Couple’s hand sanitiser drinking session ends in tragedy, with police probing alleged DV murder
A man allegedly bludgeoned his partner to death with a rock after the couple spent a day drinking hand sanitiser, part of a grim growing trend.
A man allegedly struck his wife with a rock, killing after, after the pair reportedly spent the day drinking alcohol-based hand sanitiser.
The death marks Australia’s first alleged domestic violence fatality of the year and the latest in a string of horrific incidents to rock the Northern Territory in recent times.
The 49-year-old man called police in Alice Springs at about 12.20am on Monday to report that the woman was unresponsive near the Todd River.
The 51-year-old, an Indigenous mother, was found dead at the scene.
Officers found the man at a nearby location a short time later and arrested him. He is yet to be charged and remains in custody.
According to The Australian, he had been the subject of an 18-month good behaviour bond that expired in November, which was put in place at the end of a four-month prison sentence for aggravated assault.
He had previously breached the bond, the newspaper reported. He was also jailed in June for breaching a DV protection order, as well as breach of bail.
“A crime scene remains open in the Todd River,” NT Police said in a statement.
The Australian reported the couple had been drinking hand sanitiser for much of Sunday – an act that’s become a growing concern for authorities.
In late December, NT Police Commissioner Michael Murphy said he was considering implementing tough regulations surrounding the sale of such products.
“I’ve got some intel that they’re actually buying hand sanitiser and zero beer and mixing it together,” Mr Murphy told the NT News.
“So they’ve got the effect of a beer but it’s alcoholic now which is concerning because hand sanitiser doesn’t really make you function very well and [leads to] poor choices.”
The sale of aerosols, spray paint and nitrous oxide bullets is heavily controlled in the Territory in a bid to prevent dangerous misuse.
The abuse of hand sanitiser is not a new problem in Alice Springs, with pharmacists in the town removing products from sale as far back as February 2023.
“We’ve noticed on social media there has been some reports of hand sanitiser being poured into drink bottles that would commonly be used to drink out of,” Peter Hatswell, owner of Princeline Chemist in Alice Springs, told the NT News at the time.
“We were concerned that potential for misuse might escalate.”
Locals believe it has, with bakery owner Darren Clark, who leads the advocacy group Action for Alice, removing hand sanitiser from his shop after multiple thefts.
“The older women would come in a group of two or three and just distract you, and one of them would take the entire bottle,” Mr Clark told The Australian.
In a post on his anti-crime group’s Facebook page overnight, he questioned the lack of urgent action on hand sanitiser abuse in Alice Springs.
“Let’s not forget the Police Commissioner was clamping down on the security of hand sanitisers,” he wrote. “What happened?”
The Top End is in the midst of what advocates say is a DV crisis.
In October, a top cop with NT Police held an impassioned media conference about the “mounting tragedy” of DV-related deaths.
“Seven matters, being investigated as domestic violence homicides, [have occurred] since June 1,” Assistant Commissioner Travis Wurst said at the time.
Mr Wurst was appearing to brief reporters on the latest alleged murder, another escalation in a “mounting tragedy” that should “no longer be ignored”.
“The woman who has passed away had a family, she had children. They do not have a mother now as a consequence of the actions of this person.
“The Northern Territory can’t accept one death, let alone seven. It is something the community needs to wake up to and deal with.
“Each of these involved the death of a family member at the hands of another. Each of these involved alcohol as a contributing factor in some way.
“Police have a role to play as it relates to community safety, but we can’t be everywhere at all times. We need to do better as a community to prevent these things from happening.”
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