Coroners Act In the matter of the Coroner's Findings and Recommendations regarding the death of Ms Wendy Murphy and Ms Natalie McCormack dated 14 March 2017
Tabled Paper 242
Tabled Papers for 13th Assembly 2016 - 2020; Tabled Papers; ParliamentNT
2017-03-16
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https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/271492
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/432582
not see other men and will provide the imprisoned husband with information on what the victim may be doing. They might even take the victim to live with them. 163. When released, the husband may pursue retribution against the victim for her role in his imprisonment and her real or imagined misdeeds while he was incarcerated. 164. Ms Dominguez said that the imminent release of offenders is often the time women seek out the Women's Refuge. 165. Those consequences are obviously not intended by the criminal justice system. But those factors may well give an explanation as to why these women were so reticent to cooperate with the system. Police Response 166. In 2005 in the Inquest relating to the death of Anne Chantell Millar I recommended that Police utilise the law to hold perpetrators of domestic violence to account. The history of Police intervention in each of these cases indicates that Police did become more and more proactive after 2005. 167. Despite neither woman wishing to cooperate, on most occasions Police ensured DVOs were in place and whenever possible charged the breach of the order and the aggravated assault. 168. However the proactive efforts of Police were not able to protect or save these women. 169. Even without Kwementyaye Murphy's cooperation Police were able to put together evidence that kept Mr Scrutton in prison for over half of the last 10 years of her life. But that did not stop the beatings. Nor did the DVOs. 26