3w ago

Hit-run driver Jake Danby spared jail time by NT Supreme Court after describing victim as an 'oxygen thief'

www.abc.net.au

Hit-run driver's 'disgusting' messages aired in court

A 24-year-old man who hit two Aboriginal pedestrians with his car and sped away, later bragging to his friends he'd run down an "oxygen thief", has been spared actual jail time

The court heard Danby sent a series of "disgusting" text messages to his friends in the hours after the crash, in which he labelled the crash victims as "dogs" and "n***ers".

No jail ? Lucky he didn't run Charke Kirk down I guess.

#EDIT: an update for those interested#

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-18/family-of-man-killed-in-darwin-hit-and-run-speak-out/105787700

The family of an Aboriginal man run down and killed by a hit-and-run driver in Darwin last year have voiced their "disgust and dismay" at the lack of a prison sentence for the offender.

28 comments

Australia still treats its native population horribly. Nazi style horribly. Every single piece of news about the aborigines has been bad for decades, with little or no social assistance in any way.
When you accuse a human being of being an 'oxygen theif' at their trial, nazis are prevalent in society.
Fuck you, Australia.
- Australia still treats its native population horribly.
  Fair. Though this has been steadily improving and continues to improve.
  Nazi style horribly.
  No. While this was once true, it has not been true for about a century. Even the scandalous Stolen Generations, which was effectively an attempt at cultural genocide, was approached with the intent of improving the lives of Aboriginal peoples. The worst Australian policies of 50 years ago were not about rounding up and mass-murdering aboriginal people. If you throw Nazism around everywhere, you dilute the word. There is plenty of room for criticism of Australia's treatment of Aboriginal people but don't go overboard or you weaken your argument.
  Nazism is illegal here:
  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-15/qld-man-charged-nazi-salute-at-afl-game-banned/105773522
  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-04/vic-camp-sovereignty-charges/105732982
  https://www.abc.net.au/listen/programs/pm/neo-nazi-leader-arrested-in-melbourne/105727024
  But it is also present and we are fighting a war against it:
  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-01/authorities-condemn-anti-immigration-rally-perth-neo-nazi/105722068
  Every single piece of news about the aborigines has been bad for decades,
  You probably only see the stuff that makes your feed globally and yes, there is plenty of news that is bad. But there's lots that isn't as well. The last piece of news I read before this article was about Cathy Freeman being inducted into Stadium Australia's inaugural Hall of Fame list. Here: have some news that is nicer:
  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-16/cathy-freeman-ian-thorpe-stadium-australia-hall-of-fame/105777908
  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-01-04/binar-futures-basketball-adam-desmond-perth/104653506
  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-05-28/uni-program-pairing-first-nations-business-owners-students/103896464
  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-02-13/intense:-stolen-generations-survivor-recounts/103458314
  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-09-04/school-program-aims-to-keep-pertame-language-alive/102810296
  with little or no social assistance in any way.
  Again, let me correct you here:
  https://www.servicesaustralia.gov.au/payments-and-support-for-indigenous-australians?context=60078
  https://www.niaa.gov.au/our-work/grants-and-funding
  https://www.health.gov.au/our-work/indigenous-australians-health-programme
  https://www.indigenous.gov.au/grants
  Look, I'm not saying we're perfect on this front. Hell, I don't even think I'd go so far as to say we're good on this front. But we're trying, ok?
  
  The stolen generation continues under other names, Indigenous familes are still regularly torn apart in the name of child protection, Grand Mothers Against Removals is a group that works to keep children in community, you can read some more about them here
  https://www.foe.org.au/grandmothers_against_removals
  I'm not going to spend the time responding to every one of your points, but you might need to take a step back and think about you were so quick to ardently defend an imperialist settler colony
  p.s.
  something that is really irking me lately is the implication that the state banning racist hand gestures, and nazi flags is going to solve anything.
  Banning nazi symbols only means nazis now march under the australian flag, the australian flag was already a colonial symbol, it comes from a time when the state was explicitly white supremacist. I feel like I'm taking crazy pills.
  
  Fyi there is no "attempt" at cultural genocide. Genocide is a crime in the act itself, regardless of the success of lack thereof in the outcome.
- Heads up, don't use the word "aboriginees" to describe our first peoples. It's Aboriginals or first nations for the most part.
  But yeah fuck this cunt. That ruling was bullshit even for the NT
- It's amazing how much isn't taught in school. And I know that won't be surprising to those in other colonial states like the US and Canada but we learned about US segregation, Jim Crow, read/watched To Kill A Mockingbird, but didn't know we've had the same kind of de facto segregated towns here in Australia within living history, complete with our own Freedom Ride in 1965. Luckily the union movement and communists eventually put a dent in it through boycotts and shoved the government into action.
- Good thing you guys dont have guns
Lucky he didn’t run Charke Kirk down
I was just thinking in another thread, how easy it would have been to kill Kirk with a car and just get away with it. Because I don't agree with your comment here. Using a car is the best way to get away with murder. You have to be extremely unlucky to get any significant penalty when you kill someone with your car. Just ask the killers of Michael Hall, Carolyn Lister, Philip Pawsey, Richard Pollett, Richard Burden, and countless others around the country. Most of those were never charged. The one that was charged was never convicted. And our government spends more effort removing memorials than it does on actually addressing the problem.
- Much simpler than mushrooms.
- It depends if they care about who you hit.
- Which memorials has Albo been removing?
  
