Peter Kinthari: Darwin man jailed for inadvertently killing Wadeye brother

A Darwin man who, after a heavy session of drinking, kicked his brother in the back, inadvertently perforating the victim’s pancreas and kidney, has been sentenced for the tragic death.

Jingili man Peter Kinthari’s brother was taken to the Royal Darwin Hospital, but by then it was too late. (Photo by DAVID GRAY / AFP)

A Darwin man who, after a heavy drinking session, fatally kicked his brother in the back, inadvertently perforating the victim’s pancreas and kidney, has been sentenced for the tragic death.

Jingili man Peter Kinthari, who is in his early 40s, pleaded guilty in the Supreme Court of the Northern Territory to a charge of engaging in a violent act causing death.

The victim was his brother, who is referred to as TK for cultural reasons.

The offence occurred at Kinthari’s Jingili residence on August 3, 2022, with TK expiring the following day from catastrophic internal bleeding caused by a fractured rib perforating his right kidney and pancreas, Justice Judith Kelly told Kinthari’s sentencing hearing on May 20.

On the day in question, TK and his family had flown from Wadeye to visit Kinthari and his family, and the group began drinking heavily.

After 9pm, TK “got upset” at Kinthari, Justice Kelly told the court.

“Nobody seems to know why,” she said.

TK challenged a reluctant Kinthari to a fight, “hassling... [and] challenging him” until he agreed.

Peter Kinthari was sentenced in the Supreme Court, Darwin. Picture: Pema Tamang Pakhrin

There was a melee on the street, which drew police attention, and TK and his partner left for several hours, returning at about 11pm, where a bumptious TK “demanded” another fight after a verbal disagreement.

TK lunged at Kinthari, flipping his brother onto his back, to which Kinthari responded by pushing TK over.

While TK was sitting on the ground, Kinthari “went up to TK from behind and kicked him hard in the right side of his body,” Justice Kelly said.

This kick “caused a displaced fracture of the right posterior twelfth rib,” which, unbeknown to all, had already set in motion the victim’s death.

Soon, TK felt a “sharp and severe stomach pain,” collapsing against the bathtub.

Northern Territory Supreme Court judge Justice Judith Kelly pictured in her chambers in Darwin.

He was transported to Royal Darwin Hospital via an emergency ambulance, but while awaiting the trauma team, he went into cardiac arrest.

TK was declared deceased at 6.50am the following morning.

An autopsy subsequently determined about 1.7 litres of blood had bled into his body cavity.

Kinthari has been remanded in pre-sentence custody ever since, a period of about 22 months.

Justice Kelly said there were a number of mitigating factors, including that TK was the provocateur in both fights, Kinthari had suffered the “devastating” loss of his sole remaining brother, and that Kinthari did not mean to kill or cause serious harm to his brother.

Kinthari was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment but released immediately, with the remainder of his sentence suspended for an operational period of 18 months, conditional upon Kinthari being under the supervision of Community Corrections.