, or if you are currently experience domestic violence, call 1800RESPECT (1800 737 732).
