Pride of Australia nominee Jesse O’Donnell fights for tougher punishment for domestic violence offenders

JESSE O’Donnell laughs when he speaks of the justice system and the man who killed his sister, and fights for tougher punishments for domestic violence offenders.

Jesse O'Donnell , from Doreen,campaigns for Rekiah's Law after his sister was killed by her boyfriend. He's calling on law reform to stop men with abusive histories from getting lighter sentences after they kill their partners. Jesse has been nominated for the Young Leader category. Picture:Carmelo Bazzano

JESSE O’Donnell laughs when he speaks of the justice system and the man who killed his sister.

“It’s just a joke to me,” he says of the system he believes failed to protect and honour Rekiah.

“A complete joke.”

Jesse speaks calmly as he tells how Nelson Lai ended his big sister’s life with a single bullet through the temple.

Move to the courts that found Lai guilty of manslaughter, a frustrated smirk flickers across the 22-year-old’s lips.

It’s this that Jesse hopes to change as a domestic violence advocate and campaigner for Rekiah’s Law — a crackdown on killers with violent pasts.

In the weeks since the trial of his sister’s boyfriend and killer ended, Jesse has created a media storm, questioning how an ice addict with a loaded gun and a history of abuse could be convicted of manslaughter rather than of murder.

“The main point of doing it is so Rekiah’s death wasn’t in vain,” says the Doreen man, who has been nominated for a Young Leader medal in the Pride of Australia awards.

“You grow up thinking you’ve got this justice system, if anything ever happens to you and your family you’ve got that support.

“But you go through something like this and (the system is) not supporting you, it’s actually supporting the person who has done it.

“It’s the biggest kick in the guts you could experience.”

Jesse hopes if Rekiah’s Law comes to pass, domestic violence offenders would face tougher punishment.

Lai hasn’t been sentenced yet, but the average jail time for manslaughter is seven years.

For Jesse and his family it’s not long enough and it’s the motive behind the Rekiah’s Law slogan — Remember the victims, punish the guilty.

“It’s literally the opposite way around at the moment with our justice system,” Jesse says.

“They’re remembering the guilty and punishing the victims.”

www.rekiahslaw.com