Remember Dannielle Finlay-Jones? Her death can’t be in vain
A teacher with the world at her feet was murdered by a serial abuser who killed himself in jail before justice could be served. Now, there’s been an infuriating update.
National
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EXCLUSIVE
Jacky Finlay-Jones feels a stab in the heart every time news breaks of yet another woman being killed by a violent man.
It’s been two and a half years since she lost her only daughter, Dannielle, at the hands of the man she met on a dating app and had been on just three dates with. The pain doesn’t ease - it just manifests in different ways.
“I don’t think it will ever get easier. It just changes, it’s not the raw, numb freshness anymore, it’s more now the total realisation that the front door will never open again,” Mrs Finlay-Jones told news.com.au.
“It’s that you’ll never hear the voice again, or see the face, the smile, and it’s just trying to move forward and trying to live your own life as she would want you to do.”
For Mrs Finlay-Jones and her son Blake, moving forward is made more difficult by the fact that hundreds of women have been killed by violent partners since Dannielle’s brutal death in December 2022.
“As much as we have hoped and prayed that we were the last person this would ever happen to, that things would change, there has been over 100 deaths last year, the numbers are going up and it’s just devastating,” Ms Finlay-Jones said.
“Danni would still be here if there had been stricter bail laws for repeat offenders and tougher rules around AVOs. In her case the man, we don’t use his name, had five AVOs taken out on him by five different women.
“Yet here he was on dating apps, matching with Dannielle, and only having to give his first name.”
Blake Finlay-Jones believes he would have seen the red flags had he met Ashley Gaddie.
The protective brother was due to meet the 33-year-old at Christmas lunch but that was thwarted the day Dannielle’s body was found.
She died in her friend’s Cranebrook home where she and Gaddie had spent the night after going out for drinks.
Gaddie was arrested after a 12-hour stand-off with police in the Blue Mountains and charged with her murder.
But in a cruel blow, Gaddie was found dead in his jail cell just over a year ago where he had been held on remand since his arrest.
Gaddie’s death didn’t bring the family any closure.
“I don’t think we had peace. Well, I don’t think I did,” Ms Finlay-Jones said looking at her son who nodded in agreement.
“I think we closed off for 16 months to make sure that we did nothing that could be ever used in the court case by the defence,” she said.
“So we had a code of silence. We wouldn’t talk to anyone. And we were nearly there, nearly at the committal hearing we had waited 16 months for, and then gone.
“He will always to the outside world be known as the accused. That’s hard.
“He was never sentenced for murder. The case just stopped. And I think then you flounder, because you don’t know what to do.”
The family now has to wait for the case to come before a coroner. They’ve been told a backlog means their case won’t even make the list this year, due to the availability of the small number of Coroners in NSW.
“We understand a small wait, but it has already been one year since the accused took his own life, one year of your lives are still in a holding pattern, one year of any recommendations that may have helped other domestic violence victims come out of the inquest wasted due to the time delay, the wait is just horrible, it is almost like they have forgotten the victim’s family and friends,” Mrs Finlay-Jones said.
“No one should have to live in this limbo. We want the government to find a way to get cases heard more quickly, whether that be more coroners, whatever they need to do.
“We can’t be the only ones in a holding pattern like this. We want the inquest to happen so recommendations can be made, so Danni’s death is not in vain and something good can come of it, maybe other victims can be spared.”
A major issue Blake also wants addressed is people like Gaddie being able to have multiple AVOs taken out against them and still be out on bail.
“In our case, five AVOS with five different unrelated women like that’s got to be a huge red flag,” Blake said.
Gaddie, 33, was half way through a two-year community sentence for stalking, choking and assaulting another woman, was out on bail on another DV related charge in June 2022 when Ms Finlay-Jones was killed, and had a string of current and prior AVOs involving numerous women dating back to 2016.
“These men have a pattern, they are charming, the love bombing, then the controlling, and then the escalation,” Blake said.
“It’s almost like a hate crime, like a woman’s hate crime and there he is on the end of an app. Swipe the wrong type of situation, a murder waiting to happen.”
Both Blake and his mum are trying to move forward and keep Dannielle’s memory alive.
“This is not what her life was. This is something very horrible that happened to her. She was extremely passionate about things,” her mum said.
“Her female football was so important to her, her interest in championing neurodivergent people.
“I guess she probably knew for a long time, but she was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 30 and I think for her then, that was like a light bulb moment.
“It explained a lot to her. In one of the child cares roles she worked at she was looking after a child who was autistic. Her most recent job was a teacher’s aide at a special school and she just loved it.”
For Mrs Finlay-Jones a coronial inquest would help bring the closure they need, though never the justice.
“It’s about moving forward, not forgetting, but moving forward, still living because that’s what she would have wanted, and to be as happy as one can” she said.
“It’s learning to smile again without feeling guilty. The guilt we feel every day, knowing that we survived and she’s not here. Yep, it’s learning to smile again.”
The NSW Government and the NSW Coroner’s Court have been contacted for comment.
NSW Local Courts confirmed no dates have been set for a coronial inquest into Dannielle’s death nor Gaddie’s death in custody.
Attorney-General Michael Daly told news.com.au that “Dannielle Finlay-Jones’ family have experienced an unimaginable loss and it is completely understandable they want the coronial process to be resolved as soon as possible”.
“The NSW Government is working to strengthen the coronial system to help provide answers for grieving families and providing extra resources to assist with caseloads.
“Funding worth $18 million for the Bondi Junction inquest has allowed an additional magistrate to be appointed. This ensures other inquests and inquiries can continue to progress.”
Mr Daley said the government had strengthened protections for victim-survivors by bringing in two new offences targeting serious and repeat breaches of apprehended domestic violence orders.
“We have also made it harder for accused serious domestic violence offenders to get bail and ensured those who are bailed are electronically monitored by Corrective Services.”
Originally published as Remember Dannielle Finlay-Jones? Her death can’t be in vain
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