משפט · Domestic violence sentencingVirginia Morley sentencing: Five months left after running over partnerנכתב 30 באוקטובר 2026 בשעה 19:46 UTCצפייהתמליל0:07Christopher Morley ran over his partner, leaving her with life, threatening head0:11injuries.0:11He faces about five more months in jail under a sentence totaling two years and0:15three months.0:16The woman spent months in hospital and rehabilitation.0:19How fully she'll regain her speech, memory, and mobility is still unclear.0:22The couple lived at Oasis Caravan Park in Virginia, on Darwin's outskirts.0:26They'd been drinking before a verbal argument in January.0:29Morley was trying to leave in his vehicle, and the woman walked in front of it.0:32Before the collision, Morley texted his adult daughter, claiming his partner had0:36threatened to burn down the caravan unless he paid her fifteen hundred dollars.0:40The woman denied making that threat when she spoke to his daughter.0:42In another message, Morley complained that his partner was drinking, refusing to0:46leave and talking to another man at the bar.0:48The woman faced Morley's vehicle head on.0:51As he accelerated, she put both hands on its center.0:54He pushed her backwards until she lost her balance and fell beneath the front0:57passenger side.0:58He kept driving for about ten meters before stopping.1:01Morley was speaking to his daughter on the phone.1:03She heard him exclaim, Oh my God!1:05She's just jumped in front of the car, and I have just hit her.1:08He immediately called Triple Zero.1:10But Justice Stephen Southwood rejected important parts of the explanation Morley1:14later gave police.1:15Southwood rejected Morley's claim that she jumped in front of the vehicle to harm1:19herself.1:19Morley said he was traveling at five kilometers an hour.1:22The judge put it closer to ten.1:24Morley also said the dash camera wasn't working.1:26It was.1:27Morley's blood alcohol reading was zero point zero four five.1:30He also tested positive for benzodiazepine, amphetamines, and another substance that1:34wasn't identified.1:35Emergency crews found the woman unconscious and bleeding from her head.1:38She had multiple skull and facial fractures, brain bleeds, and wounds to her knees1:43and elbows.1:44Doctors treated her first at Royal Darwin Hospital.1:47She was later transferred to the Alfred Hospital's trauma unit in Victoria, where1:50she was diagnosed with a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury.1:53Southwood called her injuries horrendous and life-threatening.1:57The woman couldn't walk in the months after the collision.1:59She struggled with speech and short-term memory.2:01At the October plea hearing, she was described as fifty-eight years old.2:05Her treatment involved months in hospital and a long effort to recover her ability2:09to walk.2:10Morley's punishment takes account of custody he'd already served.2:13Morley's sentence totals two years and three months, suspended after nine months.2:17He'd already served a little over four months on remand.2:20Backdating credits that custody toured the nine months, leaving about five months to2:24serve.2:24That doesn't give an exact release date.2:26Southwood sentenced the sixty-three-year old in the Northern Territory Supreme Court2:30on October twenty-ninth.2:31Morley had pleaded guilty earlier that month to dangerous driving and breaching a2:35domestic violence restraining order.2:37On sentencing morning, he also admitted driving under the influence of drugs.2:41The court imposed a hundred and ninety-four dollar fine and a six-month driving ban.2:47Defense lawyer Brooke Huen sought a suspended sentence, arguing Morley hadn't2:51intended such serious harm.2:52She called it a momentary lapse of judgment.2:55Prosecutor Deborah Rousseau accepted it was a brief episode, but stressed the2:59injuries and a high level of negligence.3:01The woman had obtained a domestic violence order against Morley two years earlier3:05after he assaulted her.3:06His history also included a month in prison for an assault in nineteen ninety,3:09followed by fines for property damage and resisting police.3:13In nineteen ninety, one, he received three months in jail for breaching an3:17intervention order.3:17Southwood said that history couldn't be ignored.3:20Southwood accepted that Morley had been trying to leave voluntarily, but he stressed3:24the woman's very serious injuries.3:25He said, The volatile domestic situation preceding the offending explains but does3:30not excuse it.3:31He also said adherence to the domestic violence orders would have prevented what3:35happened.3:36Morley was on bail at the October6 plea hearing, and his earlier remand was credited3:40at sentencing.3:41The case had also been adjourned for an assessment for a supervision order.3:44The supervision conditions ultimately imposed haven't been detailed.3:48We don't know how fully the woman has recovered.3:50She spent four months in rehabilitation to improve her speech and 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