24-year-old Jake Danby’s ‘vile’ and ‘repugnant’ texts about Aboriginal hit and run victims at centre of appeal bid
NT Prosecutors say a NT driver’s ‘racist’ texts about his Aboriginal victims had ‘shocked the public consciousness’, but his defence lawyer said his young client should not be locked up ‘based upon their stupidity or the repugnancy of their ideas’. Read the latest here.
WARNING: This story contains content some readers may find distressing, and the name of an Indigenous man who has died, with the permission of his family.
A young man’s ‘racist’ world view allegedly shaped his decision to leave an Aboriginal man to die in the street, with his texts mocking his hit and run victim as an “oxygen thief”, “n******s” and a “dumb c**t”.
On Thursday prosecutor Pat Williams called on the NT Supreme Court of Appeal to resentence 24-year-old Jake Danby over the fatal hit and run which killed a 39-year-old Kunwinjku man, known for cultural reasons as Mr Whitehurst.
Danby was speeding down Vanderlin Drive near the Hibiscus Shopping Centre on June 13, 2024 when he struck two pedestrians, a 37-year-old and Mr Whitehurst.
Disturbing CCTV showed the moment Danby ploughed into the Aboriginal man at 79km/h — 19 km/h over the limit — leaving him with a traumatic brain injury and multiple broken bones.
Mr Whitehurst died in hospital three days later.
Danby did not slow down or stop, and later sent a series of texts about his victims, telling a mate “They were rolling all over the road like b***hes when I looked in my mirror”.
“The world needs c**ts like me to take a hit to teach these c**ts a lifelong lesson,” he wrote.
“Maybe if I’m lucky I’ll be able to claim his Centrelink for taking out another oxygen thief.”
In the wake of the crash, Danby, a relative of the Attorney-General, texted that he did not expect to spend any time in prison, stating: “I’m a Danby, we don’t go to jail”.
In September, Danby was sentenced to five months in home detention and a 12-month community corrections order.
NT Attorney General Marie-Clare Boothby said she had never been involved in her step-nephew’s case and had disclosed the relationship to Chief Minister Lia Finocchiaro.
On Thursday, Mr Williams said allowing Danby to escape a real term of imprisonment had “shocked the public consciousness”, calling his non-custodial sentence “manifestly inadequate”.
Mr Williams said texts were not only vile and shocking, but showed how racism motivated Danby’s decision to reject his “moral obligations” to help his fellow citizen and report the crash.
“He makes plain, in his use of those repugnant terms, that part of the reason for rejecting that obligation is that he views those persons as less than him,” he said.
“His justification for rejecting his moral obligations is in itself something we should find completely intolerable.”
Police ultimately found Danby was not responsible for the crash, however the courts heard he was speeding and texted he was scared police would drug test him as he “smashed a P after work”, which the Alcohol and Drug Foundation said was slang for crystal methamphetamine.
Chief Justice Michael Grant said the core question was if the texts —sent four hours after the crash — could play a part in the sentencing, as they were “post conduct offending”.
Justice Grant said harsh and terrible language was not considered an “aggravating” factor in the eyes of the law.
But Mr Williams responded the texts “go to his state of mind and his rejection of his duty to stop and render assistance, and the basis of his rejection was a racist one”.
Defence barrister Jon Tippett said no matter how “appalling” his client’s texts were, it should not be the reason he should face time in a cell.
“We don’t sentence people based upon their stupidity or the repugnancy of their ideas, we sentence them on the basis of their behaviour,” Mr Tippett said.
Mr Tippett said the young man had been publically “tarred and feathered” during the national backlash to his sentence.
He agreed sentencing judge, Justice Sonia Brownhill, was clearly “repulsed” by the messages, but she was able to “see the wood for the trees” and correctly assess the severity of Danby’s actions and his real prospects of rehabilitation.
He said ultimately the community would be benefited by rehabilitating Danby, rather than condemning him to a cell.
“The community should be applauding such a sentencing, because it works,” he said.
Mr Tippett confirmed tDanby had been compliant with his community corrections order, which included alcohol testing, ongoing supervision by probation and parole officers, and a five-month home detention order.
The Court of Appeal adjourned its decision to a later date.
