{"id":494120,"date":"2026-02-21T06:59:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-21T06:59:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/494120\/"},"modified":"2026-02-21T06:59:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-21T06:59:11","slug":"sentence-extended-but-no-jail-for-nt-hit-and-run-driver-jake-danby-who-called-victims-oxygen-thieves-northern-territory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/494120\/","title":{"rendered":"Sentence extended but no jail for NT hit-and-run driver Jake Danby who called victims \u2018oxygen thieves\u2019 | Northern Territory"},"content":{"rendered":"

The family of an Aboriginal man fatally run down before the driver bragged about his death are angry and heartbroken after their brother\u2019s killer has again avoided jail on appeal.<\/p>\n

In June 2024, Jake Danby hit two Aboriginal men with his car on a Darwin street, killing one and injuring the other.<\/p>\n

He was handed a 12-month community corrections order, with five months in home detention.<\/p>\n

Following public uproar, the Northern Territory<\/a> Director of Public Prosecutions appealed the sentence as \u201cmanifestly inadequate\u201d.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Danby\u2019s home detention was increased from five months to two years, as three court of criminal appeal judges upheld the application.<\/p>\n

Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n

Delivering their decision in Darwin, chief justice Michael Grant said Danby would also be required to wear an electronic monitoring device.<\/p>\n

But the family of the victim, known as Whitehurst for cultural reasons, have expressed their anger and sadness over the latest punishment.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have a lot of questions, but right now, my heart is just broken,\u201d Toni Whitehurst said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m strong but I got upset when I was told the new sentence. It\u2019s not fair, he [Danby] is still out there, there is no justice.\u201d<\/p>\n

It emerged in his earlier court case that the 24-year-old driver had bragged in text messages that the man he killed was an \u201coxygen thief\u201d and he would not go to jail.<\/p>\n

He called it a \u201ctwo for one combo\u201d and texted it was \u201cpretty funny watching them roll around on the road after going over my bonnet\u201d.<\/p>\n

Whitehurst said those words continue to hurt the grieving family, as she rubbished the new punishment.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors argued on appeal on 11 December that the text messages elevated Danby\u2019s crime to the aggravated level.<\/p>\n

Prosecutor Pat Williams said a jail term of more than two years was required given the seriousness of the offending and public expectations.<\/p>\n

But defence counsel Jon Tippett said the sentencing judge had taken note of Danby\u2019s text messages and while being appalled by them gave them appropriate weight.<\/p>\n

Supreme court justice Sonia Brownhill had given his client a chance of rehabilitation and counselling and he was abiding by his corrections order amid public condemnation of his actions, the defence said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe renunciation in this case has been a tarring and feathering by the community,\u201d Tippett said.<\/p>\n

\u201cCourts shouldn\u2019t sentence people on the basis of their stupidity or vile comments.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whitehurst\u2019s nephews often ask where their uncle is and remember him as a funny, humble and kind man.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey miss him,\u201d Whitehurst said.<\/p>\n

Danby was not in court on Friday and Tippett declined to comment on the revised sentence outside court.<\/p>\n

NT attorney general, Marie-Clare Boothby, has come under fire over the Danby case, accused of not reporting a conflict of interest<\/a> after it emerged he was her sister\u2019s stepson.<\/p>\n

Boothby said she never attempted to hide the fact Danby was an extended family member and at no time was she or her office involved in the criminal matter.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The family of an Aboriginal man fatally run down before the driver bragged about his death are angry…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":494121,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[64,63,44],"class_list":["post-494120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=494120"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/494120\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/494121"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=494120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=494120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=494120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}