Kenneth Satour-Brown: Barkly domestic violence abuser sent back to jail after machete attack

A Tennant Creek man with a history of violence tried to argue he was a changed man and shouldn’t go back to prison, notwithstanding a machete attack on his partner that cut her head open.

Kenneth Satour-Brown, 40, has committed a second serious domestic violence attack in Tennant Creek in the space of two years. Picture: Alex Treacy

A Tennant Creek man with a history of violence has been ordered back to prison to serve the unexpired portion of a suspended sentence after taking a machete to his partner and splitting her head open.

Kenneth Satour-Brown, 40, was originally jailed for 31 months after pleading guilty to burglary and theft in Tennant Creek on January 9, 2021.

He spent the period between February 7, 2021 and July 1, 2022 remanded in custody before being released on a suspended sentence, with 281 days’ incarceration hanging over his head if he misbehaved further.

He did not stay out of trouble, according to a December 6 decision by Supreme Court Justice John Reeves.

Supreme Court Justice John Reeves. Picture: File

On November 26, 2022, he stole $580 from his then girlfriend’s bank account, before the following day slapping her in the face and punching her in the back of the head.

He was arrested on December 13, 2022, and was remanded in pre-sentence custody until June 16, 2023, when he was granted bail.

After an inexplicable delay, Satour-Brown eventually pleaded guilty to the domestic violence theft and assault charges and was sentenced on October 18 this year to 10 months’ imprisonment.

However, he wasn’t required to serve any additional time above the six months he spent on remand, with the four months remaining suspended.

That still wasn’t the end of Satour-Brown’s offending, according to Justice Reeves.

Last month on November 2, the defendant was arrested in Tennant Creek and charged with assaulting his partner and attacking her with a machete.

According to Justice Reeves, about 10.30pm on November 1, Satour-Brown kicked the woman forcefully in the leg, then drew a “large machete” about 40cm in length, which he used to cut down on the crown of her head, leaving a 4–5cm laceration.

Satour-Brown has pleaded guilty and will be sentenced next year on January 15.

The question to be tried before Justice Reeves was whether it would be unjust to activate the 281 days hanging over Satour-Brown’s head from the original sentence on June 30, 2022.

Satour-Brown argued he had demonstrated “strong compliance” with the conditions of his suspended sentence between June 2023 (when he was released on bail for the theft and aggravated assault charges) and October 2024 (prior to the machete attack), taking “significant steps to advance his rehabilitation”.

“Accordingly, he contended that he should be allowed to continue those efforts and not be returned to prison,” Justice Reeves said.

He tendered evidence including a letter from the clinician treating his complex PTSD and testimonials from his current and former employer, but this was not enough to sway Justice Reeves.

“If it were not for the defendant’s recent reoffending he would have had a strong claim to be allowed to pursue the laudable initiatives he has taken over the past 18 months, approximately, to achieve his rehabilitation,” the judge said.

“However, that very serious domestic violence reoffending has, in my view, essentially destroyed all that good work.”