Mum’s plea to never let killer Darren Ashley out

DARREN Ashley cut a lonely figure in the dock of the Supreme Court in Darwin yesterday where he was sentenced to life in jail — 1758 days after he murdered his estranged wife, Kirsty Ashley

Kirsty Ashley's mother Heather Steadman outside court on Wednesday.

DARREN Ashley cut a lonely figure in the dock of the Supreme Court in Darwin on Wednesday where he was sentenced to life in jail — 1758 days after he murdered his estranged wife, Kirsty Ashley.

In sentencing Ashley to life imprisonment with a 22-year non-parole period, Supreme Court Justice Dean Mildren said Ashley remained unremorseful for the planned murder of Ms Ashley on “the fateful day” in Alice Springs on May 15, 2012.

He said Ashley had lied to police from the very beginning, and continued to lie at last year’s trial, when he said he killed Ms Ashley in self defence after she came at him with a knife. “I certainly don’t believe a word you said in your evidence, unless it was supported by other evidence,” Justice Mildren said.

His words were echoed outside court by Ms Ashley’s mother, Heather Steadman, who watched the sentencing by video link from the Alice Springs courthouse.

Kirsty Ashley

“There’s no remorse, none whatsoever. He’s only sorry he got caught, and he’s sorry that he got found out. That’s about all I can say about him,” she said. “You always want somebody not to be let out when they’ve committed this sort of a crime.” Justice Mildren said Mrs Steadman had the “particularly dreadful experience” of finding her daughter’s body on her brother Iain’s loungeroom floor. “Her love and admiration for the deceased as a person is plain throughout her (victim impact) statement,” Justice Mildren said.

Justice Mildren said Ashley had tried to control Ms Ashley — his partner of 16 years — “and cajole her into coming home” in the weeks leading up to the murder, when she had moved in with her brother.

Justice Mildren said Ashley continued to lie about the breakdown of he and Ms Ashley’s relationship.

“You maintain ... that it was you who broke of the relationship with the deceased, but I find that it was she who broke off the relationship with you,” he said. Ms Ashley’s attempt to apply for a domestic violence order against her partner of 16 years was “the final straw” for Ashley, who mistakenly believed Ms Ashley — the mother of two of his children — had started a relationship with another man. Ashley’s defence lawyer Tony Elliot had argued that the murder was no more serious than the “middle of the road” and that it was open to Justice Mildren to sentence Ashley to the mandatory minimum 20 year non-parole period. But Ashley’s planning, violence and lies took it beyond that.

The sentence mirrors that handed down following the first trial, where Justice Jenny Blokland also sentenced Ashley to life imprisonment with a 22 year non-parole period. Outside court, Ms Ashley’s close friend, Samantha Warfe said: “I’m just grateful the judge did what he did and stood by (the original sentence).” Ashley will be eligible for parole in 2034. He will be 69 years old.