Dennis French: Cheryl Ardler’s killer learns fate for keeping another girlfriend hostage

Already jailed for a decade for killing his ex-partner Cheryl Ardler, convicted killer Dennis French has faced judgment for attacking another girlfriend with a hammer and keeping her captive.

Dennis Andrew French.

A convicted killer will be jailed for seven years after he held a girlfriend hostage, nailed the doors shut and threatened to cut her stomach.

Dennis Andrew French, 43, was sentenced in 2021 to 10 years jail for killing his girlfriend Cheryl Ardler in 2012 and burying her body in a dry creek bed less than a kilometre from his Cranebrook home.

French pleaded guilty to manslaughter after a teenage boy discovered Ardler’s skull in 2018.

On Friday, French fronted Campbelltown District Court for sentencing on an unrelated matter after he held a girlfriend hostage in July 2016 - the same month he was due to give evidence at a coronial inquest into Ms Ardler’s disappearance and suspected death.

He pleaded guilty to two offences, including taking a person with the intent to commit a serious indictable offence and one which can not be named for legal reasons.

Cheryl Ardler, pictured, was killed in 2012, but her remains were not discovered until 2018.

French attacked the woman with a hammer inside the home one morning in July and she fled the house but returned three days later, only for French to lock her in the house for more than a week.

Documents tendered to court said French nailed shut the doors and windows of the house and refused to let the woman leave the property, all the while subjecting her to ongoing physical assaults.

He also terrorised her with threats of “hunting her down” if she ended their relationship, at one stage telling the woman “if you ever leave me I’ll cut your stomach open”.

He eventually removed the nails from the door as he had no money and it was her payday, but he still would not let her out of his sight.

Dennis Andrew French.

The woman eventually made her escape and ended the relationship in December 2016 but did not make a statement to police until January 2019, six months after the discovery of Ms Ardler’s remains. French was arrested and charged the next month.

During judgment on Friday, Judge Tanya Smith said due to a plea of guilty being entered at a late stage French was only eligible for a five per cent discount in his sentence.

Judge French said French started using alcohol between age 10 and 14, and cannabis at age 11.

“The offender described [his home] as being a highly volatile environment … he started injecting heroin in his late 20s and methamphetamine in his 30s,” she said.

Judge French also referenced reports submitted to court which said French had challenges with reasoning and processing due to a disorder of the frontal lobe of the brain and substance abuse.

She said the disorder and French’s deprived childhood resulted in a reduction in moral culpability.

Judge Smith said the court could only be “pessimistic” about French‘s rehabilitation due to his ”violent offending against women”, his substance abuse and his brain condition.

Making a finding of special circumstances, Judge Smith sentenced French to seven and a half years jail with a non-parole period of four years.

The sentence will commence from June 14, 2024 and he will be eligible for release in in June 2028.