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News.com.au
37 minutes ago
- Health
- News.com.au
Remember Danielle Finlay-Jones? Her death can't be in vain
EXCLUSIVE Jacky Finlay-Jones feels a stab in the heart every time news breaks of yet another woman being killed by a violent man. It's been two and a half years since she lost her only daughter, Dannielle, at the hands of the man she met on a dating app and had been on just three dates with. The pain doesn't ease - it just manifests in different ways. 'I don't think it will ever get easier. It just changes, it's not the raw, numb freshness anymore, it's more now the total realisation that the front door will never open again,' Mrs Finlay-Jones told 'It's that you'll never hear the voice again, or see the face, the smile, and it's just trying to move forward and trying to live your own life as she would want you to do.' For Mrs Finlay-Jones and her son Blake, moving forward is made more difficult by the fact that hundreds of women have been killed by violent partners since Dannielle's brutal death in December 2022. 'As much as we have hoped and prayed that we were the last person this would ever happen to, that things would change, there has been over 100 deaths last year, the numbers are going up and it's just devastating,' Ms Finlay-Jones said. 'Danni would still be here if there had been stricter bail laws for repeat offenders and tougher rules around AVOs. In her case the man, we don't use his name, had five AVOs taken out on him by five different women. 'Yet here he was on dating apps, matching with Dannielle, and only having to give his first name.' Blake Finlay-Jones believes he would have seen the red flags had he met Ashley Gaddie. The protective brother was due to meet the 33-year-old at Christmas lunch but that was thwarted the day Dannielle's body was found. She died in her friend's Cranbrook home where she and Gaddie had spent the night after going out for drinks. Gaddie was arrested after a 12-hour stand-off with police in the Blue Mountains and charged with her murder. But in a cruel blow, Gaddie was found dead in his jail cell just over a year ago where he had been held on remand since his arrest. Gaddie's death didn't bring the family any closure. 'I don't think we had peace. Well, I don't think I did,' Ms Finlay-Jones said looking at her son who nodded in agreement. 'I think we closed off for 16 months to make sure that we did nothing that could be ever used in the court case by the defence,' she said. 'So we had a code of silence. We wouldn't talk to anyone. And we were nearly there, nearly at the committal hearing we had waited 16 months for, and then gone. 'He will always to the outside world be known as the accused. That's hard. 'He was never sentenced for murder. The case just stopped. And I think then you flounder, because you don't know what to do.' The family now has to wait for the case to come before a coroner. They've been told a backlog means their case won't even make the list this year, due to the availability of the small number of Coroners in NSW. 'We understand a small wait, but it has already been one year since the accused took his own life, one year of your lives are still in a holding pattern, one year of any recommendations that may have helped other domestic violence victims come out of the inquest wasted due to the time delay, the wait is just horrible, it is almost like they have forgotten the victim's family and friends,' Mrs Finlay-Jones said. 'No one should have to live in this limbo. We want the government to find a way to get cases heard more quickly, whether that be more coroners, whatever they need to do. 'We can't be the only ones in a holding pattern like this. We want the inquest to happen so recommendations can be made, so Danni's death is not in vain and something good can come of it, maybe other victims can be spared.' A major issue Blake also wants addressed is people like Gaddie being able to have multiple AVOs taken out against them and still be out on bail. 'In our case, five AVOS with five different unrelated women like that's got to be a huge red flag,' Blake said. Gaddie, 33, was half way through a two-year community sentence for stalking, choking and assaulting another woman, was out on bail on another DV related charge in June 2022 when Ms Finlay-Jones was killed, and had a string of current and prior AVOs involving numerous women dating back to 2016. 'These men have a pattern, they are charming, the love bombing, then the controlling, and then the escalation,' Blake said. 'It's almost like a hate crime, like a woman's hate crime and there he is on the end of an app. Swipe the wrong type of situation, a murder waiting to happen.' Both Blake and his mum are trying to move forward and keep Dannielle's memory alive. 'This is not what her life was. This is something very horrible that happened to her. She was extremely passionate about things,' her mum said. 'Her female football was so important to her, her interest in championing neurodivergent people. 'I guess she probably knew for a long time, but she was diagnosed with ADHD when she was 30 and I think for her then, that was like a light bulb moment. 'It explained a lot to her. In one of the child cares roles she worked at she was looking after a child who was autistic. Her most recent job was a teacher's aide at a special school and she just loved it.' For Mrs Finlay-Jones a coronial inquest would help bring the closure they need, though never the justice. 'It's about moving forward, not forgetting, but moving forward, still living because that's what she would have wanted, and to be as happy as one can' she said. 'It's learning to smile again without feeling guilty. The guilt we feel every day, knowing that we survived and she's not here. Yep, it's learning to smile again.' The NSW Government and the NSW Coroner's Court have been contacted for comment. NSW Local Courts confirmed no dates have been set for a coronial inquest into Dannielle's death nor Gaddie's death in custody. Attorney-General Michael Daly told that 'Dannielle Finlay-Jones' family have experienced an unimaginable loss and it is completely understandable they want the coronial process to be resolved as soon as possible'. 'The NSW Government is working to strengthen the coronial system to help provide answers for grieving families and providing extra resources to assist with caseloads. 'Funding worth $18 million for the Bondi Junction inquest has allowed an additional magistrate to be appointed. This ensures other inquests and inquiries can continue to progress.' Mr Daley said the government had strengthened protections for victim-survivors by bringing in two new offences targeting serious and repeat breaches of apprehended domestic violence orders. 'We have also made it harder for accused serious domestic violence offenders to get bail and ensured those who are bailed are electronically monitored by Corrective Services.'