  Not a federal thing. I was specifically thinking of the Brisbane City Council local government which was repeatedly removing "white ghost" memorials to Philip Pawsey...until the memorialists put a white ghost bike on a trailer parked in the bike lane (which is a legal place to park a car here...), which because it's legally parked on the road, it would be illegal for them to remove. It ended up highlighting the irony of their failure to build proper infrastructure (i.e., separated bike paths where a car can't park and thereby endanger cyclists) far more than a normal memorial would have.
- Your nazis don't think it's a problem, they think it's a perk.
  Deal with your nazi problem, Australia.
  
  Not sure you understand the context here. This is complaining about motornormativity and how people can get away with murder if they do it with a car. It's got nothing to do with nazis.
  
  We have a racism problem, not a nazi problem
  We have a car culture problem, not a nazi problem
He only showed 'remorse' when he realised he was facing gaol time. At that point, he's only showing remorse for himself. The correct time to show remorse is immediately after it happened by stopping and rendering aid/calling emergency services. He might have even not been penalised at all if the pedestrians had actually stepped out in front of him without warning or time for him to avoid them. This whole judgement is completely fucked up.
How grateful we must all feel knowing this man is able to continue on and be remorseful and contribute positively to our society. I don’t look forward to the next time he does something else fuelled by his racism and no longer has the isolated incident - I went to church one time (I’m sorry what?? How is this worth anything in a court of law?) - defence.
- Hey, I didn't violate any rules. I just suggested an apparently-legal activity 🤷
That cunt should be thrown in jail for his remarks alone
- Nah, he'd likely fall to recidivism with the other nazis in jail.
  He should be forced to do some sort of aboriginal related charity in a position where he can only help them and not harm them for the rest of his life.
I read this yesterday and just can't shake it. It's so fucked up.
I try remind myself of a study where members of the Australian public were asked if sentences were too lenient. The same question was asked of jurors from the actual court case. The results were that the public was far more likely to have the opinion that a sentence was too lenient where as the jury was more likely to believe it was appropriate. Normally considering this helps me take a step back from being outraged; Those who are closer to the case have considerations that aren't making the paper.
This case has to be an exception though. I just can't fathom how the judge arrived at such an abhorrently lenient sentence. This can only prove to indigenous people, and the family of the victims they don't matter. I really hope there is some review on this sentencing to prevent this in the future.
- members of the Australian public were asked if sentences were too lenient. The same question was asked of jurors from the actual court case. The results were that the public was far more likely to have the opinion that a sentence was too lenient where as the jury was more likely to believe it was appropriate. Normally considering this helps me take a step back from being outraged; Those who are closer to the case have considerations that aren't making the paper.
  I agree and have read the same, I rarely comment or post about such things for that reason. This wasn't a jury case though, he plead guilty
  This case has to be an exception though.
  Indeed and why I posted about it. Shocking as it would have been If the.dude had hit them and killed him but if he'd stooped amd rendered assistance but this .. this is next level
  In the hours after the crash, Danby sent a series of text messages to his friends in which he called the victims "dogs", "n*****s" and "oxygen thieves" and boasted about the collision.
  "Nah c***, I'm on a come down for work, I ain't stoppin' for no one," he wrote in one message.
  "It was pretty funny watching them roll around on the road after going over my bonnet and through my windscreen
  This update has some reasons given as well as the family being upset by it all
  https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-09-18/family-of-man-killed-in-darwin-hit-and-run-speak-out/105787700
  The family of an Aboriginal man run down and killed by a hit-and-run driver in Darwin last year have voiced their "disgust and dismay" at the lack of a prison sentence for the offender
  From the judge
  In sentencing Danby, NT Supreme Court Justice Sonia Brownhill described the texts as "shockingly callous".
  She accepted Danby had shown remorse since the incident and had good prospects for rehabilitation due to his young age, lack of criminal history, and strong employment record.
  NAAJA chair Theresa Roe said in a statement the messages were "racist and dehumanising".
  There is little to suggest the offender's racist attitudes have been reformed, despite the immense harm for Aboriginal communities across the NT caused by such attitudes."
  I can only agree mith Ms. Roe.
  
  This wasn’t a jut trial though, he pled guilty.
  I suspect the reason a jury was chosen for the study was simply to find a cohort that was lay to the legal professions but still intimidate to a particular case. The lack of a jury doesn’t mean this still isn’t relevant, since it relates to the perception of fair sentencing among the public.

28 comments