Darren Ashley facing life in jail for murder of estranged wife Kirsty Ashley

ALICE Springs murderer Darren Ashley has been described in court as worse than notorious fellow wife-killer Danny Deacon

Darren Ashley on the day he was arrested on suspicion of killing his estranged wife, Kirsty, in Alice Springs. He was later found guilty of her murder. PICTURE: NT Police/NT Supreme Court

Alice Springs murderer Darren Ashley has been described in court as worse than notorious fellow wife-killer Danny Deacon.

In sentencing submissions in the Northern Territory Supreme Court on Thursday, Crown Prosecutor David Morters said Ashley, now 51, was calculated and premeditated in the 2012 murder of his estranged wife, Kirsty Ashley.

“It can’t be said that this is not as serious, if not more serious, than the facts in Deacon in any case,” he said.

“In this matter the stalking behaviour ... (and) the violence in the act of killing make this a more serious murder than Deacon.

Mr Morters said Ms Ashley’s murder took place after she applied for a restraining order against Ashley, and that the system had failed to protect her.

Ashley was found guilty of murder in a retrial late last year, after his first conviction for murder was quashed on appeal.

Ashley faces a mandatory life term, with a minimum non-parole period of 20 years unless he can prove exceptional circumstances.

Following his first trial, Ashley was handed a life sentence with a 22 year non-parole period.

Mr Morters said Justice Dean Mildren should “not impose anything less than was applied in the first instance”.

Defence lawyer Tony Elliot said Ashley would be 67 years old by the time he was considered for parole.

“When he is first eligible for release ... not only will the world have changed by then, but he will have changed as well,” Mr Elliot said.

Extracts of a psychiatric report read to the court showed Ashley had expressed some remorse.

“(He said) he deserves to be in prison because he killed Kirsty,” the report said.

Mr Elliot said it often “takes the legal process to wring ... remorse” from people.

Mr Elliot said Ashley’s attempts to hide murder weapons and lay a “false trail” for police were done after the murder, and were not a result of forward planning.

He said Ashley’s comments to friends that he wanted to kill Ms Ashley in the weeks leading up to the murder were “empty talk” and should not be seen as lengthy premeditation.

Justice Mildren will sentence Ashley on March 8.