Michael O’Connell, now 45, has been sentenced for the manslaughter of his former partner. Photo: Facebook.
Michael O’Connell has been sent to prison for a decade for the manslaughter of his former partner, Danielle Jordan.
The now-45-year-old had originally been found guilty of murdering Ms Jordan (who was also known as Danielle Patricia Fleming) and sentenced to 15 years behind bars.
Ms Jordan suffered a serious head injury after being thrown from the bonnet of O’Connell’s ute in Melba on 15 April 2022. Her life support was turned off two days later.
In June, the ACT’s Court of Appeal overturned that conviction and sentence, and in September he was found guilty of manslaughter.
A recently published Supreme Court decision outlined that O’Connell was to return to prison for 10 years, backdated to 15 October 2022, taking into account his continued lack of remorse over Ms Jordan’s death and a previous conviction of stalking another woman in 2021.
In her sentencing remarks, Justice Belinda Baker said she was satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that O’Connell “foresaw the probability (indeed the certainty) that the victim would be dislodged from the vehicle and would collide with the roadway”.
“I am [also] satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that, although the offender’s purpose was not to seriously injure the victim, in driving with the victim on his bonnet and in his immediate line of sight, the offender appreciated that, as a slight female, the victim might be injured, and potentially seriously injured, when dislodged from the moving vehicle,” she said.
Justice Baker noted there wasn’t any suggestion O’Connell had been impacted by drugs or alcohol, or driving at an excessive speed when the incident occurred.
But O’Connell still displayed a high level of moral culpability when committing manslaughter.
“I have found that the offending was not only objectively dangerous, but also that the offender appreciated that the victim may be injured, potentially seriously so, when dislodged from the vehicle,” Justice Baker said.
“His decision to continue to drive in these circumstances represents a degree of moral culpability which … is potentially higher than the inadvertent negligence which often characterises offences of vehicular manslaughter.”
Justice Baker previously found O’Connell had expressed no remorse over Ms Jordan’s death, and continued to “not accept responsibility for his offending”.
“Although unremorseful, I am satisfied that the offender’s grief as a result of his involvement in the death of the victim will provide a measure of specific deterrence.”
When considering O’Connell’s overall conduct for her sentencing decision, Justice Baker noted her original factual findings of O’Connell’s conduct hadn’t changed, despite the changed offence from murder to manslaughter.
The objective seriousness of the offence remained high; it still occurred in a family violence context, and the risk of serious injury was “readily apparent”, and the incident would have also been a “terrifying experience” for the young witness to the crime, who had been staying with Ms Jordan when the offence occurred.
“The terror caused to the victim in the final moments of her life was extreme,” Justice Baker said.
“Taking into account each of these matters, the need for general deterrence, personal deterrence, denunciation and recognition of the protection of the community is high,” she said.
“Comparatively less weight should be given to rehabilitation, given my guarded, albeit generally positive, finding in this respect.”
O’Connell was ultimately sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment, six months of that accumulating with his sentence for the stalking charge.
The manslaughter sentence was backdated to 15 October 2022, with a parole period of six-and-a-half years.
O’Connell will be eligible for parole from 14 April 2029.
Sorry but the REAL Summernats is a thing of the past. View