CBC
an hour ago
- Health
- CBC
B.C. man who got $8M for wrongful conviction says he'll be penniless if made to pay sex assault damages
A B.C. man who was awarded $8 million after being wrongfully convicted of sexual assault and spending 27 years in prison says he'll be left "homeless and penniless" if forced to pay civil damages to victims who won a lawsuit against him. The B.C. Court of Appeal ruled this week that five women who were awarded $375,000 each in January against Ivan Henry can't go after his home or vehicles pending his appeal, but ordered him to pay $232,000 into a trust account. "The value of the (January) judgment exceeds my net worth," Henry said in an affidavit. "I would be homeless and have no means to support myself." Henry was convicted of 10 counts of sexual assault in 1983, but was released after an appeal determined he was wrongfully convicted and he was acquitted in 2010. The appeal ruling says Henry was awarded more than $8 million in 2018 for breaches of his Charter rights after suing the province and others for wrongful conviction, but five women sued him in 2017, alleging he sexually assaulted them in their Vancouver homes in the early 1980s. The B.C. Supreme Court sided with the women in the civil case but the appeal ruling says Henry has not taken any steps to pay them and both he and the plaintiffs have filed appeals. The five women are appealing the court's refusal to award punitive damages in the case of $1 million each. This week's ruling says Henry applied to "stay execution" of the damages award and he told the court he spent millions defending the lawsuit, gave away more than $2 million, and now lives in a mortgage-free home on a monthly stipend from old-age security and the Canada Pension Plan. 'Significant health issues' Henry filed an affidavit in the Court of Appeal this month that outlines his current living situation, his finances and the history of the case. It says he has had "significant health issues" since his release from prison, undergoing quintuple bypass heart surgery in 2016. Henry, now 78, said he lives alone at his home in Hope, B.C., with an assessed value of $650,000, and he owns two vehicles worth a combined $40,000. Henry said his Charter damages were paid out in instalments. He said he "gifted" more than $2 million to family members and a former partner, and also made donations. "These gifts were unconditional gifts with no expectation of repayment," said Henry, who estimated his annual living expenses at around $40,000. He said the rest of the money went toward living expense and legal expenses fighting the civil lawsuit. Henry said he continues to have "anxiety and other long-term effects" from his time behind bars, and asked the court to allow him to remain in his home until the appeal is decided. "My home provides me with a consistent and secure environment that supports my ability to manage these challenges. It is a place where I feel safe and can maintain a routine." The Court of Appeal found discrepancies in Henry's claims, finding his evidence leaves $1.8 million "unaccounted for," while he couldn't explain where "large sums" flowing in and out of his account went between 2018 and 2023. The ruling says Henry's affidavit is "not consistent" with what he said in an examination by the plaintiffs a week before he filed the document. He had said on May 5 that he gave away an estimated $3 million by 2017. He also said he had about $2 million and a house in 2024, but lost millions defending the civil action. Justice Nitya Iyer found that it is possible Henry doesn't have the money to pay the award and may lose his home, but "inconsistencies" in his affidavit and the examination "raise real questions about whether Mr. Henry has access to more funds than he claims." The ruling says the appeal will likely be heard this fall, with a decision in the spring of 2026. Lawyers for Henry and the complainants did not immediately respond to a requests for comment. The women who sued Henry described sexual assaults in their ground-floor or basement suites between May 1981 and June 1982. The judge in January's civil ruling found Henry liable, saying "it is more likely than not that he was their attacker and performed the sexual assaults … on a balance of probabilities."
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
3 men found guilty in daytime Toronto shooting that left 12-year-old dead
Three men have been found guilty of first-degree murder and attempted murder in connection to a fatal shooting in North York in 2020 that left a 12-year-old boy dead and three others injured. More to come.
CBC
4 hours ago
- General
- CBC
3 men found guilty in daytime Toronto shooting that left 12-year-old dead
Toronto · Breaking Dante Sebastian Andreatta, 12, was shopping with his mother when he was hit by a stray bullet during a brazen afternoon shooting on Nov. 7, 2020. ( Three men have been found guilty of first-degree murder and attempted murder in connection to a fatal shooting in North York in 2020 that left a 12-year-old boy dead and three others injured. More to come.
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
PA man convicted for raping a child in 2022
TROY TWP, Pa. (WETM) — A Williamsport man was sentenced to time in state prison in May after he raped a child in 2022, according to a release from the Bradford County District Attorney's Office. Robert Jay Eckard, 37, was sentenced to a minimum of ten years to a maximum of 30 years in a Pennsylvania State Prison for the offense of rape of a child, a felony in the first degree. Wysox man sentenced for harassing neighbors over several months Eckard's charge stems from an arrest in October 2022, when the DA's office said troopers looked into claims regarding a man, later identified as Eckard, raping a child in Troy Township. Upon further investigation, the DA's office stated that during this time, the victim was between 12 and 14 years old. Eckard did not have much criminal history before his arrest, but the DA's office said because of the severity of the crime, this sentence is warranted. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
